Thought Bubble Thursdays #17 - Up, Up and, well... Away

in #comics6 years ago

So, I know that I've been leaning more towards Marvel recently, but that's because they've been hitting it out of the park compared to their Distinguished Competitor. The news cycle has been rather slow in the "Worlds of DC"... that is, except today! This is breaking news type of stuff (if you call breaking news that has broke almost a day ago), so scroll down after the jump and let's get to it.


tbt-17.png

Henry Cavill exits the DCEU!

That's right, folks. According to THR, the supposed linchpin of the whole cinematic universe has vacated his role. This was coming from a mile away ever since news broke that Henry Cavill was cast as Geralt in Netflix's The Witcher adaptation. All that was needed was a confirmation, and now we have one.

I'm not sure if I need to reiterate this but...

The Worlds of DC is a Mess!

Everyone saw this coming from the start. Well, I guess everyone except rabid fans who had blind faith that a cinematic universe strung together just to stay competitive would work. They've lost their architect, they've lost numerous directors, they've lost two-thirds of their main trinity and they're banking on their only movie that is at best good. To think, a lot of people had reservations when Marvel hired Robert Downey, Jr., a recovering addict at the time, to spearhead their franchise a decade ago.

Let's examine the ABCs of what went wrong. I've done something similar in the past, but who's counting?

A is for Absolute Mess


fine
Image Source

DC has a treasure trove of comic book gold, stories that finally have the technology to do it justice, but they seem like they don't know what to do with it. It's not that they have a shortage of great writers and talent, it's just that they have no direction when it comes to their overarching universe. They're trying to go toe-to-toe with the MCU when Marvel has spent years meticulously building their world. It's no easy feat, and yet DC is determined to take everything in stride. While playing catch up, they decided to build from the top down instead of building from the ground up. We now know how that experiment turned out. And, they were doing so well in building their animated universe, too. Oh well. The jury is in, and the verdict for the DCEU is... not good.

B is for Breaking the Bat Bank


sadffleck
Image Source

Warner Brothers, DC's parent company, spared nothing in their quest to stay competitive in the superhero space. After all, they weren't going to be usurped by the House of Mouse yet again. They hired big name actors and directors, booked outstanding visual effects, signed on awesome writers, and what did that get them? Without a cohesive vision, all of the talent would just go to waste. I go back to my first point.

C is for Complacency


ww
Image Source

A decade and a half ago, mention Iron Man, Drax or Groot and you'll get crickets. But, if you mention Superman, Batman, Flash, and there's instant recognition. That's the thing about the Marvel-DC rivalry, DC has been ahead of the game for so long that for a time they were almost synonymous to comics itself. The only bullets in Marvel's arsenal back then was Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Heck, DC even built a fully function animated multiverse that thrived on its own. Add to that the success of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, and they're bathing in the tears of their competitors. Suffice to say, DC had it made and everyone else was playing catch up. That's what hurt them the most. They thought they would never ever be usurped so they rested on their laurels and thought they couldn't do wrong. Well, they were wrong.

Where do they go from here?

Honestly, I don't know where. They're going to say that this shake-up was part of the plan, and they're going to continue on with their current slate like they have contingencies to contingencies. It's a neverending cycle, until they're forced to admit defeat and reboot everything. But, that will never happen. The thing about DC is that they've already laid the groundwork for this. They have relabeled the DC Extended Universe as the "Worlds of DC" because they're preparing to use similar characters played by different actors, involved in stories that have no effect with one another. They'll say that it's all part of the multiverse and the reason why the movies aren't connected is that they live in different universes, but it all exists. Tim Burton's Batman still exists. Nolan's Dark Knight still exists. Heck, even Christopher Reeves' Superman is still canon. And the DC TV universe? Just a part of a whole overarching universe. It's sly, it's innovative, and it's lazy. But, it is what it is.

If they're fortunate enough to accumulate a couple of hits, maybe one day they'll decide to crossover everything in a movie called Crisis, calling it the most ambitious crossover of all time. They'll say that it's all part of the plan from day one and they'll sweep all of their missteps under the rug. DC will live on and chug along.

As for Henry Cavill, I wish him the best of luck with his new role. He seems to genuinely like taking on the The Witcher project, and I'm happy whenever people find something they're truly passionate about.



Help STEEM fly up, up and away by voting for @lukestokes.mhth as a STEEM witness!


Follow me in my Year of Resilience!
sig2017-2018.gif

Sort:  

A door for Cavill closes, a window for Cage opens. :)

The rightful son of Krypton! I think he'd the only one that deserves to sport the insignia of the House of El!

I love reading these. I'm so out is the loop, J-Man, that it is my only link back to what is happening!!

I've never really been in the loop, other than the Tobey Maquire Spiderman movies because my son was obsessed (wore his spiderman and venom costumes out, haha!) until more recent years. I did enjoy X-men and the Dark Knight trilogy, but Guardians of the Galaxy is the shiznit for me, and Robert Downey got me into playing catch up on all the related movies- so Marvel. Yup, I'm a marvelous marvel girl at this point lol!

I finally reached the first guardians of the galaxy when I was working through in Edinburgh, I managed to squeeze it into my commute. Still haven't gotten round to the second!!!

I'm happy you took my advice with that one! As someone who squeezes everything in my commute, I'm glad I was able to spread the infection hoho!

Then Ethan's in for a treat what with the revitalization of the Spiderverse! RDJ has a way of making everyone play catch up
Oh my!

Providing this service has been a real treat, BOOMdiggity! I'm glad this series has reaped this kind of reward!

Hurrah for rewards! In this life and the next!!

No truer words!

Yay TBT! :D

I actually just love this series because I really enjoy reading well thought out fan theories and analyses and you're such a good writer I can sometimes feel like I almost still have some idea what's going on in all these comic universes XD

Wouldn't sweeping missteps under the rug just make the rug really bumpy and a trip hazard?

Warms my heart to read this, MATEron of honor! I was relieved to get back to this after so long. I had a roadmap in mind but life got in the way. The way I approach this is like I'm telling a story so I'm glad it translated well. I also assume that no one knows what I'm talking about so I try to ease everyone in to the same page. I'm ecstatic to read that it's working!

It does make the rug super bumpy, but when you can buy a new house altogether in a snap, the rug's probably the least of your worries haha!

Pffft this is true XD

Also I showed that Wonder Woman image to the youngest the other day and then to JJ just then and both thought it was hilarious XD

Hahaha! I'm glad they liked it! When the movie came out, that's the exact thing I teased to @randomli because she always forgets wgere she puts things. When I was about to make a meme about it, I discovered someone already beat me to it haha

I think I covered it my comment to boom, except to say I'm definitely looking forward to The Witcher Project :)

Have you read the books? I only know it from the game adapatation. It's interesting to see if they could make it kind of like their version of Gane of Thrones!

DC fucked everything and Marvel took the lead. I hope they understand this, it's so clear, they can check the reviews of the critics, the reviews of the fans, the profit they make etc etc

What i want to say and comment the most though is Superman (Henry) as Geralt. I bet the whole series will fail. It's just a hunch but we have hits as to why.

First of all, Geralt looks older and his face is more furious, angry, badass while the Henry looks like the good kid that every mother will love. Especially after his role in superman i don't think anyone can even imagine him as Geralt. At a point it's not only the acting, he can be the best actor it's the face. He simply doesn't look like him at all and i think even with the make up the result will be the same.

Finally, another reason the series will probably fail is Ciri being played by a black actor. In the political correctness era that say it all i think!

I agree, DC really screwed the pooch, dropped the ball and all manner of metaphors! They had such a golden opportunity too!

When the project was announced, I had pegged Mads Mikkelsen for the part, but I guess Cavill was cast for the physicality. Let's reserve judgment until it airs. I do have reservations about him taking on the role, but I like his enthusiasm heading in. Maybe they'll do a younger version of Geralt? I'm not that familiar with the story, so I have no expectations whatsoever.

I've read somewhere that they're reconsidering their casting decision and opting for a white actress instead. Fingers crossed that fans would win out over political correctness. That's been really getting way out of hand for the past few years. I hope the studios learn from past mistakes.

Mads Mikkelsen hehehe i believed he would be the one too!

i really can't understand that political correctness in movies and series. Whenever they enforce that tactic the outcome is the same, bad reviews and less money.

They're trying to appease a somewhat niche market. Since they have resources they can afford to waste I guess it's fine with them.

Well I've always wondered DC use to be a powerhouse when it comes to their movies but I think the thing is they've been making a whole lot of mistakes, it even seems like the A.B C could extend to Z I don't know but something is really happening with the administration really and they're heading for closure in my opinion, I guess thy know what's best

I think they knew what was best up until they got too complacent and thought that last success would translate to everlasting recognition. That's one thing history taught us: great empires always fall. In this case, it's their own negligence that opened up the cracks. It's not too late though, and they can right the ship if they choose to be methodical and think through how they can recuperate. I really do hope they remain competitive.

But if I were to ask you, what are the things you think they need to do or the steps they need to take to get back to the limelight?

That's actually a really great question to ask. I've written about my thoughts in several past TBTs, but I'll try to outline some points for you here. First of all, they need to establish a committee to form a coherent plot. Each films could have their own tone, but they should all be cohesive. Secondly, they should just stop competing with Marvel because they are too far ahead, and staying competitive is what led to the disaster that is the DCEU. If they want to continue the multiverse route, they should be consistent with it, instead of just patching things up. Stop with the political correctness and try to do some fan service to win people back. Lastly, focus on legacy so that there's continuity. Bonus points if they can incorporate their TV properties in their massive crossover.

Yeah I think they should stop the competition and get creative too because originality matters a whole lot and they've lost it when it comes to originality as well.
Marvel is quite on another league of their own and they were blistering before they attained this height

Believe it or not, DC has been eating Marvel alive in terms of top comics sales. The thing with the MCU is that it was built methodically, piece-by-piece. Their whole shared universe approach was unprecedented, and they weren't in a rush to build their world. Now that the other studios see it as a viable option, they try to emulate what worked, or try to flip the script. That's where things go south.

It's not that competitiion should be stopped, I mean, I'm a big proponent of non-competitiveness, but this is one instance where I feel competition could be good, especially in terms of preserving quality and continuous improvement.

Marvel Universe, it is for me too! And true, growing up I practically only knew and loved DC, but now I find them, meh at best. Really hope they don't pull that multiverse plot as much as you're suggesting though, "the Flash" on it's own is already messy enough as it is. lol

Posted using Partiko Android

I feel like it's their only option now unless they admit they were wrong, which they will never ever do. It's a lazy excuse, but if they manage to tie everything together in an entertaining way, then it's all good. Recent histort doesn't make me feel confident about it though!

Same here, sadly. Let's just hope they eventually make a comeback.

True that! We can't have only one studio ruling it all.

this information is for sure different from the one i search daily:D !

I'm glad I was able to provide something new and different! Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!