DC TV vs. DC movies: Why Ignore The "Multiverse" Concept?

DC TV vs. DC movies:  Why Ignore The "Multiverse" Concept?

DC Entertainment is missing an opportunity to gain more credibility with it's fanbase.

Editorial Opinion
By krayzeman - Nov 11, 2015 01:11 PM EST
Filed Under: Comics

I was reading comments yesterday on comicbookmovie.com regarding the confirmation(again) that the DC movie and TV shows will be separate.  Those hoping for a Crisis On Infinite Earths movie should pretty much keep dreaming.  Or should we?  Before Iron Man how many of you thought there would ever be an Avengers movie made up of individual franchises.  It's possible. Marvel did something unprecedented almost 10 years ago at the time and it turned into phenomenal successful gamble.  Keep in mine that before Iron Man came out critics were saying, very loudly I might add, that superhero movies were on it's last legs and that the fad was going to end soon.  That was almost 10 years ago and look where we're at now?  They were even saying the Avengers movie would never work because it had never been done before.  Again look where we are now?  Now I'm not saying there should be a Crisis movie or that the DC movies need to tie in with the TV shows like Marvel does but it seems to me that the producers like Charles Roven are not understanding the "multiverse" concept that pretty much is the backbone of the DC universe.  A lot of you keep reasoning that the acting done on the TV show could not hold a candle to acting done in the movies as if TV is somehow beneath the movies.  Like Stephen Amell and Grant Gustin can't hold a candle acting to Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill or Gal Gadot.  Gal Gadot I say.  Are you serious?  Except for Affleck most of the acting done by these individuals are pretty much on the same level except with TV we don't see them every week.  Even Affleck had a lot of bad movies until he turned to directing and now he's very well respected.  But I digress. 

Anyway,  I do to a degree believe the DC movies and TV should stay separate.  But my god, DC, throw us a bone and don't insult our intelligence like the "multiverse" concept can't exist between the two mediums.  Wouldnt it be cool if both Flashes from the movie and TV show ran so fast that they ended up in each other's world?  You can certainly do one episode on The Flash where this happens for and maybe the Grant Gustin Flash help's the Ezra Miller Flash get back to his world.  Where would the confusion be?  The worlds are still separate and all storylines can continue without having to intermingle and confuse people.  THAT WOULD BE SO COOL.  And it would gain a lot of credibilty with the core fanbased that these people understand and know what they're doing.  

There is too much worry about not trying confuse the "casual" viewer and losing folks.  Has anyone considered by all the great numbers from the movie tickets and TV show ratings that those "casual" viewers arenty so casual?  That the casual viewer has become a core viewer?  There are a lot of us that grew up on these books when our numbers couldn't be accounted for because we were young non-working folks back then.  A lot of us are now grown and still support these properties because we've always dreamed to see them on screen and now shared those experiences with our family and children.  So now today you have an expansion of numbers that can now be accounted for because we parents still love the properties and remember a time when those same properties were disrespected by the mainstream.  Sharing what you love with the kids you know have is so much joy.  But some actions between TV and movie producers still work off that old belief that movies are still more highly regarded than anything on TV and that mixing the two somehow would create confusion which in turn would cut into sales. Judging by some comments of the articles I read some of you still do too.  Marvel could have easily went straight to an Avengers movie without Thor and Captain America be i honestly dont believe the affect would be the same.

All Im saying is that DC movies and TV dont have to mix and mingle but DC in particular is missing a branding opportunity with the multiverse concept to gain credibilty if anything.  The people on Arrow never have to meet the people on Batman vs. Superman but acknowleding that there are different Earths where other heroes exist  but dont interact just like in the comic books makes everything feel much more legit.


@krayzeman

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MileHighRonin
MileHighRonin - 11/11/2015, 5:36 PM
I say connect them. I love the Crisis on Infinite Earths Event and think DC would be wise to use that concept to connect the DCEU and DCTV, but still be separate still. I think it's very creative, if done correctly, and unique.

I am about to start watching Flash, finally got my wife on board. The selling point for her, the multiple Earths concept.
DerekLake
DerekLake - 11/11/2015, 6:04 PM
I'm all for spreading the DC EU to some sort of TV format (premium cable preferred), but there is no rationale for connecting the current Berlanti universe with the Snyder universe. The two are vastly different, and they'd have to do a lot of retconning to get it to work. And it's not just acting ability but production value, audience sizes, etc. Movies are made for a much, much larger audience, and at a much higher production scale, than TV. And that fact allow discourages cross-pollination. Because what ever you might do on TV, you can do on film.

Most importantly, if real-world factors prevent mingling, then WHAT IS THE POINT of connecting them? Might as well let each be as free as possible.

That said, I do think media like Netflix offer much, much more for CB properties, because you retain the quality control that often goes missing on regular cable. And it occupies sort of a middle ground between regular cable and the films.
ossie85
ossie85 - 11/11/2015, 6:05 PM

I like the idea of a multiverse also.

But this is the main stumbling block:

- I don't think you can do a multiverse featuring TV characters as a major plot point on the big screen. It alienates viewers, and is not accesible. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. People walked out of Fantastic Four wondering how it would connect to the infinity stones... Hell, even one rotten tomatoe 'top critic' thought FF was a Disney film. Hell, some people even think Inception was confusing, when I've seen far more complicated stories on TV.

- Which means you'd have to do the storyline on TV. But you run into movie actors not willing to appear on TV. If anyone think Ben Affleck would show up on The Flash, you're dreaming. PLUS huge budget issues. A TV budget wouldn't be able to do it justice.


I think the only Multiverse we will get is between the worlds of Arrow/Flash, Gotham and Supergirl. And even that is unlikely.

I really wish it could happen though.
krayzeman
krayzeman - 11/11/2015, 8:26 PM
@DerekLake Totally respect your opinion and I can see your point about contract and budgetary issues so doing a Crisis is pretty far fetch. My whole point is just throw us fans a bone. Since The Flash TV show introduced the concept of the multiverse on TV do a one off ep where he meets just the Flash from the movie universe in some sort of multiverse timeline thing to show us there is a way to connect the two and still have everything be separate? Ben Affleck never needs to show his face you don't have to retcon anything and the Berlanti and Snyder-verse can co-exist without seeming weird. You don't have to go full fledged Crisis because all it would be is a one off to connect the two. After the episode both Flashes can go their separate was and everyone can live happily ever after. The End.
Utopian8418
Utopian8418 - 11/11/2015, 8:45 PM
@krayzeman You know what? You actually convinced me. I am usually a very stubborn person. I have always thought of the DCEU-DCTV crossover as a stupid ridiculous idea. But I always though of it as a movie or something. But you are right, it could actually work really well as a Flash episode with a guest-starring Ezra Miller. The Flash show's tone IS goofy and cartoony (yet fun) so why not? The only problem I may have with this is that if WB wants to do a solid trilogy and character arc for Ezra Miller's Flash, it could turn out really weird and off to have him go on an cross-dimension adventure with Cisco between the movies.
tonytony
tonytony - 11/12/2015, 4:55 AM
No thank you. I love arrow but wouldnt want that to be part of the dc cinematic universe. Also part of the reason why the tv shows are that good is because they are free to do what they want creatively. so they can up stakes without worrying about getting in the way of or affecting the movies.
neihofft
neihofft - 11/12/2015, 5:10 AM
Keep them separate! Oh wait, they are, yay! Its much better that way.
krayzeman
krayzeman - 11/12/2015, 6:01 AM
@tonytony Arrow doesn't even have to be a part of the movie universe for a multiverse situation to happen. The whole purpose of the multiverse is to have separate adventures with a lot of the same heroes anyway. @BruceWillis a trilogy can be done with The movie Flash because you gave to assume these characters have many adventures that we will never be able to see outside the 2 hour format. The Flash movie doesn't even have to have Gustin involved unless Miller's Flash is running so fast that on a short take he sees Gustin's Flash go by in some sort of time warp. I know it'll probably never happen but I'm just re-interating that it is creatively possible to satisfy everyone without having to piss off and turn off folks to the concept.
krayzeman
krayzeman - 11/12/2015, 12:09 PM
@ManCalledSting Very on point. That's the beauty of the multiverse. I'm just shakin my head at the producers even shutting down the possibility before it can even happen. OF COURSE the DC Movies have yet to be proven because they only have Man Of Steel under their belt. If BvS and SS flop next year(I hope not) this all is a moot point.
jaysin420
jaysin420 - 11/12/2015, 2:24 PM
Good article, I agree with @Ossie85. That's my biggest problem with AOS, I like the show, but sometimes I think it'd be better if wasn't connected to the MCU. If they could get the movie actors to do some shows, it'd be different, but that's probably never happening.

"acknowleding that there are different Earths where other heroes exist but dont interact just like in the comic books makes everything feel much more legit."

Just my opinion, but I think the idea of different Earths could def confuse and turn some people off (not me, I love that stuff, Fringe is one of my favorite shows ever but it also got shitty ratings).
ossie85
ossie85 - 11/12/2015, 2:34 PM

@jaysin420

I'm glad you mentioned Fringe, it handled alternate dimensions better than anything on TV has before. Fantastic! I just hope The Flash can live up to that, because so far it hasn't (still good, just not to the Fringe level of the Peter storyline).
krayzeman
krayzeman - 11/13/2015, 5:59 AM
@Jaysin420 Thanks! And as far as turning people off we'll see how The Flash does this season with those concepts. I'm always excited to watch the show(And even Arrow this season now that's it's not as "you have failed this city"). You can only cater so much to everyone without watering down stories. It seems that the new Supergirl show will have to learn from those growing pains because for me that show is sooooooo generic. I hope it's part of the multiverse though!
jaysin420
jaysin420 - 11/13/2015, 12:54 PM
@ossie85

Def, I'll never forget the episode where it started out in the other universe. I was confused and then it hit me and I just had a giant smile on my face for the entire episode. And "Peter" was such an amazing episode too, I really miss that show.

@krayzeman

I tried to get into Arrow a few times, but I just couldn't. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, I don't know. But then I didn't watch Flash cause I knew they were in the same universe. Probably stupid cause they seem very different, so I'm sure I'll binge it at some point.

I'm not even sure how to talk about the Supergirl show to be honest. I thought it looked like a joke in the previews, but I've been liking it so far. Pretty much only based on the lead actress tho, everything else is just blah.

Like I said, I don't watch the Flash, but he's so young on that show, why not just make it canon? Then when Flash shows up in the movies, he wouldn't have to look the same cause he's older, and we'd know his story from the show. I was thinking the same with Gotham, like that's actually Bruce's younger life, maybe the movies can have a flashback with the same actors or something.

I think if they did a multiverse kind of like that, then the movie audience (who don't watch the shows) wouldn't care or notice, but hardcore fans would love it.
krayzeman
krayzeman - 11/13/2015, 2:26 PM
@ossie85 @jaysin420 Fringe was wonderful until that closed the portal the the other side. Those alternate DC covers on the wall was such a geek inside moment. Forget about Gotham being involved with any type connection with anything. While I like the show it has gone so far outside of the Batman origin that I can't even see BATMAN fitting on that show. Definitely keep that separate. As far as Supergirl I trust Greg Berlanti and his crew will get that on track. I think the show so far is suffering from any type of creativity by being on older audience skewed CBS network(see my Supergirl article on this site's editorial). It seems like CBS just wanted a CSI/NCIS/Scorpion show but with a super hero. I don't like procedurals so thats my only bag with the shows they typical broadcast, except for the fantastic show that is The Good Wife.
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