Disney’s Marvel Deal Forces DC’s Hand
In a battle between Mickey Mouse and Superman, most people would put their money on Superman. Well, that’s almost true. Sure, Superman would definitely kill Mickey, but the Mouse has Disney power, and that Disney power forced Superman’s company’s hand.
Hoping to become more of a superhero power player in Hollywood, Warner Bros. has been quietly reorganising its comic arm, DC Comics, to focus its energies on blockbuster hits. They claim they’ve been working on this for months, but Disney’s announcement that it was buying Marvel accelerated things a bit.
Warner had intended to announce details about its plans for DC Comics in January, as it begins a 75th anniversary celebration of the DC brand, Barry Meyer, chairman and chief executive of Warner, said in an interview.
But the Disney announcement resulted in so many questions about the possibly heightened competition “that it would have been disingenuous for us to suggest that we had not been thinking about it.” He added that the Marvel-Disney announcement “reconfirmed in us our strong belief in how valuable DC really is.”
That remains to be seen. While, yes, DC has the strong Batman franchise and, to a far lesser degree, a burgeoning Superman series, it’s also unleashed a slew of stinkers, like Catwoman and Watchmen, which failed to live up to its potential. Marvel, meanwhile, had the X-Men trilogy, keeps rolling out Spider-Man flicks, made three Blade movies, Iron Man and will no doubt make a splash with the forthcoming Thor, Avengers and Wolverine 2 big screen adventures.
DC will have to look mighty hard for characters who can stand up to Marvel’s icons. Our suggestion? Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Why, oh why, has that not been adapted?
Image via Madolan’s flickr.
Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
I'm sure DC's Black Vulcan adaptation will be huge.
badass-boi
The problem is DC keeps making bad decisions with it's properties. Now the Green Lantern movie does sound like a step in the right direction.
Lincolnsbeard33
@Bill Zilla: Except wouldn't all of those would have to be toned down in some way?
Preacher? Not in these United States. Red states would riot.
Y the Last Man is being developed, but with Shia Lebeouf. Yeah... that's a good casting choice.... I'm not even going to get started on 60 issues in 90 minutes.
Transmet? How would you do that? The budget would either be too high, everything would look muppety, or the whole plot would have to change to resemble something else. Would never work.
Vertigo has potential as HBO series, but as movies? Not going to happen, and especially not going to happen in a way you or I would enjoy them.
Paul_Is_Drunk
As much as I love Sandman, I can't see a film doing any justice to the source material. For one thing, the temptation to make the main character actually likable would prove immense and once that happens? pfft, fuhgeddaboudit.
You're on the right track with Vertigo titles, though. Let's see Preacher, Transmet, Y the Last Man or DMZ get the treatment. Those have enough "bang-bang, kiss the girl" to be be treated in a manner resembling "right."
Ya know what'll happen if they make a Sandman movie? Constantine. 'Nuff said. MAYBE WORSE.
Bill Zilla
What story would be the most adaptable for a Sandman screenplay?
I'd guess the damning Nada to hell storyline, though honestly a Death movie would probably be more commercially accessible than Sandman. The labyrinth plots combined with the humorless, self pitying protagonist would just be too hard to translate into a mainstream popcorn flick.
It's time for DC to unleash Wonder Woman!
Brad Penney
@Paul_Is_Drunk: I still don't get why LaBeouf is not a good choice for Yorrick, but whatever...
If Warner Bros. could pull their thumbs out of their asses they could get a really good set of traditional superhero movies going, with The Flash and Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, etc. At least they're finally lurching and limping towards a Green Lantern flick.
Aidan_
DOOM. Motherfucking. PATROL. That is all.
@Bill Zilla: I can't see a Sandman movie being halfway decent at all either
I'd love to see some of the independent stuff Alan Moore has done for America's Best get some movie adaptations, specifically Tom Strong and Top Ten. I think if done right, they'd be amazing, especially Top Ten. It has the superhero and sci-fi stuff going for it, plus it's hilarious and insanely witty with lots of little hidden jokes. It would be really hard to pull off correctly though. And Moore absolutely loathes Hollywood now, so I don't think we'll be seeing either one of those projects on the big screen any time soon...
let's not adapt Sandman pleeeease, oh god - they would absolutely ruin it. after the abominations that were the alan moore movies, i'd rather not see that done to the sandman series. people should just read it because it's awesome.
sigh.
They are adapting "Death: The High Cost of Living" but I dont think WB is doing that but Gaiman himself.
But Vertigo stuff is too cerebral for general audiences. Most Americans want bang pow action hero shit, and cant deal with actually thinking in a movie.
Jim Topoleski
@badass-boi: Not as huge as Apache Chief! Inekchok!
BullfightsOnAcid
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. My FAVORITE comic book series when I was a kid. Really, they could adapt this for young girls and have a hit on their hands.
[en.wikipedia.org]
MissPeacock