It looks like Zack Snyder won’t be leading the charge for the future of the DC film universe after major changes were made this week…
The fallout from the reaction to Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice has sent shockwaves through Warner Bros. and DC Comics with a new dynamic duo being paired up to lead the film universe from here going forward.
Warner Bros. VP Jon Berg and DC chief content officer Geoff Johns will now be heading up DC Entertainment where they will make the day-to-day decisions and direction for DC Entertainment in regards to the film universe being adapted from the comics.
Berg has already been working on several DC related projects including Batman V. Superman and the upcoming Suicide Squad movie.
As for Johns, he’s a name that’s well known in the comic book industry for his work on characters such as Green Lantern, The Flash and Superman and more recently he’s been involved in the very successful launch of DC into television with series such as Arrow and The Flash.
Now Johns will try to bring his Midas touch to the DC film universe, which has faced mixed results for both Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman — both films directed by Zack Snyder.
The idea behind empowering Berg and Johns to oversee the DC film library is to bring continuity to the films while crafting a universe similar to what Marvel has created with Kevin Feige in charge. Berg and Johns are now also being upgraded to producers on the upcoming Justice League movie, which is also directed by Snyder.
Johns has already worked on a solo Batman movie where he penned a script alongside Ben Affleck and his influence in the comic book universe has been felt for years with his lead on DC’s New 52 series as well as the upcoming Rebirth relaunch, which he is also the man in charge.
Affleck is also expected to take a larger role in the DC film universe with a producer credit on Justice League and he’ll likely end up directing the solo Batman movie where he’ll star as well.
The Warner Bros/DC film universe has been rocky thus far to say the least and these changes are being made in large part to right the ship before things get even further off course.
Batman V. Superman opened with huge numbers, but the movie quickly sputtered out and fell flat at the box office after word of mouth and a slew of negative reviews plagued the movie. The film has currently hauled in $870 million worldwide, which is still a success versus the $300 million budget, but expectations were much, much higher.
The upcoming Flash movie, starring Ezra Miller, has also undergone recent changes with first time director Seth Grahame-Smith splitting from the project over “creative difference” and there were even rumors (eventually debunked) that James Wan had considered leaving the Aquaman movie.
Even the highly touted Suicide Squad movie, which has been a hit with fans based only on the trailers, ended up doing extensive reshoots weeks after the movie had already wrapped.
Speculation was that Suicide Squad endured the reshoots after the reaction to Batman V. Superman, but the production company and filmmakers behind the movie denied those claims. According to reports, Johns became involved in Suicide Squad during the reshoots to help boost the movie to exceed expectations after such a great early reception to the footage that had already been shown.
The goal with all of these changes are to see the DC film universe start to come together in the same way Marvel has launched such a successful cinematic universe over the years. This is the first time DC has attempted to make a threaded universe of films with a single continuity running throughout and now with Berg and Johns in charge, hopes are high that they can right the ship and bring fans back in droves.
