Ever since MAN OF STEEL ushered in the new DC cinematic universe, we have all been anticipating that a grand scale plan would be put in place like what Marvel has done. But, DC is working from a different starting point than Marvel did and yet we continue to assume that there will be multiple standalone superhero movies followed by a JUSTICE LEAGUE mega-movie the same way everything led to an AVENGERS feature. But, we haven’t stopped to ask if that was the plan.
IGN decided to ask the man in charge of organizing Warner Bros and their DC feature properties about what the plan is for a unified movie universe.
“I mean, it’s too early. I know that Warner Bros. would love to make their universe more cohesive. There have been a lot of general conversations about that, but it’s really, really early. I’m not sure. Marvel has had enormous success, but I’m not sure that everybody should try to emulate them either. It’s just been vague conversations so far.”
The question then becomes whether Warner Bros is planning to unite their big screen features, which seems likely with Ben Affleck as Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in BATMAN VS SUPERMAN as well as Dwayne Johnson‘s committal to DC in an unspecified superhero role, or if they also want to pull their television properties into that canon as well.
Currently, The CW airs the fan favorite series ARROW and plans to launch THE FLASH in the Fall. At that time, Fox will also begin airing the James Gordon-centric Batman origin series GOTHAM. Marvel has shown the mix between TV and theater can work with AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., so will DC follow suit? It has always seemed that DC has done better on TV than Marvel, so could they use that to their advantage here?
I think DC is going to do whatever they can to avoid comparison to Marvel, but they would be foolish not to take into consideration what has made Disney’s acquisition such a success. DC also holds the extra bonus that all of their characters fall under one studio rather than all over the place like Marvel. Stay tuned as we await more as production ramps up on BATMAN VS SUPERMAN, slated for May 6, 2016.