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In short, one Superman is flying high; the other is experiencing turbulence.
Their comics are in a sales renaissance, thanks to a recent initiative calledRebirth.
DC TV shows likeGotham,Arrow,andThe Flashenjoymeaty ratingsandfan loyalty.
DC video games like theInjusticeandBatman: Arkhamfranchises are considered some of thebestthe medium has to offer.
So what accounts for the contrasting reputations?
Its not chaos, DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson assures me, seated near Johns.
Theyre in the midst of a fight to convince the public thats the case.
For years, they struggled at the multiplex while their blood rival, Marvel, soared.
There was a tiny nod toBatman v Superman, but that was it.
The movies not about another movie, says Johns.
Some of the movies do connect the characters together, likeJustice League.
Total stand-alones based on good ideas from big-name filmmakers.
Movies that are just movies, not components of a larger piece of clockwork.
Johns says theyll be announcing the name of of this side label soon-ish.
But they think theyre turning a corner.
It arrived after nearly a decade of growth, missteps, and careful corporate maneuvering.
Call them Geek Lad and Executive Woman.
But a challenger was emerging with a new strategy.
Theyd even been successful despite starring B-tier superheroes.
Warner was making good movies, but Marvel seemed to represent the world to come.
They needed to get their shit together.
And Warner Bros. needed to get their shit together in terms of the film stuff.
There were few precedents to such an initiative … except for what theyd done with Harry Potter.
When it came time to pick a leader, the choice was natural.
It was a smash, and shot them ahead of Marvel in sales.
When it came to all other divisions, Nelson would have to play nice.
Together, theyinherited a mixed bag of existing multimedia projects.
In August 2008, just after the release ofThe Dark Knight,Warneroptedto do a new take on Superman.
Nolan suggested two potential helmers:Black SwansDarren Aronofskyand300s Zack Snyder.
Nevertheless, the process of makingMan of Steelbegan.
So was the fall.
Obviously, the film was a failure, Campbell recalls bluntly.
It comes out and everybody feels depressed and so on and so forth.
Theres no point in bullshitting about it.
Plans for sequels were abruptly canceled.
Nelson and Johns faced further cinematic frustration: During the development ofMan of Steel,they were marginalized creatively.
This didnt sit right with Johns.
Geoff definitely raised that point, but that current administration didnt care that much about what Geoff Johns thought.
The movie came out in June 2013 with the DC Entertainment branding, but largely without its fingerprints.
It also had the seeds of a larger, Marvel-style expanded world.
Johnss warnings about needing lightness were going unheeded.
They were all to be part of the same grand cinematic universe.
So, largely shut out from the big screen, Johns and Nelson focused on the small.
There, they found salvation in the form of an embittered veteran ofGreen Lantern.
He was understandably displeased with the finished product and nearly walked away from Warner for good.
It debuted on October 7, 2014, and represented Johnss biggest involvement in TV yet.
- Its working Berlantiverse shows regularly top the ratings charts at the CW.
Slumping New 52 sales led DC to adopt this creator-first tactic in comics, as well.
Forget everything, none of that matters.
None of it matters.
What are you trying to say about this character?
But a week before Rebirthdebuted, a bomb was dropped.
Johns and his boss, Nelson had just adopted a problem child.
WhenBvSflopped critically, there was finally concern about the creative choices that had been made up to that point.
Berg was on the same page.
We talk about four things, Berg says.
Heart, heroics, humanity, and humor.
The result of their partnership was the most all-around successful DC cinematic universe movie to date.
However, theres still a spandex-clad elephant in the room: this NovembersJustice League.
Its optics havent been great.
There were internal discussions about how to revamp parts of the movie.
Johns and Berg mulled the idea of having someone other than Snyder write new scenes for the film.
In general, image control comes off as one of the biggest challenges facing the DC-movie enterprise today.
If theyre getting their house in order behind the scenes, the public rarely sees that.
Some of the stuff is true, some of it isnt true, he says.
Films are massively important, but theyre not everything, she says.
In more than a few ways, shes not wrong.
The stories and characters are working extremely well in comics, games, and TV.
And the first movie DC Entertainment had substantial influence on,Wonder Woman, certainly worked.
The question now is one of organization and momentum.
When Johns was out promoting Rebirth, he was asked about what made the DC characters distinctive.
His reply encapsulated the challenge his company faces.
The iconography and the representation of the ideals they embody mean so much to people, he said.
Theres a lot of emotional underpinning of the characters and the stories.
But when its not there, you really feel that emptiness.
*An earlier version of this article misstated Sarah Schechters official title.
