WB CEO Dismisses Superhero Fatigue, says DC movies are 'edgier' than MCU

[LordUltimus]

Warner Bros. chairman-CEO Kevin Tsujihara thinks that moviegoers still have a big appetite for caped crusaders. He also says:

The worlds of DC are very different. They’re steeped in realism, and they’re a little bit edgier than Marvel’s movies.

Full article here.

[The Kid]

Don't get me wrong, I like edgy and some degree of realism. Hell, I still think The Dark Knight is by far the greatest superhero movie made so far.

But I really hope that isn't the template that is going to be used for the rest of the DC Universe

[RobinFan4880]

Our worlds are steeped in realism. We have an alien who gets every conceivable super power cranked up to 11 just by bathing in the radiation of a yellow star. We also have the world's greatest detective who easily manages the duality of fighting crime by night while running a trans-national corporation by day all the while getting less than three hours of sleep a night and keeping himself in peak physical form without the assistance of drugs. We also have an Amazon from a secret island of Amazons... And the literal King of Atlantis! Oh and a space cop who can create anything he imagines with his alien super ringring, including fully functional mecha!

Yeah... Sorry, how is that more realistic than what Marvel is doing?

What he really meant was that the DCU is tonally different. The DCU is going for a much grittier feel than Marvel's light-hearted/comedic take.

Gritty =/= Realistic, it is simply darker.

[The Kid]

Even grittier makes me a little anxious. Wonder Woman and Shazam shouldn't be very gritty. Batman, sure. That's his bread and butter but what works for him doesn't necessarily work for everyone else

[LordUltimus]

Remember when DC was the fantastical one and Marvel was the gritty realistic one?

[RobinFan4880]

Even grittier makes me a little anxious. Wonder Woman and Shazam shouldn't be very gritty. Batman, sure. That's his bread and butter but what works for him doesn't necessarily work for everyone else

Every movie is going to be like Man of Steel. That is the template (which is just the Dark Knight reformatted for heroes with super powers).

At some point, I fully expect to see Billy be as torn up and anguished as Kal was in this scene.

[Doctor Know]

Our worlds are steeped in realism. We have an alien who gets every conceivable super power cranked up to 11 just by bathing in the radiation of a yellow star. We also have the world's greatest detective who easily manages the duality of fighting crime by night while running a trans-national corporation by day all the while getting less than three hours of sleep a night and keeping himself in peak physical form without the assistance of drugs. We also have an Amazon from a secret island of Amazons... And the literal King of Atlantis! Oh and a space cop who can create anything he imagines with his alien super ringring, including fully functional mecha!

Yeah... Sorry, how is that more realistic than what Marvel is doing?

What he really meant was that the DCU is tonally different. The DCU is going for a much grittier feel than Marvel's light-hearted/comedic take.

Gritty =/= Realistic, it is simply darker.

@Bold
Have you seen the latest Avengers trailer? All that "destruction porn" in civilian populated ares and when you consider where Marvel is going with storylines like Civil War and Ragnorok. I think Marvel is beyond it's light-hearted days.

[Cypher]

Remember when DC was the fantastical one and Marvel was the gritty realistic one?

I always found Marvels superheroes to be ridiculous, save a very very select few.

"Theyre Superheroes.... with issues!"
~Every Marvel hero ever

DC movies have always been more series, I just hope they dont add low brow writing such as in MOS.

[Rogue Star]

Our worlds are steeped in realism. We have an alien who gets every conceivable super power cranked up to 11 just by bathing in the radiation of a yellow star. We also have the world's greatest detective who easily manages the duality of fighting crime by night while running a trans-national corporation by day all the while getting less than three hours of sleep a night and keeping himself in peak physical form without the assistance of drugs. We also have an Amazon from a secret island of Amazons... And the literal King of Atlantis! Oh and a space cop who can create anything he imagines with his alien super ringring, including fully functional mecha!

Yeah... Sorry, how is that more realistic than what Marvel is doing?

What he really meant was that the DCU is tonally different. The DCU is going for a much grittier feel than Marvel's light-hearted/comedic take.

Gritty =/= Realistic, it is simply darker.

But that's not even accurate, especially going forward. From what I've seen last year and will probably see this year, Marvel has settled on a pattern of balancing comedies with more straight faced films. There's going to be something for everyone. As for Tsujihara's comment regarding their movies being steeped in realism, this is about the most unsexy thing you can say about a comic book movie to me. I love movies with drama and emotional weight, something that too many Marvel movies have lacked thus far, but I don't want to watch characters constantly be given reasons to brood unless the character is supposed to be dark and brooding. I want Tsujihara to really embrace the diversity of the characters in tone, not just in appearance and powerset only.

[Cipher]

They’re steeped in realism, and they’re a little bit edgier than Marvel’s movies.

Greaaaaat.

You have an entire universe steeped in total whimsy, and this is the way you bring it to film.

That is the template (which is just the Dark Knight reformatted for heroes with super powers).

The Dark Knight worked because it was moderately smart, though. This is like the post-Watchmen/Dark Knight Returns darkness craze in comics, which is kind of hilarious -- taking all the wrong lessons from one exemplary work.

[Pinsir]

@Bold
Have you seen the latest Avengers trailer? All that "destruction porn" in civilian populated ares and when you consider where Marvel is going with storylines like Civil War and Ragnorok. I think Marvel is beyond it's light-hearted days.

This is honestly the problem with most franchises. Do people who like Harry Potter even like the last few books? Or the last few books of the Hunger Games? The only large book series I know that got better was the Golden Compass.

[Triple J]

Even grittier makes me a little anxious. Wonder Woman and Shazam shouldn't be very gritty. Batman, sure. That's his bread and butter but what works for him doesn't necessarily work for everyone else

WW, I think should be on the more gritty side (She doesn't particularly have a problem with killing or 'taking care' of her enemies right away. Of course, they should, perhaps also emphasize on her compassionate side).

Shazam, light hearted for sure.

Every movie is going to be like Man of Steel. That is the template (which is just the Dark Knight reformatted for heroes with super powers).

At some point, I fully expect to see Billy be as torn up and anguished as Kal was in this scene.

Have they said that though?

I don't think Tsujihara was meaning to say that every DC movie is going to be like MOS or Dark Knight in terms of tone.

@Bold
Have you seen the latest Avengers trailer? All that "destruction porn" in civilian populated ares and when you consider where Marvel is going with storylines like Civil War and Ragnorok. I think Marvel is beyond it's light-hearted days.

That's one of the things I like about Marvel..they are aiming for tonal diversity.

DC should do the same, just like we have in comics. I hope they do (and I think they are doing that. Casting Dwayne Johnson as BA is an example...besides, Dwayne already mentioned that Shazam is going to be different in tone).

[LordUltimus]

This is honestly the problem with most franchises. Do people who like Harry Potter even like the last few books? Or the last few books of the Hunger Games? The only large book series I know that got better was the Golden Compass.

Plenty of Harry Potter fans like the last few books, except for some deaths, long periods of nothing happening in the seventh, and the epilogue is very debatable (though alot of that has to do with shipping.) The Hunger Games was always super dark, what got fans was Katniss's constant love triangle bullshit interfering with the important stuff.

[Dr. Jan Itor]

People are missing this:

“The key thing is that the movies and the television shows and the games, everything looks very different …you have to be able to take advantage of the diversity of these characters,” said Tsujihara.

Probably because they didn't actually read the article, as usual.

[Robotman]

I was really hoping we'd be moving away from the "gritty" superhero stuff. Not every superhero needs to be Batman! I was hoping the Flash tv show would open the eyes of DCE and show them that a more lighthearted and fun approach to their characters can work. I guess not. The success of the Nolan Bat films and the utter failure of GL may end up being incredibly damaging to the rest of the DCU characters.
I bet the Marvel trolls are having a field day with his statement.