WARNER BROS CEO Panics THEMARYSUE.COM, Rumor: “Massive” Rewrites For ‘Aquaman 2'!

PLAYLIST 25 VIDEOS: WARNER BROTHERS DISCOVERY & DAVID ZASLAV

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New Head of DC Films Allegedly Required to Report Directly to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav

Rumor: “Massive” Rewrites For ‘Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom’ Could Expand Ben Affleck’s Role As Batman To A Supporting Character

In the apparent overhaul of DC movies (again), filmgoers and comic book readers have basically been assured to trust the process and that they (newly merged parent company Warner Bros. Discovery) will do the immense catalog of stories and characters justice. In the company’s Q2 investor call, new WBD CEO David Zaslav confirmed the months of rumors when he stated the DCEU would be “similar to the structure that Alan Horn and Bob Iger put together very effectively with [Marvel Studios chief] Kevin Feige at Disney.”

Just a few weeks later, news broke that The Lego Movie director Dan Lin was in talks to head up that effort. With that news came a more alarming note in The Hollywood Reporter‘s scoop:

The role would encompass overseeing not just film but television as well, with Lin reporting directly to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, according to sources.

Anyone even halfway paying attention to Zaslav’s leadership over the last few months should be very concerned. Before getting into the nitty-gritty, let’s just look at the last few months setting back for a moment.

From the top level down, Zaslav has made terrible decisions and signaled he’s squirming to make it worse. By cutting a basically complete solo movie for one of the most recognizable women in comics (Batgirl) and a number of other projects at various stages of development to save a few million dollars in pandemic-related tax write-offs, they’ve lost tens of millions more in market value. To cut costs in paying the animation workforce residuals and health insurance, they’ve removed a slew of animated content, including at least one DC project.

For fans of a particular multi-DC-project director like Zack Snyder or James Gunn, things aren’t looking peachy for them, either. While Batgirl was directed by Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi, it was technically part of the Synderverse due to J.K. Simmons’ James Gordon making an appearance. Also, when documentary filmmaker Leslie Iwerks asked WBD to license clips from the 2021 Justice League (a.k.a. The Synder Cut), she was told that the only Justice League that exists came out in 2017. In the Q2 call, they also stressed big IP, when James Gunn will do the opposite whether in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or DC Extended Universe.

Decisions like these, on top of a not-great year for the box office overall (yes, there were standouts, of course) caused further delays in WBD projects. The mega studio is only releasing Black Adam and Don’t Worry Darling this year. The reports as to “why” are conflicting as to whether this is for changes to upcoming films, a budgetary issue, or a combination of the two. Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom and Shazam! Fury of the Gods are now pushed back further into 2023, the same year as the dreaded Flash movie.

Another attempt in replicating Marvel
There’s a sect of DCEU fans excited about these changes and a “strong man” approach to these poor decisions by Zaslav. Sure, some of that is just because the people who were mad that DC was starting to include more women and people of color are now happy about Batgirl’s cancellation, but I don’t think this is most people. (Contrary to popular belief, I don’t equate everything I disagree with to racism!)

Instead, I feel like this willingness to believe that this time company leadership will get things right for fans just comes down to rooting for any changes that might help your “team” when things aren’t going so well. For over a decade, people who chose the DC camp—when you don’t need to take any camp in a battle between massive corporations—have taken L after L. There have been some highlights, but it’s been a mess compared to the MCU, despite that the MCU is far from perfect itself.

[legkick]

Rewrite must mean non money making woke garbage. I can only see a positive for this movie. I am not a fan of The Schneiderverse. But he did some things well. Sticking with what works and building around it, is a great move!

[mwheeler]

Adam great stream, people fail to realize David is taking on a lot and he's got a vision it has to play out first then you can judge, I'm happy good change is happening it's been long overdue!

[shadowhawktalks]

Adam you are a better journalist than most of the media right now! Great work 🍻

[brandonzzz]

If you don’t make money don’t make sense

[lucbauer]

Karen Sue is a greater menace than Mary Sue

[shadow_realm]

Let's be fair he's trying to save the business.
All these other things are just a minor inconvenience, which have never made money.
It's just that now the coffers are empty.

[Saejima_the_taiga]

I hate David zaslav for screwing over those animators

[rafaelx]

Good Becouse those wierdos are destroying decades of great material and establish characters
It’s there business and entertainment that is suffering Becouse of those horrible decisions

[johnf]

What's not mentioned in the article is the massive impact of Top Gun: Maverick. Zaslav is about making money, and as much as he's looking at the model Feige setup with the MCU, he's looking at the audience. The audience has voted, and it's for feel good, adventure stories.

The Black Adam trailer is interesting; at the end, you see an ad for the graphic novel. I think this will be the way Discovery wants to go (probably outsourcing it), to get a consistent flavor in media, including movies, animation and print (unlike what's happening today, with the comic characters totally different from the movie ones). The trailer looked good, Dwayne Johnson is a fan favorite, and I can see this film making much needed profits for Zaslav/Discovery (especially if Henry Cavill is involved).

You're not going to get SJW's out of the picture right away, but I think Zaslav is going to insist on competent people at all levels. If you're diverse and talented, no problem...but if you're just diverse, I think you'll need to update your resume. Most importantly, you need to MAKE MONEY...or you're out, no matter how many twitter bots you have to complain about it.

[brandonzzz]

That’s the thing that no one talking about they are not cutting shows are series that’s making money nobody talking about that though tell me about it

[trevonpernell]

Who would you chose to oversee DC, Adam? I'd choose Lauren Shuler Donner.

[billscott]

Adam, it is pure torture to listen to you read anything from the MarySue, their descent into stupidity is mind numbing. Mermaids?

[brandonzzz]

Is this so hard if I’m running a company I need to know where my money is going at all the time not just sometime at all time I need to know where my money is going how much investment am I getting back