Written By Mikey Sutton • Editor-in-Chief • Owner
DC Studios would rather the media stop discussing The Flash‘s failure, focusing instead on Henry Cavill‘s Superman replacement, David Corenswet. As of this time, DC Studios has yet to pull out from SDCC like Disney, Marvel Studios, and even HBO, which shares the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Yet DC Studios couldn’t wait to announce James Gunn‘s new Man of Steel when SDCC would have the biggest platform for it. In other words, they jumped the Gunn. The Hollywood Reporter actually broke the news and Gunn gave his seal of approval, calling it “Accurate!”
Of course it is.
Only the most naive or brainwashed would believe THR is simply running a scoop from an anonymous source. That information was obviously fed to them by DC Studios.
Come on, man.
Other outlets would prefer you blindly accepted the PR spin. Not us. We don’t play the corporate game. Never have, never will. So many so-called insiders attempted to make everyone believe that ex-DC Films boss Walter Hamada would stick around after the Discovery merger. I was consistent from beginning to end that Hamada was toast.
DC Studios Distracted Media From Flash Flop With Henry Cavill Replacement
Image: Twitter
Now Gunn is in charge and thus far not much has changed. In fact, in some ways DC is worse. While it’s too soon to judge how effective he’ll be, his initial decisions have been garbage. To be fair, Warner Bros. Discovery’s financial issues played a role in this as well.
From my perspective, Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairperson Mike De Luca should’ve remained in the driver’s seat for DC’s movies. A longtime comic-book fan, De Luca approved Cavill’s Black Adam post-credits cameo. He had Man of Steel 2 in development with Cavill on board and Zack Snyder’s DC producer Charles Roven along with him.
De Luca would’ve moved forward with Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam fighting Cavill’s Superman. He greenlit Constantine 2 with Keanu Reeves.
During his three-day Full Circle charity event, who did Snyder thank for help making it happen?
Not Gunn.
It was De Luca and his co-chair Pam Abdy.
Gunn ripped out De Luca’s ideas and inserted his own. In fact, Gunn’s first decision was reportedly to cancel Man of Steel 2. This was after Cavill publicly announced he’s back as Superman. Yet DC Studios expects DC followers to accept his changes like obedient dogs. Do we sit or beg now?
The Flash‘s box-office failure was unfortunate. Quite frankly, The Flash was a superior DC film. Granted, it doesn’t reach the transcendent heights of Snyder or Christopher Nolan’s DC efforts. Then again, nobody ever expected that. It’s a Flash movie. Flash comic books, even at their best, never reached Superman or Batman’s best stories. Your mileage may vary; certainly, it’s all subjective.
DC Studios Distracted Media From Flash Flop With Henry Cavill Replacement
Image: Twitter
In any case, The Flash should be a bracing wake-up call to WBD. Although it was Certified Fresh by both critics (64%) and audiences (84%) on Rotten Tomatoes, the film could lose nearly $200 million. It’s a tough pill to swallow. Indeed, star Ezra Miller’s bad reputation played a significant role in this money pit. However, something else kept moviegoers away.
DC itself is not looked upon fondly by the masses. DC fans, and not just Snyder’s legion of followers, seemed to have skipped it. Surely there must’ve been enough of them to at least take The Flash to the break-even point.
Didn’t happen.
And the general audience, burned too many times by the likes of Gunn’s own bomb The Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman 1984, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, already have had enough.
Thus, it’s not surprising that DC Studios would want to change the narrative. Fast as the Flash himself. I’ve nothing against Corenswet’s casting except for the egocentric manner in which it was done.
Superman: Legacy is really the legacy Gunn wants to leave, sink or swim, float or flush. As much as they try to turn the page, there’s no guarantee what awaits in the next chapter won’t be rewritten again.