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

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Brothers Discovery pushes TheMarySue.com into full panic mode with his plan to have DC Film and TV head report directly to to control all new DC content.

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
https://www.themarysue.com/new-head-of-dc-films-allegedly-required-to-report-directly-to-hbo-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
https://boundingintocomics.com/2022/09/08/rumor-massive-rewrites-for-aquaman-and-the-lost-kingdom-could-expand-ben-afflecks-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.