“There Will Be No Four Batmans”: DC seeks to unify all of its franchises into one universe

Unlike what was mounted in Marvel, in DC alternative or independent universes have never been a problem and Jared Leto’s Joker, Joaquin Phoenix, and now Barry Keoghan could be canon at the same time. However, the arrival of David Zaslav as executive director of Warner Bros. Discovery and with James Gunn and Peter Safran as CEOs of DC Films, things will change.

In an interview with The Wrap, Zaslav explained that DC’s future plans call for unification: “I think you’re going to see a lot of growth and opportunity in DC over the next few years, there won’t be four Batmans”. The fact is that right now we have Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne and with the premiere of “The Flash” next summer Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck will also be back, and on top of that the latter will also be in “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’. Zaslav’s words mean the Keaton thing (and more with the deletion of ‘Batgirl’) is a Hello and goodbye And that between Pattinson and Affleck there can only be one?

Now that they’ve taken a position at the head of the production company, Gunn and Safran are planning an 8-10 year roadmap with a single story that could include a sequel to ‘The Flash’ and the big screen debut of Mister Terrific.

Change of company

Before the arrival of Gunn and Safran, the position of head of DC Films was held by Walter Hamada, producer of ‘Aquaman’, the saga of ‘Warren File’ or ‘It’. After the abrupt cancellation of ‘Batgirl’ and angry that no one had consulted him, Hamada decided to resign shortly before the premiere of ‘Black Adam’. holding out the company until that film’s release was fully prepared. Now the executive has found a new position at Paramount, with which he has signed an exclusive contract. Deal begins January 1, 2023 e Your job will primarily consist of overseeing the company’s line of horror films. and distributes several mid-budget genre films to theaters and streaming platforms.

“With a track record of groundbreaking successes, Walter is the ideal partner and visionary we need to build our mainstream horror genre franchises”Paramount Pictures chairman and chief executive officer Brian Robbins said in a statement. “As the fantastic performance of ‘Smile’ demonstrated, audiences have a huge appetite for quality, original storytelling in the global marketplace, and we look forward to forming a successful and long-lasting partnership.” Paramount has just triumphed with ‘Smile’, a film that, starting from a budget of 17 million dollars, has already exceeded 209 million worldwide.

“I am delighted to partner with Paramount Pictures with the single goal of creating outstanding films within the horror genre,” added Hamada. “Throughout my career, nothing has been more rewarding than discovering new up-and-coming directors and writers and unleashing their brilliance within a studio. Thanks to Brian and the entire Paramount Pictures team for this amazing opportunity, I can’t wait to get started.” During Hamada’s tenure at DC (he took over the reins after Zack Snyder’s departure) theaters saw ‘Joker’, Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’, ‘Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn)’ and ‘The Batman’ among others , following a very different strategy from Marvel’s that they now intend to replicate and earning the respect of critics and awards.