Depressed and angry. That’s about right.
Warner Brothers Discovery is continuing a legacy of not knowing what to do with their comic properties when it comes to adaptation. Still overeager to get their own shared universe without the work put into it before Kevin Feige was given full permission to be an idiot. A discussion for another time, but I will probably reference him again.
Before WBD, AOL Turner Time Warner Brothers etc. decided that Zack Snyder would be the best choice to bring the DC Universe back to the big screen. He wasn’t, and his vision was so off that Warner Brothers actually tried to “fix” the mistake and lighten the tone of the DC movieverse. How they did it is was still a jerk move (the man was mourning his daughter’s suicide), but the direction change had become necessary…but too late. What made Snyder perfect for Watchmen, the reason they thought he could make them money with the mainline DC characters, made him a terrible choice for how DC characters are regularly depicted, not only with comic fans but with casual moviegoers who just like Superman.
So the new company turns to James Gunn. His rendition of the Suicide Squad was the one people liked (though there’s talk that David Ayers dealt with studio interference…according to David Ayers), his Guardians Of The Galaxy movies led to Marvel Comics completely altering the team from a futuristic Avengers to oddballs trying to do good because it was so well received, and his Scooby-Doo had made them money no matter how much I think it was hot garbage on a California July afternoon. Surely, Gunn would succeed where Snyder failed!
Well, so much for that idea.
Look, I’m not trashing either of these people. I don’t like Gunn’s style and Snyder isn’t for me, either. I still maintain Man Of Steel was a decent superhero movie but a terrible Superman adaptation, and I like nothing of what I saw after, but I’m not here to say he’s a bad director because I’ve seen so little of his work. I hear Rebel Moon wasn’t very good. What I’m trying to say here is that you need the right person for the right job. John Hughes’ take on Freddy Kruger would be as welcome as Clive Barker remaking The Breakfast Club. There are directors who can work with multiple styles, but not these two. Allow me to explain where they went wrong…and by “they” I mean Warner Brothers.
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