DC Films diehards don’t want to hear it, but the franchise is not in good shape. Since the Rotten Tomatoes score for “Justice League” was revealed yesterday, the Tomatometer tally has fallen from 43% to 37%. The box office will undoubtedly be big for the film this weekend, and maybe the international numbers will be strong as well, but the brand is damaged. DC is a far way not just from the consistent critical and commercial success of Marvel, but the goodwill that brand has amassed. Marvel is the envy of everyone in Hollywood because they’ve established a smooth-running, problem-free franchise that delivers over and over again.
The next few weeks ahead will likely see Warner Bros. and DC taking a hard look at their franchise, and what comes next. Despite lots of projects in development, the only films with firm release dates at the moment are “Aquaman” (December 21, 2018), “Shazam” (April 5, 2019) and “Wonder Woman 2” (November 1, 2019). It’s particularly telling that we’re getting another “Wonder Woman” picture, before a sequel to “Man Of Steel,” which despite lots of chatter, is still a very long way off — there’s no director, no script, and story ideas are still being tossed around. Gal Gadot and Wonder Woman have emerged as the unlikely fan and critical favorites of the current DCEU, and WB may want to capitalize on that as much as possible.
READ MORE: Dear Academy: Please Forget Wonder Woman Is In ‘Justice League’
The Ankler recently broke down the rough road to “Justice League,” along with the current corporate woes at WB and revealed that a number of options for the post-“Justice League” world of DC movies are on the table. Here’s what they said.
There’s all sorts of scuttlebutt about the way forward for DC post-League: that Whedon’s Batgirl is…unthinkable at this point; that they’ll now turn the whole thing over to James Wan if Aquaman goes well; that they might just make it a Wonder Woman universe.
So, there are a couple of takeaways here (and let’s remember, this is all speculation). Firstly, despite reports that Joss Whedon would become a major creative force at DC following his work on “Justice League,” it seems he’s out, some of it likely due to the details of his divorce that emerged this summer. It’s intriguing to hear James Wan‘s name mentioned; he’s been a major franchise figure at Warner Bros. thanks to “The Conjuring” and its growing world of movies, so the familiarity and confidence is there at a studio level. And, again, putting as much focus on Wonder Woman as possible is not a surprise considering how beloved the character has become.
Some of this could happen, none of it could happen, but it’s an indication that DC Films, after five movies, are still lacking a clear vision and path forward.