Hollywood talent agents now view the DCEU as a poisoned brand as a result of multiple bad choices made by WBD CEO David Zaslav.
The CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, may be doing more damage to the DC Extended Universe than good, according to a Hollywood talent rap.
One important talent agent told The Hollywood Reporter that
"Zaslav doesn't know what he doesn't know. That's scary. And you're always going to be compared to Marvel. It's unfair. By the time they were being judged, it was working. It's the exact opposite at Warner. It's rough all around. Who the fuck would want that job?"
As Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe at Disney, WBD is now developing "a 10-year plan focusing just on DC". Zaslav is also looking for someone to fill the role of DC's Feige, but he has had trouble finding somebody willing to take it on. According to sources, Zaslav is looking for
"someone who had the type of business background needed to keep all the different factions at DC working more harmoniously."
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Former front-runner for the position, producer Dan Lin, recently withdrew from talks with WBD due to prior commitments with his production businesses Rideback and Rideback Rise. Since the negotiations between WBD and Lin came to an end, no other names have been mentioned as candidates for the position.
The DC Universe is having problems
While the company continues to deal with numerous controversies involving its upcoming slate of superhero films, Warner Bros. Discovery is looking for a new DC head. Despite the fact that the movie had already been shot, fans are still in disbelief that Zaslav cancelled Batgirl earlier this summer. The studio has claimed that the goal for the studio's slate of DC pictures to be at a blockbuster scale "the decision was not driven by the quality of the film or the commitment of the filmmakers, but by the desire for the studio's slate of DC features to be at a blockbuster scale." Damage control is also underway for The Flash when Ezra Miller, the show's star, came under fire for his odd and unsettling personal behaviour in numerous negative articles. After learning that WB threatened to cancel the more than $200 million project, the actor has subsequently apologised and is receiving assistance. Fans of Zack Snyder's Justice League have also continued to criticise DC for how they handled the director and the cast, particularly Ray Fisher who played Cyborg in the movie.
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Currently, the sole DC movie in production is Joker: Folie à Deux, a sequel to 2019's Joker. There are five more DCEU movies either in post-production or waiting to hit theatres. Shazam! will follow Black Adam as the first DC movie to debut in October 2022. Blue Beetle, The Flash, and Fury of the Gods will debut in March, June, and August of 2023, respectively. On December 25, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will wrap up WBD's 2023 schedule of DC movies.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter