If I Ran DC, Here's What I'd Do

[@DanMurrellMovies]

Hey folks - it's been brought to my attention that I use an incorrect pronoun for Ezra Miller in this video. This wasn't intentional, and I've previously corrected mistakes like this in the past. I just didn't catch this one. I do my best, but sometimes an error slips through and I'll work harder in the future to make sure I'm accurate.

[@philipculturesfilm5344]

Appreciate the response :) Edit: Dan has shown class and I know he made an honest mistake and completely accept his comment and respect his character. Some of you in the comments are out of order though, respecting pronouns is a bare minimum regardless of what someone has done. Ezra is a prat but that is no reason to misgender them. By your logic we should call male criminals she or they because don't deserve correct pronouns!? Also nobody forced Dan to do anything I just left one comment calmly correcting his mistake and he responded like a good person. Try to do the same.

[@ryanmoorehead2945]

You shouldn't feel bad about not calling him what he wants if he can't respect the law. Sorry you got pressured for this response :/

[@Antonio_Ortiz]

Dan is the sweetest, most well-intentioned guy; I would never assume ill will from him, or that he was deliberately being politically incorrect. An apology from a man of his character was not necessary, but a classy move keeping in line with it.

[@radiorain5665]

@@ryanmoorehead2945 Yes. Miller uses this pronoun nonsense as a shield, so I would not indulge him.

[@johnuchiha5386]

you want the DCEU from the past that didnt do well IoI look at the future not the past Dan IoI

[@ohyeah1867]

I am so in favor of Dan Murrell becoming president of DC films. Listen up, Warner Bros!!!

[@edvaira6891]

WHY WOULD YOU WISH THAT?!! Making Poor Dan have to WORK FOR DAVID ZASLAV?! What did he do to deserve THAT?!

[@ohyeah1867]

@@edvaira6891 That's a good point! Zaslav doesn't deserve Dan!

[@fredrickwilliamsjr6872]

I second that motion!!! All agree .... Say yea!!

[@jovan6135]

Great plan; I agree that a lack of a GL in the JLA has seemed odd. I would love a well-done Stewart lantern and if they actually dedicate the budget to a good practical suit and well-integrated CGI and a better (and better executed) story, they shouldn't have a problem introducing a GL or doing a GL solo film imo.

[@adctw3422]

I wish they cancel some of the one-sided movies like the Titans and do patrol

[@kevin10001]

@@adctw3422 those aren’t movies they are tv shows and most dc tv shows have been cancelled mostly the terrible arrowverse with the flash ending after its shortened season set to release this new television season

[@KINGSLOTHEM]

what i would do is work side by side with disney+ and make phase 1 which is: the batman movie, superman movie, wonder woman movie, the flash movie and the first justice league movie and then what i would do is make joker, harley quinn and bane the villlains for the batman movie, id make general dru-zod the villain of the superman movie, id make ares the villain for the wonder woman movie, idk what villain id use for the flash movie yet, but in the justice league movie i think its more suitable to have a villain whos weaker than darkseid because what marvel did was introduce a massive vaillain later on in the 3rd and 4th avengers movies aka thanos so id use a weaker one earlier on preferably something like lex luthor or steppenwolf or maye even possibly doomsday, id also put credit scenes in the solo movies which show how the justice league is forming together, and i dont think its necessary to have a green lantern corps movie after all it would be pretty boring just like the latest batman movie with pattinson in it, id also plan out and discuss with disney + and my fellow collegues on how the timeline and the plots should be created/formed/made to make the whole dceu universe's timeline and story absolutely incredible just like what marvel did with their timeline and story/stories

[@bizuko2307]

I'd make the first huge overarching villain actually a group of villains: the Legion of Doom (or the Injustice Gang or the Light, whatever works best) because the one thing Marvel hasn't done yet is have a big villain team-up with multiple villains from multiple rogues galleries. It would help differentiate the two universes, whereas making Darkseid the first baddie would just seem like an imitation of the Infinity Saga. [EDIT: DC hasn't "already done this" with Suicide Squad, both Squad movies are about them becoming sorta-heroes, and they never fight the Jusice League. Thunderbolts is a big ? since they *could* be a cool villain team for the heroes to fight, but we don't know anything about the movie yet, so...]

[@ankitsaikumar6866]

Comparing darkseid cgi blob to well built character like thanos is a joke

[@MasterCharlie104]

Isn't that what Thunderbolts is gonna be though?

[@bizuko2307]

@@MasterCharlie104 It might be, but they're not the big villains of this phase, and for all we know, Thunderbolts could end up like Suicide Squad and they never fight a group of Avengers. I envision the Legion as a behind-the-scenes group until the League figures out they exist and go to stop them.

[@david.miskick]

Yes, Marvel missed the oportunity with Hydra. One movie they found out, the next movie Hydra was wiped (if you did not follow Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

[@tonyjackson4078]

There was a tease with Bats v Supes with Deathstroke meeting Luthor, and it's never been mentioned.

[@zenquantum1246]

Most of your ideas sound good to me, Dan, and the one that stands out the most is to re-ignite things with the “Reign of the Supermen” storyline. That would be a brilliant way to pull various threads together in-universe and address fan debates about who Superman is (or who we want him to be)

[@austinwilwayco]

I wouldn't create my DC universe exactly like this, but I respect the fact that you were adamant about sticking to the plan

[@atlasrises4]

I would listen to good pitches and try and make good projects around a wide variety of projects not caring about building a huge cohesive universe. Joker and The Batman are projects that can't exist with a cohesive universe and to seperate from Marvel, who sure says it's a multiverse, actually embrace the idea that we DON'T stay with the exact same universe the entire time. Also get rid of Miller already, like dang. And IF we want a singular universe we want to follow, introduce YOUNG actors. I'm tired of older actors being our focus, all the heroes basically start as young adults, let them BE young.

[@devilmanscott]

They were all mostly fine(most 30/40s), the only one slightly out of place, well more how they portrayed him was Ben Affleck's Batman, who kept going on about being too old and retiring, even though they could have easily told him to act younger and not ready for his bus pass. Also, I suspect why both DC and Marvel go with older actors, because in general they normally do a better job, none of Marvel's replacements for their original actors come close in acting quality.

[@raymondzrike]

Yeah I would forget about the whole overarching narrative. Just make good contained trilogies or one-offs. DC’s highest grossing films are almost all unrelated to the DCEU plot: Dark Knight, Dark Knight Rises, Joker, and The Batman. The MCU shouldn’t be taken as a model for other companies because it is an exception. I mean, do you remember the “Dark Universe”?

[@luxurybuzz3681]

@@raymondzrike Interesting how Universal's monster movies of the 40's and 50's are really the frist cinematic universe but the modern version never took off.

[@Galvatronover]

@@raymondzrike you could try to make a universe but you don’t have to

[@MrBrock314]

Might be a generational thing. As a 40 year old, I consider most of those actors young like me. :)

[@Noobmaster-ic7kh]

The Real Holy Trinity of DC is Keanu Reeves as Constantine, Halle Berry as Catwoman and Shaq O'Neal as Steel.

[@johnnojojack-exe]

I've been developing a plan on my own time. I think it would be best to start from scratch to distance the universe from the history of dc's chaos that we've seen from the past couple of years.

[@Natketty]

The problem with snyderverse and starting a "dark" DC from the get Go is that the best DC stories are the ones that get the contrast between the light and dark, such as flashpoint and Injustice. How can flashpoint have any impact If Superman from the normal timeline is already depressed and Batman already kills and is brutal? DC could get to the dark materials with time, but they wanted to rush so much.

[@LPChipi]

Absolutely this. I would've actually been ok if Batman was brutal but Superman's wholesomeness has him rein it in a bit. Superman should inspire folks to be better people. Not just threaten them into submission.

[@studio500]

I really think it’s important for critics like you to voice these ideas. You’d be surprised how much studio people are paying attention to social media discussion. They use research vendors to survey the market and KZbin, Twitter and other media is a rich source of that. Your idea makes sense and hope would be helpful for WBD. Thanks as always Dan!!

[@ravissary79]

one of the biggest problems with fan input, or worse, industry criticism input, on the DCEU, is that if you read the long form reviews of films like MOS, or the theatrical BvS, is that 2/3 of the really harsh criticisms are all contradictory. You don't get nearly as much of this with the MCU. And I have a theory as to why this is uniquely a DC problem: the prevalence and diversity of head-cannon vs fresh takes. before Iron Man there was no MCU. There were no other takes on Iron Man or Thor on the big screen. The past takes on Captain America effectively had no pop culture impact. Thus, when the MCU defined these characters fresh on film, people bought it. They accepted even the parts that deviated from older canon or plot derivations that were less than ideal, because there was nothing to compare against. People were free to totally fall in love. The Dc has the opposite situation. People love Linda Carter, Michael Keaton, Adam West, Christopher Reeve, George Reeves, Tom Welling. They love Conroy's animated series, the Justice League cartoon, the DC universe video game, blah blah blah. The main 2 are so well known you can find people in the third world on the other side of the planet and they know about Batman and Superman. And the thing about a mythos that old and that well known is that the 2 billion people who know and love about it love DIFFERENT things, they got into it at different times, with different actors, or even different eras of comics, or cartoons. We all have a different idea of what "the best batman" is. Reeve was more definitive in people's minds, but after he passed, when people tried to replicate him (Brandon Routh) people rejected it. So when Cavill came along with a dramatically different take, no trunks, British actor, washed out color grading, he killed, he was morally complex, he hadn't yet mastered his powers and only used 2/3 of them... it being that fresh really sold some people and DEEPLY offended others. It's only been now, 9 years later, that Cavill is BROADLY BELOVED. He's the only living actor with almost universal acceptance now, despite the fact he was very divisive when he first came out. Similarly Affleck and Pattinson both really divided the audience despite both being consumate professionals, and both knocking it out of the park in truly exceptional ways with large portions of the audience. People HATED Snyder's vision for Affleck's Batman. "batman doesn't kill" (ignoring that 2/3 of all big screen batmen have killed at some point). Yet he managed to capture some things that no one ever has to his extent... a mature experienced batman who looks exactly like the comics, who is truly a world class fighter, who could even give Captain America a run for his money, and truly has comics level tech that doesn't look ridiculous. He sells the idea that he really can hold his own in a justice league level world, an actual DCEU. Yes he's jaded, but he's had a redemption arc. His heroism feels earned now, it's not merely a static paragon. The only real problem with Batfleck now, is... is there any chance for a snyderverse? Will Affleck be willing to go through all that again? Can he keep his personal additions in check? The problem with getting cavill is that they rope-a-doped him so much in the last 7 years that he had to move on to other properties or else lose his career. They were effectively destroying one of the most eligible leading men in hollywood... because they're idiots. So he moved onto other projects. He's said repeatedly he'd gladly come back, but they keep trying to just use him as a cameo or a throw away, and then pay him peanuts. Meanwhile they keep screwing up any coherence in the vision of what they want from him, so he wants some measure of creative control now, and they don't like that. So haters say he's out, and fans say he's in, and the truth remains undefined. Gadot is great in the role despite not being as skilled as Cavill or Affleck, but her last film was trash, that's the problem there. Fischer was great as Cyborg, but seemingly only Snyderverse fans know this. WB really tried to utterly destroy him because he fought hard when they tried to gut his role, what he was promised and his investment in this character. Momoa is solid gold... change nothing, everyone loves him. But Exra... his film is supposed to be vital to any future transition, but he's literally an insane criminal in real life and he shouldn't work in hollywood ever again. Do not pass go, go directly to jail and go groom a broom, psycho (not you, him). In short, Some of Dan's ideas sound good, but not all, because the breadth of what people like him thinks is a good idea is too broad.

[@Sean-eq9ig]

Dan my man! You just made me realize how perfect Reign of the Supermen would be as a movie. Now this is all that I want.

[@dumi_chenu3730]

There is a movie it’s animated

[@SonicDeeHedgehog]

You thought Kristin Wigg's Cheetah was dark? How?

[@Antonio_Ortiz]

Dan has a solid plan I would get behind. It's a shame that DC did start with a plan, but panicked when their grimdark interpretations of Batman and Superman didn't have four-quadrant appeal, and then changed plans as they went along, instead of sticking to their plan and just seeing it through if they truly believed in Snyder's vision. And it's a shame that this DCEU reboot will probably prevent DC from experimenting with their movies in the future; we were able to get an R-Rated Joker movie that didn't turn him into a hero or softball his crimes, and 2 R-Rated movies that are actually in the DCEU canon, plus Peacemaker. Half of the DCEU movies didn't work, but at least they were willing to try. R-Rated doesn't necessarily mean good, but it allows them to address deeper topics and have more nuance than the MCU ever would. And I must imagine that WB was initially scratching their heads as to why Joker could be dark AF, and Aquaman, who up to that point was a joke, made a billion dollars each but Superman flamed out at 600+ million; context and the appropriate tone for the characters is key, hopefully they learned the right lessons from that. My fear is everything will be homogenized going forward, for better or worse.

[@aniruddhachakraborty4968]

they literally worked themselves into a panic from the get go

[@hughjass69933]

They rushed to get to Justice League, they didn't have an actual plan.

[@bobbyanderson8004]

The first MCU Captain America film didn’t even make $200,000,000 in North America but it got such good reviews it was spun as a hit and the rest is history. MoS made almost $300,000,000 in North America but the reviews were so bad it was spun as a failure. I actually am no fan the Snyderverse but often what’s a hit and a failure is up to spin. Had WB gone on with a solo Batfleck film instead BvS Justice League with have opened this year and vying with Top Gun: Maverick for top summer grosser.

[@sugglet36]

in the nicest way possible, this guy has biology teacher energy

[@NickFaulkner]

We need a villain team up from DC, something Marvel isn't good at. Use the villains!!

[@daywalker0082]

That was really cool. I enjoy your perspective on this a lot

[@owenwildish331]

Just for fun, It might be interesting if you did an "If I Ran Marvel, Here's What I'd Do" follow-up to this video, please. One thing I'd love to see is if or when both DC and Marvel can get their acts together and would be a plan for them to work together (not unlike when 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' was mas made) and ultimately make a massive comicbook movie crossover between the Warner/DC DCEU and the Disney/Marvel MCU, perhaps based on the existing comicbook crossovers Marvel Vs DC and The Justice League Vs The Avengers, etc... Personally, I don't mind the Multiverse being used for both as long as the concept isn't being misused or used wastefully and unnecessarily.

[@giovannimartin3239]

Yes, please.

[@GuyEdwards001]

Some great ideas! Definitely like keeping the cast if we can. Also like clearing the story slate too. My favorite suggestion is “Don’t be afraid to go crazy.” DC is lighter and more fantastic than Marvel-it’s supposed to be less grounded with fictional cities. They have the talent to “go there” too with James Gunn, James Wan, and David Sandberg. They have figured out the tone of DC.

[@kevin10001]

I don’t mind a darker universe sort of the darker tone like the animated series from 1992 it would be a nice contrast from not so serious joke/action filled and plot as and after thought mcu

[@BlueBloodPenn]

Step 1 - Purge everything Snyderverse related (other than some actors) Step 2 - Hire good writers, directors and actors that are respectful of the source material Step 3 - Make good films It's pretty straight forward. If you look at the best things DC have put out recently like The Batman and The Suicide Squad realistically they didn't do anything revolutionary. They just got rid of the Snyder scrap, were talented and used that talent to make good products.

[@hughjass69933]

It really isn't easy when WB doesn't have their own Kevin Feige. They need a good producer to helm DC.

[@BlueBloodPenn]

@@hughjass69933 They don't need 1 singular person to do it, even at Marvel Feige is the figure head and studio head but he has a team of guys behind him and there are dozens of producer who work on their films. There is this common misconception that Feige is the brains behind everything. He is the driving force and has the biggest voice in the room but there are dozens of people supporting him, from writers to researchers, and even then they make mistakes. Get James Gunn and his producers to work with Matt Reeves and his producers and tap some DC writers like Scott Snyder to make up a core creative team and go from there.

[@kdnladner93]

Honestly if they hired me the first thing I would do is hire all of the creative of the DC Animated Universe because the story they told from Batman: The Animated Series to Justice League Unlimited was epic and would love to see those adapted to film. The only thing I would change is how the original Justice League came together because I felt that was rushed but other than that flawless.

[@Zurael9]

The animated universe they had with JL war and son of batman was amazing, and it can work very well on live action.

[@panthergod]

@@Zurael9 meh, nah, War had good action but shit plot

[@Trekkie46]

Seriously, the items Dan decorates with are almost as interesting as his coverage of subject material. I've got that exact copy of the Tim Burton Batman, but I need the Knightfall Omnibus. That very lengthy plotline was amazing. I'll add, I liked the Supergirl tv show version of Martian Manhunter, but their version of Hank Henshaw was terrible. I'd love to see him done well.

[@basicvideos5740]

I have an idea for how Discovery/Warner can still follow through with a 10-year cinematic universe plan and make films with different continuities: 2 Cinematic Universes The primary cinematic universe can be the 10 year plan that they're planning with all the films being part of the same continuity. It can be called "The New DC Cinematic Universe." The secondary cinematic universe can be about films that are different universes/continuities from each other, but are connected by the fact that they're all worlds based on DC. This cinematic universe can be called "DC's Elseworlds," based on the Elseworld publication. This means they can make films based on comics like "Superman: Red Sun," "Batman: Gotham By Gaslight," or any crazy ideas they can come up with and not have to worry about the differing tones or continuity to each other.

[@lego4virgo]

Side projects is where the streaming part can be used as well as an occasional theatric. I think side projects for DCEU as well as standalone is a good idea; for the DCEU, you can introduce new characters that can be put into a DCEU theatrical release at a later time, as well as a way to explore standalone DC comics with certain film projects.

[@chowderman8888]

I hateeeee that the norm is to con5inue the Snyderverse like....that should be the controversial option

[@matsuoka9559]

Dan is far and away my favorite movie critic / film-related “content creator” that this site has to offer. Great work as always

[@josephmarc5137]

Scrap everything, start over and have a road map towards a cohesive vision.

[@lobofelagund]

really cool ideas in here Dan, thanks for sharing!

[@DrVernSFC]

I'd hire you for this. As far as a hit IP goes, I'd go with the Guy Gardner GL. His association with characters like Blue Beetle and Lobo would give DC the Deadpool-like R-Rated Comic tone.

[@teruphoto]

0:01 I seriously thought Dan was going to say "There’s been a lot of talk about what the fu the DC universe is going to do..." 😅

[@Mike-wr7om]

Superman '78 is the perfect expression of the character of Superman/Clark Kent. Only problem with the movie is the shortcomings of the special effects in comparison to what we've become used to today. Give me that movie almost exactly but with up-to-date special effects and DC has overtaken Marvel forever in my book.

[@user-fp4dr1ne7z]

They should plan out trilogies for each character and focus on developing each character out and make the fans LOVE these characters, and then bring them together

[@shafikah91]

From what I've read from The Flash leak, it does going to be the main universe where the story going to be. That's why they originally going to do Blue Beetle, Batgirl, Green Lanterns tv show, JL Dark. But, with the merger and new owner, I think they going to reboot DCEU.

[@lule1408]

This is just so much fun! Do more videos like this please.

[@LittleScarfGirl]

You have some really solid points here, and I hope that the folks working at DC have similar thoughts. I think my biggest thing would be (and I'm pretty sure you were meaning this as well) is that they shouldn't feel completely bound by the story they've already told. If they make little continuity errors or retcons in order to continue forward with great stories and keep a lot of the actors that were working well, I'm totally fine with that. Prime example for me is X-men: Days of Future Past. That was an amazing X-men movie that handwaved/retconned a few things for the sake of a simple starting point for the film or in the name of telling a good story. I also feel like the older Batman movies did this to an extent, being that they weren't exactly sequels to each other but kept enough references (I believe there's a reference to Catwoman in Batman Forever) that it could have worked in the same universe if you wanted it to. Matt Reeves' Batman was also a great example of just giving us a solid Batman movie without being tied down to existing continuity or making it fit into the existing framework, and I would love to see more side-projects like this.

[@dkv6200]

Good video. Hope WB will take some notes from this plan. Fingers crossed for bright future for DC. With good direction everything is possible.

[@rwallaceva]

Love me a Murrell think-piece!

[@brandonroy7554]

I’m here for this. Don’t have any issues

[@michaelreynolds5773]

Excellent, Dan. Multiverses are a cop-out for writers but alienate the audience by subtracting consequence and jeopardy. Side projects are a necessary hedge if your main thrust falters, and it's in the side projects that you can start to integrate and elevate secondary characters. One addition: can the directors turn on the lights, occasionally?

[@toddhollen]

At this point anyone wanting to do a multiverse movie should ask themselves "Can I make something as good or better than Everything Everywhere All At Once?" When the answer is no, they should just do something else.

[@clenzen9930]

I would do a full reboot. All new. Tough to promote the existing movies with a straight face though.

[@orindae1032]

To messy, they just need to start over clean slate.

[@ernestohuerta5638]

Man, let´s hope DC management sees your video. Totally agree with everything you say. Good video! thanks for sharing!

[@beaustange]

Dan, I agree with you 100% about them being linier! Best idea and one I continually get frustrated with regarding WBD.

[@aloysiusmaina2625]

Great plan! I especially love the Reign of the Supermen idea. Your reasoning behind it, higlighting the true nature of Superman, is rock solid. Let's hope the relevant executives somehow absorb the same prudence in some kind of cosmic osmosis.

[@RonnieBarzel]

I can definitely see the SnyderVerse being continued as a comic (or animated). That's what DC has done with Batman '89, Superman '78 and Lynda Carter Wonder Woman.

[@TonyG8992]

Why not have Snyderverse as elseworld stories.

[@brianng8350]

@@TonyG8992 Well, the key issue is what budget you will give these stories -regardless of live action or animation. And would Zack be happy with a smaller budget? I would not mind seeing his story in the comics like Injustice or DCeased - the Tom Taylor stuff. They were fun and no affect to anything else.

[@masreg]

@@TonyG8992 I’m just going to leave this here. All comic book movies are elseworld stories. Every single one of them. Even movies like Watchmen because they changed the ending of the graphic novel.

[@TonyG8992]

@@masreg My point exactly. Why make Snyderverse into a elseworld movie instead of comic book, because the Knightmare timeline is too good to not be on screen.

[@jarrodjones6990]

Dan: "do REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN" me: *nods vigorously*

[@Film_Addict]

I love this so much!! DC,HIRE THIS LEGEND!! Sending love from Thailand ♥️♥️

[@pattongilbert]

I think a good Green Lantern movie with Hal Jordan’s like he has in DC: The New Frontier would be a great way to pull in new fans and start a new universe. An origin story would be nice among all of these “in medias res” DC stories.

[@keatonhanson43]

I like pretty much everything Dan said here. If only someone at Warner Brothers Discovery was taking notes

[@TerryOnTuesday]

You got my vote, Dan!

[@grandmaster8316]

I agree 👍, I think the first move should be a good superman film

[@GOGIANTS1091]

Yes to everything Dan that you said. Totally agree

[@TheRealZarp]

I love your suggestions, especially having Reign of The a Supermen as the first Superman movie. Excellent idea

[@djmileski]

Interesting thoughts. I agree for the most part except I would recast everyone except Reeves Batman and the rock. Use Reeves Batman as the Batman for the main universe. To your point of broad spectrum of characters, the Batman perfectly hits that darkness. We need for example a Superman film that is bright and hopeful, etc.

[@jenniferarmstrong7722]

I really like how you laid out your plan. It seems so well thought out! I hope and pray DC gets their stuff together. I love DC!! Let's hope they are listening to you! 🤞 Great video!

[@connorharper6399]

I want things to keep going exactly as they are: everyone kind of doing their own thing, leading to a bunch of varied and overall great projects. When you think about all the movies that have come out the problem is rarely with the individual project but rather the confusion over where it fits in the larger universe. I think they should deemphasize a fully connected universe and focus on individual projects with few connections to each other, like how Shazam and aquaman are both in the same world but are only slightly related.

[@CMShuckle]

Hank Henshaw getting a Sinestro Corp ring would a great post credits scene.

[@travisstaggs5136]

Great video! Lots of fun!

[@moviek1ng959]

Totally agree. Great plan.

[@theartofthebinge644]

Wipe everything clean; start again but in the future with Batman Beyond, Aquagirl,Warhawk and Kai-Ro green lantern films.

[@clenzen9930]

You’ve most just described the positive things the MCU is currently doing. Mostly building to a conclusion but also for side stories. Invest in new characters: Agatha, The twins, New Vision, John Walker, Shang-Chi, Kate Bishop, Natasha’s family, Moon Knight, Eternals, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, TVA characters, etc. It may seem like table setting now, but the characters will meet and interact. I hope I see as many DC characters someday.

[@ThePrinceofHisOwnKingdom]

Then how come Phase 4 sucks?

[@MrBrock314]

@@ThePrinceofHisOwnKingdom It doesn't suck, it's just not as cohesive. This, in turn, leads to people being less invested in later movies. By comparison, feeling less invested might feel sucky.

[@jamiekelly6851]

None of it will pay off and if you find it does you'll more than likely be making up excuses/stories to validate these opinions on both sides.

[@johnprina3924]

I agree with most of your ideas, good video. Also, I love the idea of making the Green Lantern Corps. a priority. The GL Corps deserves to be its own universe of movies like Star Wars. They have such a deep and rich lore in their comics. In my personal opinion too it would be cool to start with a Sinestro movie where he is the hero. This way you can have his movie off in a different corner of the Universe since he doesn't protect Earth. If it works, it would be cool for his second or third movie to be a fall from grace into becoming a villain. If it doesn't work you have a good road map of what worked and what doesn't and u can adjust leading into a Hal Jordan or John Stewart.

[@WolfRamAndHart]

Hell, they can have Taika Waititi maybe even direct it...he was an actor in the Ryan Reynolds flop, and he may appreciate the challenge. The Green Lantern animated movies are some of the best. All they needed was a coherent script, and a proper controlled budget. Ryan Reynolds, wasn't miscast as a hero, given how Deadpool turned out. However, while I agree it should be prioritized, I think if it's rushed, DC may be repeating history. As soon as say Black Adam succeeds, DC should announce a Green Lantern movie, say in late 2024, or 2025.

[@Evmoss4462]

🎶 If I ran DC…everyday would be the first day of Spring 🎶

[@PeterZeeke]

Totally agree with telling the audience what you are going to do (in storyline) and the executing it within multiple movies. Top gun maverick did this and it’s success speaks for itself

[@OnslaughtSix]

Cyborg shouldn't be part of the Justice League and he was boring and dreadful in both versions of the movie. Just get rid of him entirely.

[@TonyG8992]

You lost me at not restoring the Snyderverse, but good idea anyways. I really want the Knightmare timeline as a film.

[@nyameleyefekaska2895]

Same that timeline just sounds so freaking good man. And the ending with the whole world becoming a Justice League fighting against Darkseid just sounds so freaking good.

[@BurlyBeardedReviews]

What I’ve always wished for from DC is an unique approach to their release structure, and I think there’s a clear one that DC has over Marvel, which is the fact that DC has very beloved and set storylines that live as their own seperate entities, even if they ran in the main runs of their comics. Their overarching stories really lend themselves well to adaptation, arguably better than Marvel’s source comics. I would love to see a set cast for every character do what would essentially be “stand alone” movies adapting these classic stories into films that aren’t trying to all connect, but all share the same casts. Each film could be stylistically different, and even acting choices different, whatever fits the story at hand. Make definite versions of these classic stories that stay true to the source. It would be a tough sale to audiences who are so used to interconnectivity, but it would be different and would stand out.

[@kevin10001]

I would agree but I would add not doing another Wonder Woman 1984 again by that I mean not doing a movie that relies on the viewers to have extensive knowledge of the characters comic history to understand the movie like I feel Wonder Woman 1984 did cause even comic readers like me who don’t read a lot of her books are not going to know things in the movie and if your going to do things just for fan service make them narratively work in the story like showing Wonder Woman’s golden eagle armor don’t just show it then like 10 seconds later blow it off her like it doesn’t matter

[@mikodizon8322]

Well said and well planned.

[@uosdwiSrdewoH]

I don't think it's fair to say that Marvel has lost it's focus. This was a necessary evil if you consider the entire franchise as closer to a season of TV with each season being it's own saga. They laid the groundwork and built up to Infinity War and Endgame and now they're in the awkward teen years where they have to both continue the stories left over from season 1 which they otherwise might have just dropped, while at the same time bringing in new people who have no connection with what's been done so far and having to introduce them separate from everything else and explain where they were or how they came to be without really bringing in anything else that fans may want to see but would otherwise overshadow these solo projects. Now that all that set up is out of the way we can get into the main story arc and that seems to be what's going on as we've just introduced mutants to Ms Marvel and presumably Wakanda Forever as well as putting Kang's story front and centre in Quantumania. It only seems unfocussed because we didn't know where everything was going and they were really just setting up all the pieces. Now that the board has been set we should get some more focussed story arcs as we move into what is basically act 2 or say episodes 7-15 of a 22 episode season. All this early set up will be forgiven once we see the big picture and how, though it didn't seem to at first, it all sets up the Multiverse Saga.

[@MrBrock314]

The issue is this an 'after the fact' explanation of why it felt the way it did. However, that's not how it HAD to feel. One, they could've told us that from the start. Two, you can design the story so that it synergizes more with the overall plot. Kind of like how Ms Marvel had the Captain Marvel cameo at the end and mentioned mutants. You could've done that all the way through in each tv show and movie. Post-credit scenes don't overshadow the show because the show's over. For example, Kang could've cameoed like 7x by now if they'd wanted to. It was an artistic decision to leave him till later (Quantumania other than Loki) and it doesn't look like it was the best one. We're 13 properties into phase 4 (She-Hulk will be 14), At the 13th property into the Infinity Saga, it was post Civil-War and GoG2 was coming out. Now, part of that is because 7 of the properties have been tv shows so they're coming faster but again, that's Marvel's choice not to move the story along in the tv shows. For example, they could've made 3 or 4 tv shows but made them linearly after the other and had like 12-15 episodes so they'd have space for cameos and crossovers if they wanted to advance the main plotline at the same time. So, I agree that this phase seems more unfocused because they're "setting the table" but its something they brought upon themselves willingly and there WERE other ways to do it.

[@randolphdefreese7874]

Marvel hasnt lost its way they are filling in the universe.thats why therre isnt a major story through all the movies and shows after endgame.

[@game9848]

Over a 100 Hrs of content, and Billions made in profits. And you say the MCU has lost it focus...

[@Crimson28]

I’d green light some DCAU related projects and a Batman Beyond movie with Michael Keaton as old Bruce and some unknown kid as Terry

[@tmaci3]

Brilliant, Dan!!!

[@JacxonLRyan]

Oh Dan my fellow earth sign, I love your practicality! I agree with your plan but WarnerDiscoverys plan ‘ends’ where yours begins. I’m all for the focus on a singular universe and building up second tier characters - Reign of Superman *chefs 😘” but that can’t happen until we get to that singular connected universe. What’s the plan between the end of The Flash movie and Crisis on Infinite Earths (which is one of many reasons Greg Berlanti is being considered to run DC) but what’s the plan leading up to that point? That’s why they can simply continue the Snyder Verse - people hear that term, without realizing, Snyder was ultimately leading up to Final Crisis which would be a great precursor to Crisis on Infinite Earths and also do everything you want even sooner than waiting 10 years for Crisis. We’ve already went down the path of Darkseid- let’s finish it with Final Crisis - thereby soft rebooting the DCEU and twerk it a bit more with what is working when they get to Crisis. Totally love your plan, it’s just the how do we get there from where we’re at and continuing the Snyder verse and expanding those wide range of characters right now is the best route til Final Crisis. Fast tracking Cyborg should be top priority. Snyder already had Green Lantern introduced in his future plans anyway (I would hold off on space -themed GL until after Final Crisis though). Keep going with Black Adam/Shazam, all that works. We’ll keep going with Gunn’s take on Harley Quinn and I would them re-introduce Birds of Prey through a future Gunn-Suicide Squad movie or show. Nothing was wrong with who played the characters- the problem was the movie. I would put a Martian Manhunter series on the new Warn/Disc streaming service or maybe development for an origin “film” - especially with the brilliance of Henry Lennix. Invest and actually DO the Amazon series.! Why are they sleeping on the AMAZING Greek Mythology rich stories that can be told with the Amazon’s! That would be a fantastic series. An Amanda Waller series would even be great. Keep Keaton back as Batman but leave him in the Burton verse and do Batman Beyond! From Keaton’s age to the setting of the Burton verse - it’s just already set up! Keep that going over in the Burton verse. Now I love Superman and Lois… I just don’t know where it is 🤷🏾‍♂️ but it’s a great show I would keep. Keep the DC Black Label - Joker, Joker2, The Batman, keep all that- it’s working, it’s great. Keep making more ALT Superhero films that can win Oscar’s. DC has an insane rogues gallery that would be brilliant over here. And I would fast track the Justice League Dark (movies, spin off characters movies/shows on the new WanerDisc streaming service and for the love of GOD I would keep Doom Patrol moving forward as well. It sit right along side Justice League Dark and helps each other’s world building of the strange and unusual. Titians 🗑 let’s throw that away and restart that idea - but actually in the DCEU 👍🏾

[@timderuijter]

Dan for content president!

[@Rom2814SK]

Agree with almost all of what you said except for Reign of the Supermen - just never cared for it in the comics. Snyderverse needs to go - I know some people absolutely love it, but it seems at least as many hate it. No way forward with it.

[@DakrahWizard]

Was hoping you'd do a mock movie slate.

[@thomashoban2430]

Reign of the Supermen is my favorite Superman story. It's odd the death of Superman was done by DCEU, but Reign of the Supermen wasn't.

[@WolfRamAndHart]

Actually, Dan, Cheetah had to be "darker"...the CGI was terrible. Old FX trick, to make it nighttime. If you mean darker, as if they made her character bad/dark. Cheetah was never a good choice of villain. At best, she's portrayed as the similarly powered nemesis of the hero, Wonder Woman. Marvel gets flack for this, but usually the writing makes up for it. Look at Pitch Meeting, for all the flaws with WW 84. Much better than the movie. So for example, Titania will be in the upcoming Marvel She-Hulk series. However, I think they will make her more interesting, and She-hulk, is also being advertised, as a quasi-legal show, so it's got a few things more going for it, on top of Academy award caliber actors.

[@oortclouddomicile]

The sad part is that the DCEU had a plan until Geoff Johns was brought in and he helped derail the entire thing.

[@Koooo4]

By the time Johns was brought in, the DCEU had already gone to shit..

[@TheBigTunaMunster]

Oh Dan, we should be so lucky....

[@CorMan426]

With a rebooted universe I feel like it would be easy to build off each other by taking a page out of Marvel and Snyder: post credit scenes showing characters POVs of another films climax or event. I loved that each film of the Snyderverse began where the last ended but in a different POV, and I think that would be so creative to utilize that kind of idea in post credit scenes to connect the universe together and feel like gradual events are causing impacts on the world, leading to the eventual first Justice League team up against the White Martians (introducing Martian Manhunter in a Green Lantern movie as a cameo)

[@minoritykid1]

I think I'd go with doing a crisis on infinite earth's type thing. Get as many previous actors back as their characters as possible and then make it so there's a little bit of closure on this thing. Then you have two choices continue to make random movies from dc comic books. They don't have to be connected. Or actually start over with the start point being The Batman

[@tuckerarm2]

I’d love to see a Justice League like the 2001 cartoon. With that, I really want Jon Stewart Green Lantern!

[@kessenichp]

A great plan and fun listen Dan, plus a great thought experiment for fans. I really like your idea of simplification. If I were to do it, I would have only 3 rules. 1) each movie is its own segregated story 2) use the best, most unique, or most loved DC storylines like Batman noir, sinestro corp wars, justice league dark, birthright, etc. 3) trust creative talent. Hire directors/producers with unique visions for fitting stories. Think a sam raimi or Tim burton justice league dark, or a unique take on tower of babble.

[@Sirillius]

Make a good plan and stick with it... Superman 2, start there.. let's go.

[@aniruddhachakraborty4968]

I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID. Also, big splashy event movies are the way to go.... DC should absolutely make movies like RotS, Jack Kirby's Fourth World, Legends, Janus Directive, No Man's Land, Tower of Babel...and make franchise films to work their way up to events if need be. Thats the way to go

[@Reezy884]

Lol whoever does your thumbnails are really good 😅

[@rashedqureshi7437]

Dan - great video as always!! I've said it before but I'll say it again - I really respect that you thank your sponsor at the end of your video, and don't force people to either listen or skip through the sponsor piece first to "earn" your content. I'm happy to listen to it as I enjoy your content and am happy to listen all the way through to the very end. Thanks and look forward to upcoming content!! :-)

[@may.k_me]

I like what you suggested Dan. I don't want to reboot the DCU. I just want another round of standalone films that have compelling story arcs and no lame ass, one dimensional generic villain. I also really miss Superman, but the Superman with heart. That's what I always liked about Superman, he wasn't like the other heroes. Yes, I also think somebody should grow a pair and have another crack at Green Lantern and get someone who can really act. No offense to Ryan Reynolds, but he is a bit one note. I also do not want the Snyderverse to return. DC needs to find a way to showcase each character's uniqueness and what sets them apart from each other. I also want to see some more of the Bat Family. There are so many compelling characters but we keep circling the same 3 or 4 people. It's just a waste of source material IMO

[@Galvatronover]

one dimensional villain can be good when used well you can't flesh out every villain and character

[@may.k_me]

@@Galvatronover fair point. But sadly they don't seem to have much personality to them. Even a small role can have impact. But my point is that these villains don't. They don't even feel menacing. Then they can at least try to be charismatic or enigmatic. They have to give SOMETHING

[@P0UTY1]

Really like this video idea, Reboot It meets Murrell

[@PeterZeeke]

Also spend sensibly. Be careful with money… that should be the most important lesson

[@mrfreshman521]

Agreed with all the points in addition let the justice league characters get introduced thoroughly give dual or trilogy to OG characters like Martian manhunter, Constantine, GL, etc.

[@goodial]

as someone who likes the Harley Quinn animated show, I'd like to add: more Kite Man!

[@BushidoBrownSama]

Reign of The Supermen but instead it's Wonder Women, Nubia, Donna Troy, Wonder Girl, & maybe some kind of Black Lantern Wonder Woman

[@DCPierrot48]

My favorite "If I Ran DC" vidoes

[@harrythefish4593]

To do the reign of superman idea, why not just have a infinity crisis start for each of your main characters (Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonderwoman, etc...) that you want as your central characters and start each off with them having to establish themselves as the main line DC hero while also setting up the seeds of the 10 year arc. (maybe someone is smashing these timeline/universes together and the justice league combined will be the only ones strong enough as a team to fix the problem (good idea is Each hero has a part to play that their power set is best for.

[@carlosnicolasaronesfranco894]

Cyborg Superman could be an interesting prelude to another technorganic villian... The first cinematic appearance of Brainiac would be awesome. We need to see the evolution of what was produce for the Burton´s superman movie.

[@katevand]

as always fantastic

[@alchemypotato]

I think I'm largely in agreement with you. As a DC fan I'd like to see a fresh universe that can be closer to the comics but I don't think that makes much business sense. I do think the Snyder films cause some problems just because they go to stuff so fast that really should've been built up to. (This says nothing about my feelings on the films, they are just designed to tell Snyder's story more than they are designed to setup a universe you can build stories off of for years.)

[@BrianScottGameNight]

Sorry but it all has to be scrapped and started over again. They have to build up though like Marvel did.

[@NickelAntonius]

DC had the jump on Marvel with regard to their horror comic properties, with Guillermo del Toro on board to make a Justice League Dark movie; now Marvel's in the lead there having laid the groundwork for Midnight Sons with Blade, Black Knight, and Moon Knight.