WB Boss: DC Make “Great Movies About Superheroes, Not Superhero Movies”

Warner Bros film chief Greg Silverman has spoken of how the DC brand holds its own against Marvel, claiming their approach is to make “great movies about superheroes” rather than “superhero movies.”

Silverman tells The Hollywood Reporter, “We have a great strategy for the DC films, which is to take these beloved characters and put them in the hands of master filmmakers and make sure they all coordinate with each other.

“You’ll see the difference [from Marvel] when you see ‘Batman v. Superman,’ ‘Suicide Squad,’ ‘Justice League’ and all the things that we are working on.”

- Details on Batman’s Suicide Squad Role
- First Glimpse Of Jared Leto’s Joker
- San Andreas Director Sets Sights On Superman

Few would disagree that thus far Warners/DC are very much lagging behind Marvel in the superhero movie stakes. Outside of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, the studio have struggled with their superhero properties, most notoriously with the high profile misfires ‘Catwoman’ and ‘Green Lantern.’

Even ‘Man of Steel,’ broadly considered a successful reboot (and certainly a hit in commercial terms), still left a great many fans and critics displeased with its considerably darker take on Superman - and based on the trailer, there are fears that ‘Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice,’ the film really set to blow the DC universe wide open, will be similarly too grim.

In response to this, Silverman (above) retorts, “There is intensity and a seriousness of purpose to some of these characters. The filmmakers who are tackling these properties are making great movies about superheroes; they aren’t making superhero movies.

“And when you are trying to make a good movie, you tackle interesting philosophies and character development. There’s also humor, which is an important part.”

Silverman also went on to address the well-publicised troubles with their upcoming ‘Wonder Woman’ solo movie, which notoriously lost original director Michelle McLaren in pre-production over creative differences - only to hire Patty Jenkins (below) as her replacement.

While many applauded Warners’ insistence on hiring a female director for their first female superhero solo movie, others have accused them of political point-scoring - not to mention getting one up on Marvel, who originally hired Jenkins to helm ‘Thor: the Dark World’ before parting ways with her under ostensibly similar circumstances.

Silverman, however, insists it was simply a case of finding the right filmmaker for the job.

“We had a very intensive process looking at everybody. Patty and Michelle were really the ones who came to the forefront the first go-round, so when things didn’t work out with Michelle, we all knew we had someone great who had expressed interest before. She came back and is doing a great job.

“But it was never about the best female director. [Jenkins] has demonstrated doing amazing work with female characters, such as in ‘Monster.’” 

In the same interview, Silverman also discusses the development of more franchises at Warner Bros, including hopes for ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ ‘Pan,’ ‘King Arthur’, ‘Tarzan.’ ‘Jungle Book: Origins,’ ‘Ben 10′ and more. Read the full article at The Hollywood Reporter.

‘Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’ opens on 25 March 2016, followed by ‘Suicide Squad’ on 5 August 2016.

- Batman Movie In-Jokes Revealed
- Suicide Squad Director Promises Surprises
- Every Superhero Movie Up To 2020

Picture Credit: Warner Bros/DC, THR, WENN