With the conversation that continues to swirl around Warner Bros. and their DC Films slate, one can’t help but think of Sony and their ambitious but ultimately failed attempt to start a universe around “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Just like WB, their first film in the proposed franchise made a lot of money, but fanboys were not impressed, and audiences also failed to engage with the Spidey reboot. And when the ‘Spider-Man’ sequel earned even less than its predecessor, and took a greater critical beating, Sony folded up the tent, teamed up with Marvel, and started over. WB isn’t quite at that stage but it’s clear the studio is course correcting in a huge way following “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice.”
With Ben Affleck hired to executive produce the upcoming “Justice League,” and the formation of a proper creative umbrella for their superhero movies with the DC Films shingle, WB’s next move is a rather surprising one: longtime producer Charles Roven is being pulled from his regular duties on superhero movies.
There aren’t many blockbuster producers that are known by name — Kevin Feige, Frank Marshall, and Simon Kinberg, for example — that also regularly engage with the fanbase, but Roven is one of them. He’s been a longtime fixture at WB, and certainly proved his superhero credentials as the producer of Christopher Nolan‘s “The Dark Knight” trilogy. However, Roven was also part of Zack Snyder‘s brain trust for DC movies, and in case it wasn’t clear already, the studio is now moving in a completely new direction (indeed, DC’s Geoff Johns declared last week that “hope and optimism” needed to guide future films).
THR posits that WB reassigning Roven’s role in the company might be a practical move. As a producer on “Suicide Squad,” “Wonder Woman,” and “Justice League” and attached to “The Flash” and “Aquaman,” and with the studio eager to get more movies rolling, it’s simply not possible for him to be everywhere at once. That being said, even on the currently shooting “Justice League,” WB VP Jon Berg has been called in to replace Roven in looking at the day-to-day details (not to sound alarmist, but one does wonder if there is some kind of creative clash happening on that set, with both Affleck and Berg now throwing their weight around with Snyder).
The situation around Roven is said to be “evolving,” but the end goal is clear — find a new direction for WB’s superhero movies. And that seems to mean doing a creative overhaul. And while Snyder’s future with DC Films has yet to be detailed, I would hardly be surprised if following “Justice League,” he moves on to other projects.
