Calling Mr. Burnett: What Warner Needs to Do with Its Live-action DC Universe Films / Mark Jarret Chavous

Calling Mr. Burnett:

What Warner Needs to Do with Its Live-action DC Universe Films

Mark Jarret Chavous

I’m going to follow the advice of my friend Jay Schertzer and go see the Justice League, despite mixed reviews. Jay says it’s good so I’ll see it. However, if Warner Brothers wants to fix the problems with its live-action DC Universe films, just go right in house and talk to the WB animation unit.

While stalwarts like producer Alan Burnett and voice director Andrea Romano have retired, hopefully they remain valuable consultants. The WB animation unit has been turning out fantastic films for many years. One of the most recent was Batman: The Killing Joke, based on the controversial book by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland. My point here is simply that the WB animation unit seems to have a consistent or uniform vision of Batman and the other DCU characters that various directors, producers, and performers have to remain true to, and which has been vitally important to the critical and popular success of the animated films. In the live-action films, the characters featured seem subject and vulnerable to the producer and director, who may have varying levels of familiarity with such characters, and/or may be fixated on imposing their isolated and unique visions on classic characters (which is always risky). However, I will give credit where credit is due: Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy was the exception that proves the rule, since Nolan was much more in line with the Batman’s history and legacy than most directors (even Tim Burton).

If DC and Warner Brothers are going to make this work, they must have a shared and uniform vision of the characters, and have tighter plotlines based on that uniform vision. A uniform vision is something that the WB animation unit has been able to sustain despite various takes on Batman, Superman, and the other DCU characters from various directors. Right now, Warner’s live-action creative unit doesn’t have that uniform vision.

This is a mistake that Marvel/Disney has been very efficient in avoiding. Whether an Avengers, Iron Man, Thor or Captain America movie is directed by Joss Wedon or Kenneth Branaugh, all of the Marvel Films have remained true to the common denominator of conception that binds the characters together. Thor can easily leapfrog from a Doctor Strange movie into an Iron Man movie or Avengers movie, and—despite the different directors—still be the same character which viewers will recognize. This, in my humble opinion, comes directly from the continuity that Stan Lee—along with Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Wally Wood, Don Heck and others—brought to the Marvel books when he relaunched the line in the early ’60s. That same uniform vision of all the characters was vital to the readers’ acceptance when Stan Lee had them jump from one book to another, something somewhat unprecedented on that large a scale at the time. It worked back then (and throughout Marvel’s history) in the books, and it works for them now in the films and TV shows.

Let me give an example. The Disney/Marvel movies get a lot of details right which movie viewers and comic fans pick up on right away. Giving red hair to characters such as Pepper Potts (Tony Stark’s administrative assistant), Natasha Romanova (The Black Widow) and Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man’s love) is a direct link to fans who respect such attention to detail.

At WB/DC, actor Ezra Miller, who plays the Flash, has jet-black hair. Really? Barry Allen has always been blonde, so as soon as comics readers see this guy in civilian clothes, they detect that something’s already wrong. Little things like that go a long way. (This is not to say Marvel has been perfect; they have their gaffs too—like, for example, everyone is used to seeing Thor wearing a helmet, right?) The most egregious offense was in Batman v Superman, as I have written about before, with director Zack Snyder making Lex Luthor a raving lunatic much like the Joker, which pissed off just about everyone. This supports what I said earlier about WB’s animation unit; they have gone along with the DC comics’ evolution of Luthor from just a mad scientist into a paranoid, prejudiced, cold-hearted bastard of a businessman, and it works. Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal tore that longtime characterization to shreds, with no real positive memorable aspect. WB animation never went down that road, thankfully.

Warner Brothers, you’ve still got a chance to do something substantial with the DC universe, but the clock is ticking. Follow the example of the Dark Knight Trilogy and Wonder Woman, and get the WB animation unit more involved. Those guys work under a uniform vision and they know what they’re doing.