Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox was a dream waiting to be realised for many Marvel fans. Finally, the Marvel Cinematic Universe gets to include characters that have been interacting with the Avengers in the comics for decades! With an even richer MCU in the near future, there’s a lot to look forward to. But what about DC comics? Should Disney buy DC Comics too?
Warner Bros. has been handling DC comics adaptations since the Michael Keaton Batman movies of the ’90s. They’ve had some success. Keaton’s Batman developed a cult following, thanks also to the visionary director Tim Burton, and actors Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito. But then they made a series of Batman films, going in a direction that nearly ruined the franchise. Have you still been struggling to forget about the nipples on Batman’s costume? So sorry for reminding you! It was only with Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy that we got a more faithful adaptation of the Caped Crusader.
Then there are the Superman films. Christopher Reeves’ take on the Man of Steel was a hit, and for years after, the actor became synonymous with one of DC’s most well-known superheroes. After Reeves, it took nearly 20 years before we saw another Superman film in Superman Returns. But Warner Bros didn’t get as much as they hoped to from that. Following the Dark Knight Trilogy’s success, Henry Cavill’s darker, brooding Superman came to the big screen, which divided fans and newcomers to the franchise.
Since then, Warner Bros. seems to be struggling to make good quality movies featuring these two iconic heroes.
So, should Disney buy DC Comics? No, at least not yet.
While their efforts over the last 7 years have not met with great success, there have been a few anomalies. Wonder Woman in 2017 exceeded expectations, and brought hope to the DCEU. Aquaman in 2018 was a huge success, and Shazam! continues this latest successful streak from Warner Bros. Lately, the studio is diverting their efforts to lesser known characters of DC Comics, such as Birds of Prey. Doesn’t that sound a lot like what the MCU did in its early days?
Maybe there’s hope for the DCEU after all. Warner Bros. certainly don’t look ready to give up just yet. Nor should they.
And the last thing we really need is the House of Mouse in control of the entire comic book movie world. On the other hand, imagine the possibilities. Should Disney buy DC Comics, we’d finally get that Avengers vs. Justice League movie. And no, it won’t be directed by Joss Whedon.
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Disney should NEVER buy DC Comics, I mean not that it would ever happen. The government would shut that down. You see Disney practically has a monopoly now and if they attempted to buy DC outright, they’d be viciously shut down. It’d be even worse if they attempted to buy Warner Bros. But I still don’t believe that DC should be in Disney hands. DC has always been nitty gritty and most characters aren’t supposed to be comical. The more recent movies haven’t worked because of Warner’s interference, when they finally back off we will finally see great movies (such as Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam.
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I wouldnt want disney to make that move, purely because there needs to be different approaches to these types of films. I also think that most of the animated DC movies are great. I feel as though those filmmakers are being overlooked as a resource that could have a positive impact on the live action franchise.
I really hope someone in a position of power reads your comment. Best idea they could have. I agree the animated films are really good.
LMAO holy crap I’m not sure if this is trolling or stupidity from Fortress of Solitude.
Disney is worth about 140B.
AT&T is worth over a Half a Trillion dollars. Disney can’t do a thing here.
AT&T net worth as of June 05, 2019 is $229.75B. Disney’s net worth is nearly $130 billion.
As an economist, this has been on my RADAR for quite some time. I used to be opposed to consolidation of this scale, believing it to reduce competition, but, that oversimplifies what drives innovation in this particular market. Disney ownership of Warner Media properties, especially and specifically DC comics, would absolutely be beneficial not only for the shareholders of both firms in the long run, but also for consumers looking for high quality entertainment. The current adminstrations are more likely to award regulatory approval for such a merger.
While Disney *has* made itself somewhat of a ‘villain’ in the intellectual property ring, they’ve nonetheless dominated their industry by collecting and developing superior talent, and there’s no reason to believe they wouldn’t continue to do that. Acquiring firms like Warner would be the single greatest step they could take toward becoming the end-all-be-all FACE of American Entertainment Media. To solidify that dominance, they would need only acquire Hasbro, not only to benefit from the dedicated toy line, but also to benefit from *timeless* classics like Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering being under the same roof as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and every Super Hero *and* Princess kids today look up to.
–NF
Worth noting: DC comics is only PART of Warner Media, which in turn is PART of AT&T. So, to those that believe Disney would need to buy AT&T in order to acquire DC Comics, I assure you: companies sell *parts* of themselves all the time. AT&T considered selling CNN a while back, as well as HBO. Vertical integration has its advantages, but opperating in multiple markets subjects you to multiple regulatory authorities. MEANING: AT&T shareholders might consider it an advantage to go back to focussing on Telecom and get out of the Media biz, parting with Warner Media ALTOGETHER. Or, they might piecemeal it off first, getting the most they can for it in the process as they divest themselves from the market. CNN, HBO, DC Comics; all would be profitable sales.
And I apologize for spamming, but:
The justification, in the context of regulatory authorities, is this:
Japan.
We live in a global society now. There was a time, perhaps, that if LOCAL competition collapsed, all was lost. Not now. If something happened to Chevy and Dodge? Ford doesn’t get to enjoy some grand monopoly. NO. They still have to compete with Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Isuzu…and that’s just Japan. South Korea has Hyundai (who owns Kia), and Germany has VW, Audi, and others. But not only do these companies *exist*, something they’ve done for some time: they exist in the context of mass production our past selves couldn’t dream of. We can make a car with parts from 12 countries and ship it across 19 of them before it gets to the lot, no sweat. So in the past, where it might have been a problem if “local” competition collapsed? In the context of a Global Economy? Competition lives on. Chevy, Dodge, hell…even Ford, could all disappear tomorrow. And while *American* industry would hurt, the Global economy would suffer no real loss in competitive forces when compared to the current tacit oligopolies, and the Global economy is the one we all LIVE in.
I definitely don’t want to turn this into a Nationalist ego-battle. I have incredible respect for Japanese culture and the media that embodies it. Japan WON the culture war in *this* household, decades ago. My cartoons were japanese, my video games were japanese, my toys were japanese, and the characters on my clothes were japanese. From Nintendo to every Anime on Adult Swim…Japan has largely WON a huge demographic of our youth. And for good reason: read Bushido: the Soul of Japan. Great read, and it speaks to the values their didactic media aims to endow.
That said: American regulators, and others, will need to be “convinced” that such a merger is in the interests of consumers. And as a man of conviction (not just my younger ‘debate team’ self), I won’t take a side I don’t believe in. So I believe in THIS. I believe it’s *absolutely* better for consumers if, for lack of a better term, American media UNITES. Let Disney take the torch and run with it: they’ve won. They’ve earned it. Disney is *burned* into our souls. They’re as American as it gets at this point. And I think they should definitely be our ‘face’ to the world. Disney should show people what Americans truly ARE at our best. Holding off consolidation in hopes it would promote competition…in the arts? Was absurd from the get-go. People produce art because they’re driven to, by a passion no ‘competition’ will ever spur. Disney *collects* that talent, and gives it an aim if its lacking one. I’m all for that. Let them grow.