To be honest, I can’t work up the energy to care enough to be outraged or surprised or concerned about whatever DC Films randomly decides to do next. Most recently, it’s hiring Todd Phillips (“The Hangover,” “Old School“) to direct a Joker origin story movie, divorced from the DCEU, and produced by Martin Scorsese. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ At any rate, the reaction to the news was swift, and members of The Playlist team have also already shared their early thoughts on a new podcast. However, this Joker movie thing is not an outlier, but a sign of things to come, so you might want to keep your fainting couch handy.
If juggling one terribly conceived and poorly executed cinematic universe wasn’t enough, DC Films and Warner Bros. are now embarking on spinoff films, under a new banner, that won’t follow the continuity of the DCEU. On the one hand, it’s actually kind of a smart move by Warner Bros. The studio has learned the hard way that building a cinematic universe is difficult, and even more so when the films in the series aren’t working. Then there’s the question of signing actors to multiple pictures, and what happens when one major cornerstone (see Ben Affleck and the constant rumors he’s hanging up the cowl after “Justice League“) falls out. Thus far, the DCEU has been one, big expensive headache for WB.
So, here come the spinoff films. With no continuity to follow, these films can arguably be as risky as “Deadpool” or “Logan,” but with no responsibility to prop up future films. Even more, it allows WB and DC to exploit the endless array of intellectual property in their comic book arsenal.
At any rate, just like anything else, this all lives or dies on how good the end product is, and WB and DC have a long way to go in earning any reasonable amount of goodwill. Thoughts? Hit up the comments section. [Mashable]
