3 Ways DC Studios Can Win Back Their Audience!

With The Flash in it’s second week at the box office and with all signs pointing toward another financial disappointment for WB/Discovery, here are some ways that DC Studios can bounce back and find their audience at last!

The Cold Hard Numbers!

Over the last three years, DC has had a hard time connecting with an audience both critically and financially.

While Black Adam and SHAZAM: Fury of the Gods grossed more than their recorded budget, when marketing is added in to the total cost of the films they still fall short of profitability.

The DCEU still has two more films dropping before it gives way to the new universe being shepherded by James Gunn and Peter Safran, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Blue Beetle. While the first Aquaman was, far and away, the most successful DC film in recent years, being the only one to cross the $1 Billion mark, the sequel will likely fall well short of that success. Blue Beetle, on the other hand, is a much less well known character that has ambiguous ties to both the previous DCEU and the upcoming rebooted universe with James Gunn saying “the first DCU character, for sure, is Blue Beetle” while Superman: Legacy is “the first DCU movie.”

So with all signs pointing toward another rough year for DC films, what can the new heads of DC Studios do to find a new audience and win back the ones who have walked away?

Number 1 – Establish the “BIG THREE”

This is one that DC Studios seems to be moving in the right direction. Gunn’s Superman Legacy will be kicking off the new slate of films and The Flash director Andy Muschietti has been tapped to direct Batman: The Brave and The Bold. While there has been no word on a Wonder Woman recasting, Gal Gadot has implied that she is done with the character.

This universe needs to start off on the right foot, with characters that will become the backbone of any over arching stories that the creators want to tell. They need to establish the Holy Trinity of DC Comics early and use them to drive the universe forward.

James Gunn has proven with The Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad that he can take, mostly, unknown characters and make them enjoyable and entertaining to watch. With Guardians, he was even able to make them profitable. However, with DC trying to rebuild a reputation of excellence with the fanbase, I truly feel that the studio needs to focus on characters that a general audience can recognize and get behind quickly.

Number 2 – Don’t Show Fear!

One of the many reasons the DCEU struggled is they made too many decisions based on fear. Green Lantern flopped, NO MORE GREEN LANTERN! Batman v Superman underperformed, NO MORE HENRY CAVILL! The studio’s fear even led to the creation of Joss Weadon’s Justice League.

In both of those movies, the lead actors were not the problem and the characters of Superman and Green Lantern were not the problem. People want to see their favorite characters on screen, they want to love their films. The DCEU was so led by fear, they may has well have been wearing a yellow Sinestro Corps ring.

This new studio cannot afford to be reactionary. Just because a movie underperforms doesn’t mean that character or actor were the problem. Assess the situation and move forward, don’t have a knee jerk reaction and scrap your entire plan. Which leads me to my final point.

Number 3 – Make A Plan And Stick To It!

One of the major problems with the DCEU was the lack of planning and, when a plan was in place, not sticking to the plan through rough patches.

When Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was critically and financially disapointing, Warner Brothers scrapped the planned slate of films and changed their entire formula for making movies.

This was their track record, something didn’t immediately pay off, get rid of everything and try something else. They never allowed the universe to grow and find it’s footing. Instead, trends and instant gratification were their goals.

As we’ve seen in the last two years, DC movies are not something that people flock to anymore. The audience have been disappointed one too many times and they just don’t trust that these films will be worth their time or hard earned money.

The new DC can fix this by sticking with the plan they set forth. Don’t be reactionary, give the plan time to work. The new leadership has to understand that they are not going to be an overnight success. Superman Legacy will, likely, not blow up the box office. They need to watch fan and critic reaction and not chase big box office numbers at the start. Hope for the best, expect the worst and keep moving toward a single goal of winning back the respect that these characters and this universe deserves!

The good news here is that DC Studios has two very talented people piloting the ship. James Gunn and Peter Safran are veteran filmmakers with talent sets that put them in the position to do something great. As long as they stay the course and take their time, I think we are in for a real treat and a new Golden Age of DC films. Our part is to remain open minded and give them the opportunity to dazzle us without bringing the baggage of the former DCEU along with us to the movie theater.