Just two days after Warner Bros Discovery made the shocking move to cancel Batgirl, CEO David Zaslav announces his new plan regarding the future of DC. And surprise surprise, it's got something to do with Marvel.
According to Zaslav, DC will take a page from Marvel Studios' playbook and also have a 10-year plan.
"You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman - these are brands that are known everywhere in the world," Zaslav said during an earnings call Thursday (Aug 4). "We have done a reset. We've restructured the business where we are going to focus, where there is going to be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC. We believe we can build a much more sustainable business."
DC has long wished to emulate the success of the Disney-owned Marvel Studios, which Kevin Feige has built into the highest-grossing film franchise in history. With Feige's former boss, retired Disney film chief Alan Horn recently joining Warners' team as an adviser, Zaslav believes that DC can do what Marvel does, and perhaps, even better.
"It's very similar to the structure Alan Horn, [former Disney CEO] Bob Iger and Kevin Feige put together very effectively at Disney. We think we can build a much stronger, sustainable growth business out of DC," said Zaslav. "As part of that, we are going to focus on quality. We are not going to release any film before it's ready. … DC is something we can make better."
DC has been a mess lately. The beef between filmmaker Zack Snyder and Warner Bros seems neverending with the studio now attempting to erase Zack Snyder's Justice League from history. The Flash actor Ezra Miller is deep in controversies and updates on the upcoming Black Adam and Shazam! movies are sparse. The cherry on top? The cancellation of Batgirl.
Believe it or not, Warner Brothers actually have a strong line-up of movies based on its rich library of comic book heroes on the way. All Zaslav has to do is whip it into shape and they will be unstoppable.
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This article was first published in Geek Culture.