George Chrysostomou on whether the DC universe is on the verge of make or break…
Recent months have shown a gradual shift in DC and Warner Bros.’ business plan. Across the board, there are new creative teams being implemented, new platforms being created and new stories being launched. This extends to comics, movies, TV shows and a wider array of content. For fans of the DC characters, things are certainly looking more positive for the future of these massive franchises.
DC as of late has found itself lingering in a weird middling area of quality. Each film becomes very divisive, whilst the continuous stream of comics will forever produce both excellent and problematic stories. Animation seems to be on the up, as has always been the case with DC, and the TV shows have a steady band of followers, especially for The CW’s Arrowverse offerings.
So, with a new focus from DC Films, which includes the launch of standalone movies alongside the DC Extended Universe, and the upcoming streaming service DC Universe, one would assume that this could be the making or breaking point for all these DC properties. Let’s breakdown the business plan and discuss whether it is likely to be a success or a failure.
The Worlds of DC Concept
There is a strong case to be made that post Comic-Con 2018, DC is trying to coin a new slogan, focused around this ‘Worlds of DC’ concept (despite reports claiming that this is a rebranding of the DCEU, it seems this may not actually be the case, although the ‘Worlds of DC’ tagline could very well be applied to each project across both the film and TV ‘multiverse’).
Warner Bros. has for a very long time struggled to settle on a tone for its characters. Marvel in comparison has the advantage of firmly establishing its heroes like Iron Man or Captain America in the film realm, with consistencies in their characterisation across games, comics and animated programming. Iron Man in the Marvel vs. Capcom video game, the animated feature film, the MCU and the comics is for the most part, essentially the same character. Take Batman as an example for DC, and you’ll find multiple interpretations across both film and television history; Batman in the Arkham games, the retro TV series, the comics, the Nolanverse and the newer films, are all completely different. How do you put all these different iterations of the same character under a unified banner?
The ‘Worlds of DC’ tagline idea, in my opinion, offers a great solution for this. It helps establish to audiences that there are so many interpretations of these legendary characters, but each version starts with the same mythos, in the Worlds of DC. So once audiences start seeing a Robin on the new Titans TV show, but they also start seeing one incorporated into the movie universe, despite being quite different, people will understand that ultimately the same basic concept has launched two very different versions.
The Joker movie with Joaquin Phoenix may confuse moviegoers who have only recently seen Jared Leto in the role, but a ‘Worlds of DC’ banner would help to ease this transition and opens the door to a lot of other potential stand alone projects. DC has not had the same success with shared universe as Marvel has. With Marvel, you can pretty much assume that all film and TV shows, certainly live action versions, are in the MCU (Fox discounted), for DC there are so many separate universes that it is hard to keep track of what is linked to each. While Gotham and Krypton are separate from the Arrowverse, a ‘Worlds of DC’ multiverse does connect them in some small way, and in theory, opens the door to a potential Crisis on Infinite Earths-style crossover at some point in time.
DC Universe
The launch of the DC Universe streaming platform is an ideal partner to this new way of looking at all of the various DC properties. Being able to access all the Worlds of DC in one place and to communicate amongst the fan base is a really good business decision from DC. A few problems may arise from this however. For fans to truly get behind this, all DC content needs to be available. This especially includes the newer crop of films and all of the popular CW shows, which should in theory be easy to secure. This will guarantee more subscribers, with true fans staying for the animated content and a wide archive of comics and more casual fans subscribing for access to the current movies and TV offering.
Launching exclusives such as Titans and Swamp Thing is also a good way forward with this. Some fans have expressed disappointment that these shows won’t all exist within the same universe, but I imagine this is to give as much creative freedom as possible. What would harm DC though is to rely too heavily on these. If the original series are bad it may lead to a backlash, with mainstream audiences less likely to be drawn in by characters like Swamp Thing who they are not attached to in any way. Hitting a wider fan base is so vital here.
The Verdict
You might be able to tell from this article that there is a little bit of optimism in me. This might be the launch that DC really needs to connect with the mainstream once again. Some will argue that the hardcore fans should come first and that is true, but with a business model like this, DC can appeal to fans and non-fans in a variety of ways.
Comic-Con was absolutely a hit for DC. The trailers released for both TV and film (perhaps with the exception of Titans) looked like genuinely intriguing quality storytelling. Even if you haven’t been impressed with previous DC films, you can very likely find something that Warner Bros. is putting out under the DC banner that you are looking forward to.
This is make or break for the DC Universe and I truly believe that DC is about to rise to a new level. They might still miss a step now and then, but this new wave of positive thinking throughout the company and creative solutions to some of the problems they have faced might just mean the start of something better. ‘Worlds of DC’ and a new approach to how all these comic properties are perceived, as paralleled but not interconnected, in my opinion is going to be the making of DC. But what do you think? Do you agree? Let us know in the comments section below…
George Chrysostomou
