David Goyer Says Warner Bros Has No Plans For Cohesive DC Universe

[IanDavis]

David Goyer Says Warner Bros Has No Plans For Cohesive DC Universe

Goyer: "You have to admire what Marvel's done."

So, while Marvel has their movies planned out until 2028, Captain America has been breaking box office records. It's a rough time for DC Comics, which has had a spotted track record as far as superhero movies go. David Goyer, the writer behind Nolan's Batman series and Man of Steel, recently sat down with IGN to talk about the state of DC superhero movies, where he states that Warner Brothers [a href=http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/04/08/david-goyer-says-warner-brothers-would-love-to-make-their-dc-universe-more-cohesive]doesn't have any plans[/a] to tie their heroes together into a coherent universe, as much as he'd love to.

When asked if there's pressure from above to imitate Marvel's Cinematic Universe, he says "I mean, yes and no. Look, we've been pretty lucky with the films we've done so far. I think right now it's just kind of, 'More of the same, please.'"

"You have to admire what Marvel's done," he continues. "It's really hard to create a brand, I mean, where people will follow your brand. Pixar's done it, and now Marvel has done it. It's really, really hard to do, because there's not a lot of brand loyalty anymore."

Goyer's solution to "more of the same" is to branch off with Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which he's currently working on adapting. Still, as Marvel continues to tie its characters together across multiple movies (and genres), it should be interesting to see if the one-shot superhero movies of old can still stand up.

Source: [a href=http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/04/08/david-goyer-says-warner-brothers-would-love-to-make-their-dc-universe-more-cohesive]IGN[/a]

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[Johnny Novgorod]

Weren't they making a Superman vs. Batman movie with Wonder Woman in it?

 

[Covarr]

I certainly wouldn't want to see this with Goyer at the helm. He made a mess of Blade 2, he made a mess of The Dark Knight Rises, and he made a mess of Man of Steel.

P.S. Thanks

 

[KazeAizen]

Weren't they making a Superman vs. Batman movie with Wonder Woman in it?

If nothing else we'll at least have their TV universe with Arrow, Flash, and Amazon.

 

[Egor Ryzhov]

Weren't they making a Superman vs. Batman movie with Wonder Woman in it?

If nothing else we'll at least have their TV universe with Arrow, Flash, and Amazon.

Amazon was cancelled long time ago.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

Maybe they realized there's no way they can compete with Marvel because DC was so far behind in the movie department.

 

[TheMemoman]

I'm sorry to say it, but it's Goyer the one holding back DC. I'm sure there's plenty of other talented writers who get Superman, who also get Batman, and are just dying for a turn at the bat. Surely somebody at Warner Bros. is leading this battle. Certainly someone from within DC Comics.

 

[Something Amyss]

Mostly because that would involve having a plan, period.

Weren't they making a Superman vs. Batman movie with Wonder Woman in it?

And cameos from half the DCU. And they're doing a spinoff from Arrow into a Flash show (and rumours he may cameo, I guess).

Then again, they said cohesive. Man of Steel wasn't even a cohesive movie, so I don't know how they'd expect a universe to work.

I certainly wouldn't want to see this with Goyer at the helm. He made a mess of Blade 2, he made a mess of The Dark Knight Rises, and he made a mess of Man of Steel.

P.S. Thanks

It's his super power.

 

[Arawn]

Truth be told they don't have to link all their movies/stories. It's just by doing so Marvel can tempt and tease about other stories and reference various events. Rather than a stand alone movie it all feels like a TV series. When one watches it in order they're given a sense of understanding what's happening in the world. Building a world like that is alot more work to be sure. Let's take Man of Steel. The city got leveled/trashed. In the Batman/Superman movie people predicted Mr Wayne shows up to help fund it's reconstruction (I think someone said Lex first, but that's doubtful now) Giving each hero their own little world isn't bad by any means either. It can help the writers focus on the character rather than how said character impacts the developed world. In the end I really don't care as long as they have a good story for either scenario.

 

[RandV80]

At this point you just gotta feel sort of bad for DC. In terms of competing fandoms, its been a while since we've had something that at one point was pretty even become so lopsided as Marvel vs DC has at the movie level.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

Wow. When WB own them, I thought they'd be combing the DC back catalogue to make it worse.
that said, I'm not disappointed, in recent memory the only DC film I've enjoyed is the second in the Nolan trilogy

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

"...It's really, really hard to do, because there's not a lot of brand loyalty anymore."

Yeah, cause when I think about comic fandom, the last thing I think of is fierce loyalty to the point of obsession.

Seriously, this guy seems to have no idea about the medium he paints in.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

The DC Cinematic Universe is only as limited as people like David Goyer makes it. As for brand loyalty, the Pixar Universe started from scratch. Nobody knew a thing about Toy Story, Cars etc until Pixar took those chances. Even within the Marvel universe, Iron Man and Thor were pretty low-key compared to Spider-Man or The X-Men. If DC has one advantage over Warner Bros, it's brand recognition. WB just doesn't know how to sell super heroes and seems to be too afraid to give anyone a chance to TAKE that chance. For Superman 2, they're using Batman to try selling him when HE'S FREAKING SUPERMAN!

Well...based on Man of Steel he's probably Super Boy Prime...

 

[Ickabod]

The problem is that DC painted themselves into a corner when they made The Dark Knight. The movie was great and it gave them confidence to start turning out their comic book licenses. But Dark Knight was also very very dark, which is great for Batman, but not good for Superman. There is the "one size fits all" mentality in those movies where the joy of what makes them comic book movies is drained from them.

Now look at Marvel, while they have serious stakes in the movie, these movies also get that they are comic book movies and embrace that without being too cartoonish, hence their fun. Additionally each movie series and character has a different type of feel to it.

I'm not a comic book guy, but to me, it seems like Marvel knows who they are and what they are trying to sell, understanding that they aren't just selling to comic book fans. DC doesn't seem to understand who their characters are, which is why Superman just had the wrong tone.

To me I just want great movies

 

[CriticalMiss]

Look, we've been pretty lucky with the films we've done so far

Like the critically acclaimed Green Lantern and Man of Steel? And don't forget Catwoman. Those guys...so lucky!

I sort of don't believe that they aren't planning something larger than Bats vs Supes. Hollywood is build on copying other stuff so they would be seriously innovating if they didn't copy the MCU, plus the longer they wait to jump on the bandwagon the further ahead Marvel will get until they are releasing multiple Marvel movies per year and dominating the comic-to-movie sector. More than they already are I mean.

 

[Mister K]

Woah, woah, wait for a goddamn minute...
The same person, who directed recent Batman and Superman movies is also directing The Sandman adaptation?!

Guess I'll have to prepare for Dream "punching out" information out of people and then snapping their necks.

If you haven't realised, I am crying a bit inside.

 

[V4Viewtiful]

This is why Batman will only be WB's truly successful movies, there's no room for growth there.

I certainly wouldn't want to see this with Goyer at the helm. He made a mess of Blade 2, he made a mess of The Dark Knight Rises, and he made a mess of Man of Steel.

P.S. Thanks

Yep.

 

[V4Viewtiful]

Blade, The Dark Knight, Spirit of Vengeance... okay the first 2 are Goyer's best work

 

[Mufujumon]

I think attributing the continuing success of Marvel's Cinematic Universe to "brand loyalty" is silly and misses the point. The Marvel movies are good, plain and simple. On their own , the movies that make up the MCU are damn fine movies; the fact that together they elevate and strengthen each other certainly doesn't hurt either. I didn't go see Winter Soldier because I'm loyal to Marvel; I went to see it because it looked good, and the last dozen Marvel movies were good, and people I trust said it was good.