Warner Bros/Discovery Is Already Failing DC Fans

You can say with all the confidence in the world that you want to build an MCU-style universe within the company, but it’s clear Warner Bros. Discovery have zero interest in pleasing their fans. Between the canceled movie and streaming projects and now the cancellation of DC Fandome it’s time to throw in the towel. Warner Bros, while doing great with solo titles, hasn’t faired too well with their franchises as of late. Sell of the properties and make streaming content. Clearly, they don’t know how to do a connected universe that isn’t chaotic and confusing to fans.

First, they can throw out their idea for the multiverse all they want, they’ve been sloppy all along. We’ve got Ben Affleck’s Batman and Robert Pattinson’s. With the Joker adding Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn in a musical sequel to the Joker, we’ll have Margot Robbie, Lady Gaga, Kaley Cuoco (animated), and an obvious knock-off on Gotham in the past few years. That’s only to name a few. How many different times are we going throw crap against the wall to see what sticks?

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Now the fact that they will no longer be running DC’s Fandome is just another way to disconnect from fans. Sure, they can return to more in-person appearances and comic cons, but Fandome was great for those who can’t always afford to attend. It brought the content to the masses rather than just the privileged few. Yes, as covid becomes more manageable there’s more demand and ways to make money off live events, but those events don’t stream for the masses. If Warner Bros and Discovery cared about bringing it to casual fans, why can’t they stream these live events directly to HBO Max or other streamers? Why can’t there be exclusives for those who subscribe year-round? Surely there’s a way to offer rewards to both in-person con attendees and exclusive content for home viewers that connect to these events.

However, the biggest letdown that keeps people from buying in on these movies and shows is their lack of commitment. Not from the fans, but from Warner Bros, Discovery, and DC. How many shows have been cut or are left up in the air before eventually getting the axe? Who buys in and invests their time without knowing that it’ll be around the following season, or a movie they love will get a sequel? How many times can they recast an actor as a character that you connect with, only to have that person recast?

Imagine if Marvel did that with Iron Man. Do you really think if every couple of years they replaced Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark the MCU would’ve had nearly the success? Maybe we stop recasting these characters and start writing movies that people will love. You can change the faces all you want, but a crap story with no emotional connection to these characters does not equal return viewers. Marvel stuck it out through their “bad movies” and made something special.

You can go back through their history and see how Iron Man didn’t have as strong of a showing in their sequels, or that Thor: Dark World was so bad it forced them to change the tone of future Thor movies. Did they give up on these characters and recast them? No, they stuck to building characters and changed how they approached them while improving the quality of movies. Look how that turned out.

Warner Bros. and Discovery are still a new merger, but they repeat the same old mistakes when it comes to DC. Connect with the die-hard fans and they’ll sell the movies and shows to the casual viewer. Stop half-assing your content and building a DC version of the MCU wouldn’t be so hard.