When reports started to come in that “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice,” and then later “Suicide Squad” were getting… problematic receptions, many fans didn’t believe it. They put it down to ‘bias’ from critics and writers in the pocket of Big Marvel, people who just didn’t get the brilliance of Zack Snyder, David Ayer and their gritty creations.
Then, for the most part, they saw the movies. And all but the most zealot-y perhaps conceded that some of the original reports might have had a point. And over the course of this year, it’s become more and more apparent that Warner Bros were put on the backfoot by the negative response, and have been seeking to course correct as fast as possible.
The latest evidence comes in an interview with Geoff Johns, the veteran comics writer and studio executive Jon Berg, who now serve essentially as the head of DC Films, essentially making them the company’s Kevin Feige equivalent, in the Wall Street Journal. Johns confirm that the grimness of the recent films was an existential point being made by Warners executives.
“Mistakenly in the past I think the studio has said ‘Oh, DC films are gritty and dark and that’s what makes them different.’ That couldn’t be more wrong,” Johns says. “It’s a hopeful and optimistic view of life. Even Batman has a glimmer of that in him.” But reportedly, after “Batman V. Superman” opened, the studio was “taken aback” at the response, having thought that their more “grounded, character-based stories” would contrast nicely with Marvel’s friendlier fare.
And, as we approach Comic-Con and its jokey trailer for “Justice League,” the studio are trying to course-correct swiftly, making changes to their mega-budget team-up movie after the reception to “Batman V. Superman.” “We accelerated the story to get to the hope and optimism a little faster,” Berg says, confirming that plans to make “Justice League” a multi-part story were scrapped.
And some of the criticisms for “Dawn Of Justice” will be addressed in the next film as well, with Batman reportedly facing consequences for his torture of criminals. This would be heartening, except that “Batman V. Superman” was intended to serve as a corrective for the collateral damage in “Man Of Steel,” and look how that turned out.
While it’s cheering to hear that the films going forward won’t be as bleak, the interview mostly seems to confirm what we’ve felt for a while, namely that there’s a surfeit of vision at the studio, and that their approach to these films has been essentially reactive — “oh, you didn’t like that? We’ll do the opposite, then!” Still, we’re always happy to be proven wrong — we’d love nothing better than for next year’s “Wonder Woman” and “Justice League,” and the films beyond that, to be terrific. Fingers crossed…
Jesus Christ would Warner Brothers stop writing public disdain for their films into those films’ sequels? Can we just collectively start finding the most esoteric shit to massively bitch about and see it gradually gets workshopped into the entire DCEU?
“Aquaman’s alcoholism will be addressed in the next trailer”
zealot-y? WTF??? I found nothing wrong with BvS or SS. Loved them
Do NOT hire Jessee Eisemberg never again, his haired and crazy “Luthor” alone is the direct cause of Bat vs Superman failure. Also this, if you over-promote a character to attract certain audiences, like the case of Wonder Woman, then you better give her more than the 15 seconds of screen time she got.
One last thing, we all already know all character’s origins, so unless the movie is titled “League of Justice Origins”, wasting 10-20 mins of screen remembering the childhood of Batsy or Clark is really a complete boring waste of time.