The Problem With DC Comics Movies

By Aaron Ting

Anyone who knows me personally can attest to my love of superheroes. Ask me something about these characters and I'll rant for hours about how they're 'American Mythology' - I truly believe superheroes are the genuine American folklore. 

An American pantheon

While my beloved comic books are a fading novelty yet to be replaced, Hollywood films have made significant progress in passing these superhero myths on to the next generation of Americans. Marvel films have been startlingly effective. Children today know Spider-Man far better than they know Superman - and that wouldn't have been possible without the movies. Sure, Fantastic Four and Elektra were considerable missteps, but the mainstream's awareness of Marvel's front-and-center characters is growing with each summer movie season. I never thought I'd see kids in a Burger King arguing about whether Iron Man was cooler than Batman (and Iron Man prevailed in that argument). It's totally reflective of how Marvel characters have penetrated our mythology; when Disney bought Marvel, it was a sign that Spider-Man and other Marvel characters had become timeless - like Mickey Mouse or Superman, they are characters that will still be in our stories decades from now.

Now Marvel had a pretty smart strategy when it came to films - a plan that stretched all the way back to Blade. That's right, it wasn't X-Men or Spider-Man; we have Wesley Snipes to thank for this superhero movie renaissance. Had Blade failed financially, the entire landscape of Marvel films could have turned out differently. 

But where does this leave my other favorite comics publisher? The continued absence of a Superman movie and the recent failure of Jonah Hex have me increasingly worried about the cinematic vitality of DC Comics characters. Simply put, it's been clear lately that the company that owns DC Comics - Warner Brothers - just didn't have a plan.

I'm willing to admit that it's harder to forge a film continuity where all the DC Comics characters can co-exist. It's hard to explain why Gotham needs Batman in a world that has Superman and the Flash. Chris Nolan, who has been helming the Batman films and pondering a new Superman film franchise, has been fairly adamant about keeping these two iconic characters in wholly separate worlds. Batman is the only superhero in his world; sames goes with Superman. On the one hand, Nolan is actually communicating a pretty keen understanding of these characters. He wants to stay true to who these characters are, but doesn't see a way to do that without keeping them in their separate, sterile realities. 

The problem, however, is that a lot of DC Comics properties just don't work without an established cohesive universe. Teen Titans, once a more popular team than the X-Men, is an impossible story to tell in a film unless the audience can be told that these teenage sidekicks' mentors all exist in the same world. The Justice League, arguably the most important and most financially-viable team in DC's stable, is a team that can't be put together if the big five - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash - are all in separate film franchises that each preclude the existence of the other franchises.

It's possible that DC could pursue a two-pronged approach. They could allow Nolan to take Batman and Superman out of the equation and let them have their own separate universes, and the rest of the DC characters can share a film-adapted 'DC Universe.' But let's be honest here, people will throw riots if they see a trailer for a Justice League movie that doesn't have the two World's Finest superheroes. (see right)

What seems so crazy to me is that the pieces are all there to make a cohesive film continuity. Jonah Hex didn't have to be pointless; it could've been the movie that set up the DC Universe without actually having to show how all the other superheroes are connected. DC properties have a very historic, generational aspect to them; if Warner Brothers had come up with a plan, Jonah Hex could've planted the seeds for the entire direction of DC's films: we could've seen a background character excavating a green lantern, a cameo by the immortal Vandal Savage (a major Justice League villain), and even perhaps some tongue-and-cheek reference to the Flash's "speed force." Hex could've gone from a crappy cowboy movie to a mediocre cowboy movie with just enough to make the Comic-Con crowd foam at the mouth for more DC movies.

I've been trying not to get my hopes up too high for the upcoming Green Lantern film, but it's hard when I'm such an unrepentant Green Lantern fan. Green Lantern would be such a perfect way to bring this colorful, fictional universe together. Green Lantern origin stories usually involve a ring flying around the planet seeking a worthy owner with the will  to overcome fear. Rumors of early Green Lantern drafts hinted that we'd see this in the film, and the ring would whiz by some 'recognizable' candidates - like Clark Kent. But then an interview with the film's director revealed that, to his knowledge, this was no longer part of the script. Seriously?

I desperately want to see these characters dutifully adapted to film. This can be done in tasteful way that doesn't alienate the mainstream or anger the loyal fans. It doesn't need to be some massive twenty-picture strategy. Marvel didn't succeed because they had some meticulously-detailed agenda; they succeeded because they had the courage to try out a small movie with a vampire hunter, and the foresight to put Samuel Jackson at the end of Iron Man. 


Warner Brothers knows they need to do something with all these profitable characters. They've announced a Christmas 2012 release date for the next Superman movie - without having a confirmed director, cast, or even a script. But it finally occurred to Warner Bros that they should be consulting (or promoting) some of the creative talent at DC Comics - you know, those guys that actually write superhero stories for a living. This is a step in the right direction, and hopefully one that will lead to more thoughtful decisions than Jonah Hex.


Now if one of those thoughtful decisions leads to this movie, all will be forgiven.