I think most people would agree that Marvel Studios has had a very successful run since they started to control the film production of the cinematic versions of their characters.
With over 7000 characters that are not currently under rival studios control for films, Marvel and Disney have been able to take lesser known characters and drive them to star status by smart marketing and films that allow their characters to be portrayed in the best possible way by the people and company who knows them best.
Warner and DC are attempting to create their own massive franchise but are still stinging over the costly disappointment that was “The Green Lantern” as well as the backlash from fans which effectively killed any future outings for Ryan Reynolds.
With multiple characters such as Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the entire Justice League up for future group and stand alone films, one has to wonder if the company will be up for the task as aside from “Batman” the cinematic history of Warner Bros and DC heroes does have a few clunkers in their history.
I like many fans have questioned some of the casting and directorial choices especially that of Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Cyborg and have wondered if DC and Marvel are so bent on creating new franchises to rival Marvel that they are not putting the proper amount of thought into the casting and scripting of the films to ensure success.
The casting of heroes has always been hotly debated as Michael Keaton created a huge uproar with his casting yet turned in one of the best portrayals of the character to date. It is common to take up and coming actors as many of them do not want to run the risk of being typecast especially when locked into a role for the better part of a decade in some cases, but ask Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, or Robert Downey JR if they have been typecast as a result of their Marvel films.
To me some of the DC characters are not interesting or strong enough to support a film on their own. Take Cyborg and Aquaman as an example. They would work fine as part of an ensemble but I just do not think that there is enough to the characters to base a big budget film franchise around a solo outing unless the plan is to ensure multiple characters appear in each film.
Another issue facing the films is being in direct competition with their small screen counterparts. Ask Brandon Routh how competing with Smallville and a less than stellar script worked for his outing in “Superman Returns”.
Both Arrow and The Flash are doing well on the WB network and Stephen Amell has reportedly already spoke out about confusing the audience with a cinematic version of the Green Arrow while he is portraying the character successfully on the small screen.
Marvel has the advantage that in being owned by Disney they have their own network in ABC which allows them greater freedom and control with their projects and does help ensure that cinematic versions of the character appear on the small screen as well as we have seen several times in Agent Carter and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
In the end it will come down to a good script executed by a good director and cast, but for now, I would say that there are a lot of questions with the upcoming slate of DC films and based on Marvels established success and announced slate of films, Warner may be facing an uphill climb.
