There is a storm brewing at DC Entertainment, the company in charge of any and all DC Comics IP owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, and fans have had enough.
The DC Extended Universe has been dealt a particularly bad hand with its controversial cast and crew (think Joss Whedon, Jared Letto, Amber Heard, and most recently Ezra Miller), as well as backstage business and management chaos with the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery bringing about extensive restructuring within the company.
The latest announcement that Batgirl, a movie which had already undergone production and was close to being ready for release, was going in the trash, has been the final straw for a lot of exasperated fans. The puzzling decision was reportedly down to tax purposes with Warner Bros deciding the movie wasn’t financially viable.
Many have questioned why the company would cancel Batgirl, when The Flash is still standing regardless of titular actor Ezra Miller’s increasingly strange behavior, which has made headlines across the board.
The discontent is widespread with users taking to social media to express their frustrations, like one Redditor claiming to be “tired of giving a sh-t about this never ending clusterf-ck of a film franchise.” The post continues, saying “I’m pretty much done and I’m just going back to enjoying the comic books and animated shows. F-ck the DCEU and what it’s done to almost a century of DC comics legacy and the fans that love it.”
The comments section seems to be on the same page, with the most upvoted comment expressing in all caps, with some profanities in the mix, how much it sucks being a DC fan.
Others were quick to dispute this particular rant by pointing out that, outside of the DCEU, there is still plenty of great DC content to be enjoyed. However, Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent unpredictable business movements have DC aficionados nervous that even the Comics’ department might suffer, especially since it seems to have lost some of its biggest names already.
One of the biggest successes DC Entertainment has enjoyed in recent years, by staying miles away from the DCEU, was The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson and directed by Matt Reeves. Much like Bruce to the people of Gotham, the movie stands now as a beacon of light for desperate DC fans.
David Zaslav is getting most of the heat as the recently appointed chief executive officer and president of Warner Bros. Discovery, after the merger with Discovery, Inc., which he previously presided over. Fans seem to think the future of the DCEU isn’t a priority for Zaslav, even arguing that “It honestly feels like he’s throwing not just DC but all of Warner Bros and HBOMax under the bus in order to pump up Discovery.”
One user perfectly summarized everything that has gone wrong with the DCEU and why the only option might be to “scrap the whole thing and start over.”
Time will tell if the DCEU is somehow able to turn this dire situation around. This year alone, fans can look forward to Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, expected in October and December, respectively.
