In case it’s unclear. There’s been another big shakeup at Warner Bros. branch of the DC Films unit. That’s what the third? First, Zack Snyder was quietly phased out around the time “Justice League” was starting and Charles Roven, the producer of “Suicide Squad” and Chris Nolan‘s “Batman” films was demoted a long time ago. Geoff Johns was brought on as the chief creative officer last year, but after the failure of “Justice League“—the lowest grossing DCEU film domestically and worldwide—he too was kicked to the curb (though he’s been given the bone of writing “Green Lantern Corps,” though let’s see if that script actually gets used in the end, it might just be a public concession).
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And last week, Diane Nelson left as DC Entertainment President. What does this mean? WB is unhappy with the DCEU so far (obviously) and trying to clean house and start over again. Walter Hamada, has been named the president of DC Entertainment and it’s basically his ship to right.
THR has a very good, in-depth look at a lot of the changes over at the company, but we’re going to focus in on the brewing “Flash” film starring Ezra Miller as the titular speedster. It looks like the rumors are true and The Flashpoint story idea has been scrapped (possibly). However, it sounds like time travel will definitely be involved.
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The trade says the ‘Flash’ movie is going to be a “Back To The Future“-style adventure which means, fun, action, comedy, and knowing the Flash, probably a bit of time-travel. None of this is really a huge surprise. John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldstein, coming off the very excellent, “Game Night” movie—a terrific blend of comedy and well-shot action—have been tapped to direct “The Flash” and as you’d imagine, they’re moving away from the dark and gritty template made by Zack Snyder and shifting towards something more light on its feet and entertaining (like Marvel, basically; chase what works).
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It’s slightly amusing to read all the reports of this shift in tone from the DCEU because that feels like it’s been in the works since the very ending of the “Batman v. Superman” release. “Suicide Squad,” as bad as it was, was comedic, “Wonder Woman” obviously aimed for a lighter tone and “Justice League” tried to pack in as many disarming Joss Whedon jokes into the dour mood made by Zack Snyder. DC’s been course-correcting for some time now.
But given the Daly and Goldstein vibe—they also co-wrote “Spiderman: Homecoming,” perhaps “The Flash” will generally be DC’s most amusing story yet. “Flashpoint” was teased at Comic-Con by DC and given the storyline, many thought WB would use the movie as a way to reboot the DCEU and give Affleck a nice way out. But this ‘Flash’ sounds like a more stand-alone adventure. We shall see.