Written by Edwin Francisco
If the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger pushes through, DC Films could resemble Marvel Studios afterward.
We have reported earlier that there is a planned merger between the two media companies.
The deal will unite Warner Bros.’ and Discovery’s collection of streaming and cable channels.
This would form a new company which, in turn, will have a big shift in the corporate structure.
Discovery CEO David Zaslav will take over as the boss of this new company.
He’s known for “turning over management teams and shifting strategic gears quickly when results are not to his liking.”
WarnerMedia has not been doing well as of late.
The sudden announcement of distributing their new movies through streaming on HBO Max didn’t sit well with the filmmakers.
Furthermore, the success of Zack Snyder’s Justice League (disliked by Warner execs) only proved to Zaslav that WarnerMedia has been making a lot of poor decisions.
A lot of us know that DC films and their television shows don’t really have this unified organization.
At times it even feels that they’re trying to outdo each other.
The TV division is trying to make a connected universe.
The movies, on the other hand, are a mix of connected and unconnected projects.
Zaslav is already looking into how to improve the DC Films by restructuring it similar to Marvel Studios.
To clarify: structurally, not stylistically. Basically, DC Films might have a central figure to be in charge of their movie and TV properties.
This will be their version of Kevin Feige at Marvel Studios.
Zaslav is interested in making the DC Films connected like it was with Zack Snyder’s DCEU.
This is what the Snyderverse truly is.
He plans to restore it, but he will still evaluate The Snyder Cut numbers on HBO Max.
This means that Ben Affleck’s Batman, Henry Cavill’s Superman, and all other characters and actors may have a chance to return theatrically.
Right now, a number of movies in development are not connected to the Snyderverse except for the ones already planned years ago.
Warner-Discovery Merger Will Make DC Films Resemble Marvel Studios
Image: Warner Bros Pictures
Look at Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, Robert Pattinson’s The Batman, and the planned J.J. Abrams Superman.
These are happening because of Walter Hamada, President of DC-based film production.
Hamada preferred stand-alone movies which can work like Joker; however, many of those movies won’t have the lasting appeal like what Marvel Studios has done.
Since Zaslav’s vision is different from Hamada’s, it would be most likely render Hamada’s future in DC questionable.
In other words, Zaslav is looking for the one to lead DC Films once Hamada is out of the picture.
Why does Zaslav want to make it similar to Marvel Studios?
This is to increase the value of WarnerMedia.
Making separate independent movies is all good, but Marvel Studios has proven something we haven’t seen before in any studio.
A shared universe makes the company more valuable when it works.
Zaslav intends to sell WarnerMedia years from now.
DC Films always had the chance to make a successful cinematic universe.
Even the fans are patiently waiting for it to happen.
It could have failed like what happened with Universal’s Dark Universe.
But DC has what the Dark Universe did not: a lot of amazing stories to draw from.
Furthermore, this makes every comic-book fan excited to see these stories transition into the silver screen.
We know fans (even Marvel fans) really do want DC to succeed.
Changes within the merger won’t take effect until 2022, but it is interesting that Zaslav is already looking into the future of DC Films.
Related: AT&T Interested In Batman: Arkham Knight Series For Ben Affleck
