Official : Bendis gets both books

[Superlad93]

IF they were already planning on ever revisting the shared universe concept, which I so, so very much doubt. They'd be using Patterson's Batman as the foundation. Not some kind of Luke Fox reboot. But I digress. Calling what's going on a "shared universe craze" just seems out of date. A few years ago, yeah we'd be calling it that. But right now? The only real shared universe that ended up catching was the one that kicked it off, the MCU (the tv Arrowverse is different medium, like bringing the Timm Dini animated dc universe or those CSI tv shows, is not a good comparison). So no, I think it's highly far fetched to think the powers that be already have plans for some huge venture after Patterson, Gadot, etc wrap up.

Sure.

I mean, it's not as if I presented any of this as the 100%-truth-that-only-I-know-me-me-me. Nah. The only reason I brought up the idea in the original conversation I was having with the first person I was talking to was in service of a pretty ambitious thought exercise based only off the rumor that AT&T/WB was backing the shift in the comics, doing some reading on the new boss in charge of branding, the definitive end to the New 52/Rebirth inspired animated movies, and Jim Lee flat out saying that DC comics function as an incubator for adaptation to film, TV, games, and cartoons. That still tells me nothing about the films, so I guessed, and you're welcome to disagree with that.

[Vordan]

The thing is the films that have been a success critically and commercially in the DCEU have been the ones that have lacked major connections to the shared Universe. Studio executives can be dense and follow insane troll logic most of the time, but I can't believe the fact that Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and The Joker were all embraced while Dawn of Justice, Justice League, and various Harley Quinn vehicles have been pretty much rejected have been lost on them. The messaging they are receiving runs counter to idea that they should be pursuing an intricate Cinematic Universe that really only Marvel Studios has been able to successfully pull off.

Those films didn’t fail because they were shared universe films though. After all GL, Superman Returns, Jonah Hex, Catwoman, and Steel were all standalone and they failed because they were trash. Shazam has ties to the wider universe, it even has Headless Superman cameoing at the end. WB seems to have taken the real lesson to heart which is the previous direction of the DCEU was bad and they needed to course correct.

WB isn’t going to wholly abandon the shared universe. They’re simply going to dump what didn’t work, the Snyderverse except for WW, and then move forward. I don’t expect another JL any time soon but I do expect it to happen done the road. Black Adam and Shazam are sure to face off at some point, and BA is rumored to be bringing in the JSA.

[Superlad93]

The thing is the films that have been a success critically and commercially in the DCEU have been the ones that have lacked major connections to the shared Universe. Studio executives can be dense and follow insane troll logic most of the time, but I can't believe the fact that Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and The Joker were all embraced while Dawn of Justice, Justice League, and various Harley Quinn vehicles have been pretty much rejected have been lost on them. The messaging they are receiving runs counter to idea that they should be pursuing an intricate Cinematic Universe that really only Marvel Studios has been able to successfully pull off.

I agree, but I also think greed and envy are real as sh!t. Like, a few weeks ago I was talking to my friends over PSN, and one of my friends goes "damn, did you hear about Black Widow getting pushed back?" I'm over here shocked to find out Black Widow left such an impression, but then he just goes "I mean, not really, but it's new Marvel sh!t, and it's been a minute since Far From Home." That's some straight fiend sh!t right there, and it's also the dream of a studio like WB specifically. They wanna cut in on some of that where something just being the next, missing, or tangent chapter in your shared universe epic is anticipated or given a chance just because it's in that epic.

My point being, they're making a lot of money now, but they could be foolish amounts of it because they see it being done right next with something they could be similar to, and I genuinely think that has them feelin some kinda way. But, maybe that's just me.

[Sam]

Those films didn’t fail because they were shared universe films though. After all GL, Superman Returns, Jonah Hex, Catwoman, and Steel were all standalone and they failed because they were trash. Shazam has ties to the wider universe, it even has Headless Superman cameoing at the end. WB seems to have taken the real lesson to heart which is the previous direction of the DCEU was bad and they needed to course correct.

WB isn’t going to wholly abandon the shared universe. They’re simply going to dump what didn’t work, the Snyderverse except for WW, and then move forward. I don’t expect another JL any time soon but I do expect it to happen done the road. Black Adam and Shazam are sure to face off at some point, and BA is rumored to be bringing in the JSA.

Whether or not they failed because of the shared universe aspect is immaterial to what's at issue here. Catwoman, Elektra, and Supergirl didn't fail because they were female-led Superhero films, but because they were terrible. However, that didn't stop movie executives from using their example to assume that female Superhero films couldn't succeed. My point isn't that the DCEU movies that failed because of the shared universe, but that the failure of the more interconnected films will likely lead executives at the WB to take certain lessons away that lead them to focus more on the standalone features than trying to worry about making everything work in one giant continuity. Will things connect again? Maybe. Is it assured? Definitely not. Is it the priority? Unlikely.

[Sam]

My point being, they're making a lot of money now, but they could be foolish amounts of it because they see it being done right next with something they could be similar to, and I genuinely think that has them feelin some kinda way. But, maybe that's just me.

But that already happened and it backfired on them horribly, so...

[Frontier]

Those films didn’t fail because they were shared universe films though. After all GL, Superman Returns, Jonah Hex, Catwoman, and Steel were all standalone and they failed because they were trash. Shazam has ties to the wider universe, it even has Headless Superman cameoing at the end. WB seems to have taken the real lesson to heart which is the previous direction of the DCEU was bad and they needed to course correct.

WB isn’t going to wholly abandon the shared universe. They’re simply going to dump what didn’t work, the Snyderverse except for WW, and then move forward. I don’t expect another JL any time soon but I do expect it to happen done the road. Black Adam and Shazam are sure to face off at some point, and BA is rumored to be bringing in the JSA.

I think "abandon" is a strong word but I don't think they're going to make a great effort either. Maybe like a small Batman reference here or there, but anything more overt then that I would be very surprised to see happen.

They could handle it like Shazam did but I don't think that will be prominent moving forward. It's kind of hilarious that the ending credits used the DCEU versions of the League and half of them aren't even part of the equation anymore.

[Superlad93]

But that already happened and it backfired on them horribly, so...

Yeah, but...so? They're not taking their ball and going home forever when there's such foolish amounts of money to be made. They live by the golden rule of time and distance from the misstep. It's only been 2 year since, so the wait is still on.

[Sam]

Yeah, but...so? They're not taking their ball and going home forever when there's such foolish amounts of money to be made. They live by the golden rule of time and distance from the misstep. It's only been 2 year since, so the wait is still on.

Only if you assume an interconnected universe will make a foolish amount of money, which DCEU history doesn't support. The money seems to come from the standalone franchises, so they'll more likely focus there for a good long while. Given the slate for the next three years, that definitely seems to be the case.

[Superlad93]

Given the slate for the next three years, that definitely seems to be the case.

For now...

[Gurz]

One thing i realised keeps me away from Superman ongoings... I don't need to read to know that it's a shitty run. xD

[objectivewatcher2013]

Almost 200 comments, not one of them happy about Bendis' direction.

This x 1000.

[objectivewatcher2013]

One thing i realised keeps me away from Superman ongoings... I don't need to read to know that it's a shitty run. xD

Facts. 100

[Vordan]

So the next big arc of Action “House of Kent” is apparently about Clark, Lois, Conner, Kara, Jon, and Brainiac 5 are going to be taking on the Metropolis crime families which sounds great to me. The downside is that Romita Jr. will still be drawing it. Look I know Bendis and Romita go way back, and Romita was treated as a “big get for DC” but Romita is like the opposite of a pull now. He’s actively driving people away with how tough his art is. They should’ve stuck with Epting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cs_7bogQjE

[Superlad93]

I would be so much more hype for this if it was Epting. His work was outstanding during the Leviathan tie-in.

"House of Kent" was not what I was expecting from the title, but it sounds genuinely new and interesting. Bendis summed it ups as " what would Superman's family be if they were a crime family--but a good natured one" and compared it to his Daredevil run in some ways. Bendis also hints that the family goes "full Kandor on someone", but I can't really imagine what that means. Could he be hinting that instead of breaking knee caps or drive-bys, the Superman Family equivalent is getting Brainy to shrink some? That would pretty wild if true.

Edit: Zaar's also coming back, "but not in the place you'd expect." My first guess would be Legion, but in the interest of subversion it's probably Young Justice or Checkmate, or something.

[Frontier]

So the next big arc of Action “House of Kent” is apparently about Clark, Lois, Conner, Kara, Jon, and Brainiac 5 are going to be taking on the Metropolis crime families which sounds great to me. The downside is that Romita Jr. will still be drawing it. Look I know Bendis and Romita go way back, and Romita was treated as a “big get for DC” but Romita is like the opposite of a pull now. He’s actively driving people away with how tough his art is. They should’ve stuck with Epting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cs_7bogQjE

Those characters taking on crime families seems a tad excessive. Superman has some potential street-level supporting heroes they could've used instead. Maybe if the Invisible Mafia seemed to have more Supervillains on the payroll, but I dunno. Not really the kind of arc that I think necessitates all these characters together.

And, yeah, Romita sticking around is a bummer.

Edit: Zaar's also coming back, "but not in the place you'd expect." My first guess would be Legion, but in the interest of subversion it's probably Young Justice or Checkmate, or something.

He'd seem out-of-place in Checkmate. I don't think YJ would be good for him unless we want to see him get beat up by some teenagers. I mean, I'd be happy with it, but it wouldn't help Zaar much .