On May 17, there was a significant announcement in the cinematic superhero world. Discovery is buying out Warner Bros, giving the media conglomerate access to Warner Bros’ TV and film materials. Here’s how DC movies can catch up with Marvel under Discovery.

Yes, that includes the rights to all of DC’s growing superhero movie and show catalog. 

The buyout sent significant shockwaves across the entertainment industry. All of us nerds were left wondering what the deal means for the future of DC. John Stankey, the CEO of AT&T – which will still be involved with Discovery and Warner Bros – has stepped into the light and shared his vision for the future of the DC Cinematic Universe.

LIKE MARVEL, BUT DIFFERENT

First off, we need to appreciate how incredible Discovery’s new streaming service is. With the acquisition of Warner Bros, Discovery added to a collection of film and TV rights that will put them smack dab in the middle of the fierce streaming wars. 

What Will Discovery Own?

They will have access to all of the prestigious, award-winning television contained with HBO -including shows like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Euphoria, and Succession. They will also be one of the largest blockbuster film franchises globally with Warner Brothers. Warner Bros includes all the DC Comic movies and films like Mortal Kombat, Godzilla Vs. Kong and Tenet.

On top of those two behemoths, Discovery will also be home to Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and Cinemax. All these stations have large groups of fans who watch multiple shows on their networks. 

And as if all of this was not enough for the streaming service, they also control CNN. CNN is the largest broadcast news network in the United States of America. In addition, they own TBS comedy and sports on TNT. Their reality content will include the Food Network, TLC, and The Oprah Winfrey Network. Plus, it will consist of Animal Planet, HGTV, and the Discovery Channel (that last one should have been obvious).

Now, onto where the future of DC lies. 

How DC Movies Can Catch Up with Marvel Under Discovery – The Future of DC

To put it simply, the heads of Discovery want DC to be more like Marvel.

They want to connect the best creatives in the world with the DC universe. Discovery saw the money-printing machine in Marvel and realized that if they could do the same. They plan to get the DC universe to get to a similar level of consistent success, so they’ll also gain access to their money printer.

The keyword there is consistency. With Marvel, you always know what you are going to get. There’s family-friendly action, lots of witty dialogue, and over-the-top banter. Plus, you know that the heroes will come out on top at the end through the power of friendship. All of their movies from phase one to phase three follow a nearly identical structure.

While they seem to be branching out (into the Multiverse?) in phase four, they have built up enough credit with Marvel fans to be able to do that without risking money.

What’s Been Happening with DC Comics?

DC has not had as smooth of a sailing. Marvel has been the model of consistency basically since Robert Downey Jr stepped into a metal suit in 2008. DC has been all over the place. It must look like they are constantly switching directors to casual fans, pushing back movie release dates, and getting poor reviews. 

Lots of their more extensive, expensive movies did not pan out. Suicide Squad and Justice League both flopped, and then it took years for them to release the improved Snyder Cut Justice League remake finally. 

There never seemed to be a cut-and-dry formula for success. Take Wonder Woman, for example. One of the best DC movies, its sequel did not even come close to living up to its expectations. 

How DC Movies Can Catch Up with Marvel Under Discovery By Improving Their Quality

So that is the big fix that Discovery wants. Discovery won’t copy Marvel movies. Instead, they want to replicate how Marvel movies flow and the process that goes into making them consistently great.

To us, this sounds like a great idea. Take something that works and put your spin on it. That’s the way of the world. 

While their movies look to be trending in the direction of darker and more adult than Marvel movies, that is fine in its own right. The films need to be consistently dark and adult, not all over the map.

Throw in some of the top creative talents in the world and big, marketable actors, and Discovery seems well on the way to catching DC up with Marvel. 

The sooner that happens, the better.