Originally Posted by
Green Goblin of Sector 2814
And see, that's the point. That attitude is the problem. The assumption that people would just not be interested in characters outside the Bat-mythos. No, we actually don't know it would come out last. It's Lex Luthor: one of the most iconic comic book villains of all time. The character has had several of his own titles and is a staple of one of DC's flagship franchises. So you're telling me that publishing an anniversary issue for that guy is "going out of their way" when we got, again, three such issues for Batman characters.
I mean, is Lex less iconic than Catwoman or Robin as well? Again, that's an assumption you have made. Now listen, I actually prefer Batman over a lot of other characters too but Batman isn't the only character that can sell.
Again, Hollywood execs assumed for a long time that only white male characters could anchor a successful film franchise. THEN, Wonder Woman made over 800 million at the box office and is probably the most beloved DC film franchise at the moment.
Uh, I've heard it definitely talked about. It's been cited, at least in comic book fan circles, as a really great story for Lex. But again, that is you choosing to look at things through your own metrics of success or critical acclaim, even if those metrics don't really hold true or paint an accurate picture.
Again, you're applying metrics that you've decided mean something, even when those metrics are proven false. It's not like Lex Luthor hasn't had portrayals that resonated with the wider public. He has. Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor is regarded as iconic. Michael Rosenbaum's portrayal of Lex was also quite beloved by people who watched Smallville, even if that was more of a cult audience. And while the DCEU Lex wasn't what some fans wanted (though personally, I didn't have an issue with him), they also felt the same way about the DCEU Joker. The difference is...Joker was given the opportunity to redeem himself. He's afforded that chance, whereas other characters aren't.
And I'm not at all saying that the Joker film shouldn't have been made. I love that movie. BUT, they need to share the love because, again, garnering the reputation that your universe has only one thing to offer is not a good business strategy.
Yes, I can point to them scaling things back. Because, as I alluded to in another post, Bat-family titles that were selling the same as the Green Lantern titles post-Johns were spared cancellation and not only that but continuously relaunched and propped up.
And again, are they using Morrison to prop it up again? Because you'd assume that propping up the franchise would mean that its title came out regularly. I havent seen any big news coming out of Morrison's GL. However, I've seen countless ads and other content pumping up Joker War. And, I'm actually reading Joker War and Tynion's Batman. It's great. However, it's clear that DC cares more about getting me to read Tynion's Batman than they do about getting me to read Morrison's Green Lantern, which I have btw.
Snyder was clearly an up-and-comer. He'd proved himself on things like Black Mirror.
Okay, I feel like we're getting obtuse here.
1) You're kind of just saying "it just didn't work" without establishing what it means for a property to "work." So, what does it mean for a property to "work"? Does Wonder Woman have to sell over 100k copies a month to receive the same attention as Batman? Because not even Batman has been selling that much as of late. However, Wonder Woman has been in continuous publication and maintained her own series for decades. She's also a widely recognized and iconic character that everyone knows. She is also now at the center of one of the most beloved film franchises of the modern CBM era, which is probably the most anticipated of DC's film slate. It seems you would defer only to comic book sales in determining who should get attention, whereas I would probably look to the latter.
2) The argument that she needs to be some big seller to garner attention would hold more weight if there weren't numerous examples from DC's own competitor of the contrary. Despite their film success, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor aren't Marvel's highest sellers. It's also been a loooong time since the Fantastic Four ruled the sales charts. However, who are the main characters in this year's Empyre event? Uh, yeah, those guys. And again, while the FF and the individual Avengers aren't really the highest-selling titles, 2015's Secret Wars literally hinged on Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Doom's rivalry and 2019's War of the Realms was all about Thor. However, if Marvel followed DC's current business model, all universe-spanning events would center around Spider-Man.
Except I wouldn't sell ONLY steak and tailor all my other products to be "steak-related." Like, I wouldn't come out with steak-flavored ice cream for dessert or literally just have all the other menu options be the steak with different accompaniments. Because, in the end, that's not how consumers function. Despite popular belief, consumers don't like to consume just one thing and when people get tired of the steak, they're gonna want something else and unless I have that something else, I'm gonna lose customers.
Translating this metaphor into comics, fans love Batman but they don't want to read about just Batman. But to get that fill for other characters, they go to Marvel to read about their characters. In other words, Marvel says this to its customers: "you like Spider-Man? Great. Here's a monthly Spider-Man title and some spin-off series, but also if you want to venture into something different, here's our big event starring the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, a Silver Surfer mini-series, we just put our hot new writer Donny Cates on Thor, and one of our established beloved veterans is headlining a whole family of X-Men titles."
Meanwhile, this is what DC has been saying to its customers of late: "You like Batman? Great. Here's the monthly Batman title with our star up-and-comer, Tom King and/or James Tynion, and a slew of other Bat-family books. You want something other than Batman? Great, here's a Harley Quinn series, two Joker mini-series, a Joker/Harley Quinn mini-series, a Robin anniversary issue, a Joker anniversary issue, and a Catwoman anniversary issue. Oh, you want something starring Flash or maybe even Doomsday? Okay, here's an event with new characters Red Death and Destroyer...alternate versions of Bruce Wayne who are like Flash and Doomsday and are here to fight Batman. Oh, and of course, we have the sequel coming out, Death Metal...which is also about Batman (and some other characters too, but mostly Batman). Oh, and now there's a Dr. Manhattan Batman too. Oh, and yes, Bendis is on Superman (because he specifically requested Superman) but he'll also be writing some Batman."
And I say this as someone who is reading and actually loving Death Metal, but do you see my point?
Except, I don't see much of the diversification. As I pointed out above, it's largely Batman and more Batman. And I love Batman but there's such a thing as oversaturation.
But that's not what happened. You're engaging in conjecture. What happened was that Wonder Woman and Aquaman proved to be huge successes and Aquaman earned more than any other DC character at the box office. So, I think it's time to question the common "wisdom" that Batman is the only cash cow.