Discovery's acquisition of Warner Bros. has led to some big changes being made behind the scenes, including who is in charge of what. Toby Emmerich, who has overseen both Warners and New Line since 2017, is on his way out as Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav looks to make some significant improvements to the running of the studio.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, he's planning to create three verticals, each with its own leadership. That includes Warner Bros. and New Line, DC Entertainment, and animation.
Zaslav will be the man in charge, but he's currently looking for someone who current DC Films President Walter Hamada will ultimately report to. The trade reveals that the executive has even approached Joker director Todd Phillips "to do more in the DC universe, potentially acting as an advisor." However, he would not serve in an executive capacity, making this a creative position.
While it's noted that "Phillips and Zaslav have discovered a rapport," it's also revealed that the filmmaker "is not an expert on the broader DC universe."
While Joker was a success, it was also only tangentially connected to the DC Universe. Appointing someone with limited comic book knowledge to potentially oversee future movies just because they delivered a box office hit sounds like a very Warner Bros.-type thing to do, even with new leadership at the helm.
We'll see how this pans out, but as of right now, the DCEU is still sorely lacking its own Kevin Feige.
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