How Warner Bros. Discovery can rebuild DC movies and challenge Marvel, according to a comics industry insider

• Warner Bros. Discovery wants to overhaul the DC film franchise.
• The company wants to revitalize Superman and find a new executive to oversee the movies.

As Warner Bros. Discovery looks to put its stamp on WarnerMedia assets, the newly formed company has made DC a priority.

The comics and entertainment giant is responsible for some of Warner Bros. Discovery's most prized IP, from Batman and Wonder Woman. But on the big screen, movies based on DC characters — which are released by the Warner Bros. film studio — have been inconsistent both critically and financially.

The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, David Zaslav, would like to change that.

Variety recently reported that Zaslav wants to revitalize underused characters like Superman. And DC-Based Film Production will be a distinct division within the Warner Bros. Picture Group under new cochairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Walter Hamada, the current president of the DC film division, could be ousted, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.

One comics industry insider, who wished to remain anonymous to protect business relationships, says the key to DC's Hollywood success is to land on a strategy and stick to it, without getting sidetracked by what Marvel is doing; and to remember what made the characters, like Superman, popular in the first place.

"DC has been reacting to what Marvel's been doing," said a comics industry source close to DC. "Marvel did this, so they felt they had to do something else. I hope the new regime is more proactive. They have to trust their characters."

DC movies should be connected, without sacrificing the filmmakers' vision

This wouldn't be the first overhaul for DC movies in recent years.

"Justice League," which was meant to be WB and DC's answer to Disney and Marvel's "Avengers," disappointed at the box office, prompting a pivot away from a Marvel-like cinematic universe to a focus on standalone stories.

The comics industry source thinks that DC's future movies should have "some connectivity to best translate the comics universe on screen — but not at the risk of personal storytelling." He noted the difference with the MCU is that it feels like a "showrunner's vision" because the films are all connected.

"I hope they can balance between auteur filmmaking and a cohesive universe," he said.

DC and Warner Bros. will likely continue to tell standalone stories for the foreseeable future, though, as a sequel to "The Batman," along with an HBO Max spinoff series, have been greenlit. And a "Joker" sequel is in the works.

The upcoming "Flash" movie could provide some connective tissue, though, as it introduces DC's "multiverse" and features multiple versions of Batman.

Hamada, the DC-based films chief since 2018, has found success with moving away from interconnected movies. Some films since "Justice League" have been hits, like "Aquaman," "Joker," and, more recently, "The Batman." Others were critical favorites, like "Shazam!" and "The Suicide Squad," but had tepid box-office results.

Overall, DC's movies haven't delivered the same reliability as Marvel's, and now Hamada's job could be in jeopardy. Zaslav wants to find his version of DC's Kevin Feige, the Marvel Studios president and Marvel creative chief.

The most prominent name that comes to mind for the comics industry source is Jim Lee, DC's current publisher and creative chief — someone of similar stature, "with a deep knowledge of the DC Universe, who can build a rapport with creators."

"I like Walter very much and I'm not certain he couldn't be that person," the person also said. "He's done remarkable things, but there's always a desire to find a savior. I think it's more about making a decision to march forward in a certain way [and sticking to it]."

Warner Bros. and DC want to figure out Superman

One of DC's crown jewels, Superman, which Warner Bros. Discovery wants to revitalize, has particularly suffered from creative inconsistency.

Director Zack Snyder rebooted the character in 2013 with star Henry Cavill in "Man of Steel" and then followed it up in 2016 with "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." But those movies were criticized for their brooding take on the character, and after the "Justice League" debacle, Cavill's iteration was seemingly abandoned. Now, Warner Bros. is developing a movie starring a Black Superman, written by the author Ta-Nehisi Coates.

"They should trust the goodness of the character, and not question whether the audience will respond to that goodness," the comics-industry source said.

But it all starts with the comic books, which lay the groundwork for Warner Bros.' DC film franchise. The comics division encountered immense disruption during the pandemic, including heavy staff cuts and print reduction.

DC's comics line has since been dominated by the Dark Knight and related characters, leaving little room for other characters to shine. DC has "doubled down on key characters" like Batman since the reduction in 2020, said Milton Griepp, the founder and CEO of ICv2, an online publication that covers the comics business.

"It's damaging to long-term IP development," Griepp told Insider in April.

Still, the other comics-industry source said the future of DC's movies is bright.

"The library has limitless potential," he said. "There's a reason why you can wear a Superman 'S' anywhere in the world and people know exactly what that means. I see nothing but opportunity."