Long suffering DC fans has been underserved by Warner Brothers for decades and they have grown accustomed to being disappointed at theaters by superhero films that presumptively depict their heroes. With all-time superheroes and a rich minefield of great stories Warner has in its grasp a potential juggernaut that could dominate the world of entertainment. So looking back on WB ownership of DC what has it done to convert its most lucrative and popular properties into films? Well in the thirty plus years since Warner Brothers has released Superman it has produced 17 live action superhero films (excluding Swamp Thing not produce by WB, TDKR or Man of Steel for being unreleased therefore unable to score) that has an average Tomatometer score of about 48% on Rotten Tomatoes and the last seven films that the studio has released have an average metascore of 54.The greatest achievements and the biggest successes that Warner has had with its comic book adaptions has highlighted it worst failures and biggest blunders also it can be used to make the case that studios executives have mishandled their comic book properties.
An example of this is Richard Donner; there is no question that he is one of the greatest directors to ever work on a comic book film and a beloved legend among DC fans. By the time he signed on to direct Superman the franchise had been in a long state of decline with the days of George Reeves a distant painful memory. Donner would revive the franchise with a cumulative adjusted U.S total of his two films at $762.4 million exceeding the most optimistic hopes the studio had more important than box office totals is that his work on superman has become a timeless masterpiece that has been immortalized in pop culture and emblazoned upon innumerable hearts and minds across the globe. What did the studio do with this now lucrative and popular franchise? The answer is that WB let it die a horrible and embarrassing death in the years following Donner's departure. Superman 4: A Quest for Peace was a movie so devastating that it sent the franchise into an almost twenty year hiatus in fact it can be argued that it has never recovered. The best thing that one can say about the film is that its score on Rotten Tomatoes it's at least better than Mariah Carey's Glitter but that's cold comfort for a movie that's worse than Howard the Duck. To reboot the franchise WB choose Bryan Singer the acclaimed director of The Usual Suspects but his film alienated fans when he inexplicably choose to give Superman and Lois's a love child.
Warner eleven years after Superman would bring to the silver screen Batman a movie that brought the character back to his dark origins and answered the prayers of Batman fans everywhere. It fell up to filmmaker Tim Burton to turn things around for the struggling Franchise and a fan base that craved a depiction of Batman that was closer to the comic books. He created an artistic, visually striking Gotham City that mirrored the comic's dark and gothic environment as well as a Bruce Wayne that was a throwback to the brooding loner that Bill Finger penned over forty years prior. The success of his films gave a new life and direction to the Batman franchise as well as jumpstarted one of the most successful marketing campaigns ever witnessed. What did the studio do after Burton left in 92? Well it destroyed the franchise by going overboard with its desire to appeal and market to children. Batman & Robin is the worst movie based on a superhero that a studio has ever released upon comic fans.
Christopher Nolan completes DC's legendary directorial triumvirate his work takes the best of what Donner and Burton did with their films and builds upon that. He was not content with just delving into the origin and journey of the character as Donner has done but he wanted explore the psyche of the character as well. In his Batman trilogy he tackles the questions of what kind of person puts on a cape and cowl to fight injustice as well as under the mask who is Bruce Wayne really and that allows the audience to journey into the characters life in a way that's diffrent from previous films on the character. Similar to Burton he created a visually stunning hardedge Batman that was theatrical, scary and punishing but where he differs from him is in practicality and complexity of the character. His Batman will not kill but can instead chose to let someone (Ra's) die and he is more over the edge his voice is raspier, he breaks legs, beats a suspect during an integration, kidnaps criminals and intimidates corrupt cops by dangling them from a five story building. Nolan has given to audiences a compelling story that draws them in and connects them with the character as well as dramatic and suspenseful action sequences that keeps there and on the edge of their seats. As he leaves the Batman franchise he does so having made over $1.3 billion at the box office which maybe closer to $2.5 billion by the end of the summer with the release TDKR, he has given the franchise its first golden globe and academy award, as well as a record of excellence that will be difficult to match. What will the studio do with its flagship franchise? The answer according to Variety is let it sit and collect dust while Warner tries to adapt other superhero films and at later undisclosed time the studio will then reboot the franchise. Wow! A reboot of Nolan Batman series only makes sense if the TDKR fails or more likely if studio is planning on going in a different direction right now and whatever plans it has must be more lucrative than the $1 billion per film model that Nolan has created. Be afraid Batman fans, be very afraid!
The princess of the Amazons has been consistently the most popular heroine in all of comics. I always thought of her as cross between Susan B Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt and Xena the warrior princess in fact her creator Bill M Marston designed her to be an inspiration to girls who read comics. He believed women to be as capable as men and that girls needed a heroine that they can see as equal to the male superheroes that dominated comic books. The fact that the world's greatest heroine does not have her own film is proof that executives at Warner have little sense of the value of the comic book properties they own. A Wonder Woman movie could compete with Avatar's $2.7 billion because it appeals to everyone men and woman it has sci-fi, fantasy and possibly 3D. Most men wants to see movies with great action, good fight sequences and beautifully women Diana Prince has that in spades. As for women most would like to see a good drama, be able to build an understanding and connection with the character and if you add to that a strong female presence they will certainly come out see Diana on the big screen. Wonder Woman has a large dedicated fan base she offers audiences a sci-fi superhero fantasy that has suspense, romance, humor and elements of tragedy. To think of what she offers and all that she has become as a character that represents justice it's a big blunder and a great tragedy that Warner Brothers has never realized her potential.
Variety's report that WB is developing a script for a Justice League, Flash, Lobo, and Wonder Woman adaptions is positive news but it offers fans nothing new because the studio has been working on these projects for a long time. The JLA had a director in George Miller but it fell apart when fans got a whiff of what they were cooking up at the studio with Adam Brody as Flash and Common as the Green Lantern. The insult for DC fans is that it took Marvel more specifically Disney to make the studio take a greater interest in their comic book properties. What Warner is planning for their upcoming adaptions is certain to be lighter and more family friendly than Nolan's Batman films and closer to what Marvel has done than any DC fan would like. For example think about what a JLA movie means for the studio it's a stepping stone that they can use to make tens of billions in spinoff franchises (Martian Manhunter, Aquaman), TV shows, books, toys and in many other markets. Batman films must become lighter in order for it to fit with in the studio's larger cinematic comic book universe and more importantly so that they can mass market the character more effectively to children across various forms of media and in othe markets. The problem is that Warner Brothers will whore DC comic book properties in a way that will make brothels in Vegas jealous. DC fans should be angry, very angry but we have grown so numb over the years to the point where nothing that the WB does surprises us anymore. Horrible CBM's like Green Lantern, Catwoman or Jonah Hex shocks no DC fan who knows that Warner Brothers is the studio that gave comic fans some of the worst movies ever made. That's why we love Nolan because his films are among the best DC movies ever produced in fact he along with Donner and Burton are the best filmmakers that the studio has ever given to DC fans and if it were not for them there would be little reason to support the studio. After the Dark Knight Rises our best hope for a great comic book adaption lies in Zack Snyder and like Jeff Canada DC fans will be waiting for Superman.