With a plethora of films in various stages of development, and the continuing sense that DC Films doesn’t have a gameplan beyond throwing darts at a board and seeing what sticks, the one thing guiding their vision is the need to pivot away from Zack Snyder‘s aesthetics. The dour “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” was followed by the slightly less dour, but no less mangled “Suicide Squad,” with both movies offering lots of big, loud, empty spectacle but almost nothing in terms of substance. Moreover, the superheroes didn’t even seem to want to be saving the day. Well, DC Films honcho Geoff Johns is continuing to promise things will change.
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Appearing at WonderCon to show off footage from “Wonder Woman,” Johns declared that DC movies need “heart, humor, and heroics.” Let’s not forget that last spring, Johns was promising more “hope and optimism” too, but we’ll see if any of those qualities are found in this year’s DC offerings. Certainly, “Justice League” so far seems to be more of the same from Snyder, with a few more one liners tossed in, but I’d wager we’ll see a real change in the films that start emerging next year and beyond.
DC Films still has a way to go in establishing the sort of trusted brand status that Marvel carries, but it they are certainly trying to find the formula that audiences want, while putting their own mark on the superhero genre.
Thoughts? Let us know below. [Dark Horizons]
I wonder when we’ll start getting some release date announcements. They’ve announced over 10 films post-Aquaman and none of them have release dates (except the handful from the 2014 slate that haven’t been officially bumped off the calendar, but I assume all those dates are scrapped now). Unless this new plan stretches through 2025, it looks like WB want to start putting out three or more films per year.