Warner Bros. has exclusive film rights to many of the most iconic characters in the history of fiction and their usage of those characters has been a disaster. Things have gone so far off the rails that fans have begun to wonder whether the studio is preparing to abandon one of its biggest cash cows.
The DC Comics universe used to dominate the big screen while Marvel's efforts struggled to be anything other than cheap messes. Over the years, Marvel has become a success factory with a reliable model and DC has begun to either run out of steam or cease to try.
Warner Bros. seems to be following an extremely grim and cynical corporate strategy. Anything that doesn't have the potential to be a monster hit seems prepped to be scuttled as the studio desperately seeks a big hit. Batgirl may have been canceled due to poor test screenings, but all new studio head David Zaslav can talk about is his desire to make big tent pole blockbusters. Warner Bros. supposedly wields a ten-year plan, comparable to Marvel's comically long schedules. The company seems to intend to continue pushing forward its DCEU cinematic experiment, but there have been substantial bumps in the road. As HBO Max slowly loses its hold on DC material, fans are wondering whether WB might be considering cutting and running.
The DC Extended Universe began in 2013 with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. For its first few years, Snyder's singular creative vision was the dominant design of the franchise. Even when he didn't direct the films, they fit into a puzzle in which he was the chief architect. This was an immensely troublesome decision that has, in many ways, only proven to be a massive wound in the company. Snyder's fanbase is one of the most die-hard, rabid, and hateful towards outsiders. During his reign, his fans were happy, but a tremendous percentage of the audience despised his miserable hypermasculine take on the characters. When he left Justice League and the studio put out the malformed mess that hit theaters in 2017, fans began demanding a fully restored Snyder Cut. They got that Snyder Cut, and they're still demanding the director reclaim his position. WB will be dealing with one portion of its audience viciously deriding and review bombing their material forever.
One of the biggest problems with WB as a studio is its inability to move on. WB had one inarguable guaranteed yearly monster success a decade ago, and they've never stopped trying to recapture it. When WB had the Harry Potter franchise, it had a reliable hit-maker that it could simply let rack up billions year after year. What WB seems to want out of its DCEU efforts is that same level of unquestioned monster success. Though every DCEU movie makes a comical amount of profit, it still isn't enough for them. Movies cost a lot of money to make, and having to take even the slightest risk on a project that might not bring in a billion dollars isn't considered worth it. This problem isn't exclusive to WB, it's become common. Movie studios want to make fewer movies and see more success. One billion-dollar hit covers a dozen mild successes or flops. This strategy is poisonous, but it's clearly popular.
WB still has a few central DCEU tent poles that it seems poised to continue using. Aquaman, Shazam, and Wonder Woman are likely to keep getting solo films. Blue Beetle is set to be introduced next year. Despite the star's many public crimes, The Flash is still coming out. All of these established characters can continue to lead huge blockbusters to immense financial rewards. But, the instant one of them fails to deliver the massive return they're expected to bring in, WB will likely toss them aside, culling the stable yet again. Despite Zaslav's talk of 10-year plans, the entire operation seems very reactionary. Arguably, the studio is betting a ton of its clout on the same character they've always had success with, Batman. Matt Reeves has a long contract with WB, but, as the list of viable options grows shorter, WB's DCEU might be running out of material.
Warner Bros. isn't abandoning the DCEU just yet, but it still feels as if it could be an option. Fans online seem prepared for Zaslav to cancel every film on the docket in pursuit of a tax write-off. In the modern era, studios seem to be rewriting their entire cinematic strategy every time the weekly box office comes in. As projects get canceled with wild abandon, closer to release than one could imagine a decade ago, anything seems possible. With its nightmarish fanbase, cynical corporate strategy, and desperate hunt for a quick profit, WB could easily destroy its own biggest franchise. Fans will have to wait and see whether another company's logos pop up before the next Superman movie in a decade or so.