With Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia complete, the new bosses of Warner Bros. Pictures are reportedly looking to find DC Films its very own version of Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige.
According to Variety, sources say that David Zaslav — CEO of the newly-combined Warner Bros. Discovery — and his top leadership plan to overhaul DC Films, and have been “toying with the idea of turning DC into its own solidified content vertical.” Apparently, before the merger was finalized, Zaslav “vetted candidates” in an attempt to find “someone to serve as a creative and strategic czar similar to what Marvel has in Kevin Feige.”
Variety says that one candidate was Emma Watts, who previously served as president of production at 20th Century Studios and motion picture president at Paramount. That said, it does not appear as though Watts will take the DC job. Furthermore, one source claims that Zaslav “was less interested in finding a creative guru” and more interested in finding “someone who had the type of business background needed to keep all the different factions at DC working more harmoniously.”
Warner Bros. and DC Films’ DC Extended Universe franchise got off to a rocky start in terms of critical reception. More recent entries in the film franchise have been met with more positive reviews, though the DCEU has still often been criticized for its apparent lack of a singular creative vision, especially when compared to Disney and Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe. Evidently, Zaslav and company have noticed this.
Much of the MCU’s success has been attributed to Feige, who has served as Marvel Studios’ president and the MCU’s primary producer since 2007. In 2019, Feige took on additional responsibilities as chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment.
At this stage, however, a number of new DCEU projects are already in the works and gearing up for release. Black Adam is due to hit theaters later this year on Oct. 21, followed by Shazam! Fury of the Gods (the sequel to 2019’s Shazam!) on Dec. 16. The HBO Max-exclusive film Batgirl is also set to premiere this year, though still lacks a specific release date.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (the sequel to 2018’s Aquaman) is then scheduled for release on March 17, 2023, followed by The Flash on June 23, 2023 and Blue Beetle on Aug. 18, 2023. Meanwhile, the DCEU-set streaming series Peacemaker has been renewed for a second season on HBO Max. Mind you, it has long been speculated that The Flash would serve to press the reset button on the franchise to some extent.
Outside the DCEU, the standalone DC film The Batman has been met with positive reviews and strong box office numbers, with at least two HBO Max spinoff series in the works and murmurs of a potential sequel.
Source: Variety
Read Next
About The Author
