It has been a momentous past 24 hours for Warner Bros./DC! The Burbank California based studio has decided to make Geoff Johns and WB Vice President: Peter Berg the new heads of the DC Entertainment Universe. This coincides with the reveal of their new DC logo to go along with the changes of the DC comics Rebirth relaunch.
Lets start with the epic film news. As a response the overwhelmingly negative reception to Batman V. Superman, which was supposed to jumpstart the DC Entertainment Universe, WB has decided to take creative control away from Zack Snyder. Instead of allowing the ominous director to set the tone for their film universe, they are turning to legendary DC writer and chief creative officer Geoff Johns to make sure their superhero film adaptations meet the actual spirit and tone of their comic book counterparts. Johns will still report to DC entertainment head: Diane Nelson with Peter Berg reporting to head of WB studio’s: Greg Silverman. This all comes on the heels of the news that Ben Affleck will also have major creative control moving forward over his portrayal of Batman in future DCEU films, considering it was he and Johns who co-wrote the script for the next solo Batman film.
Now for the new logo. While simplistic, personally I love it! It is retro and modern all at the same time, which is exactly the spirit DC comics seems it wants to capture with it’s rebirth initiative. The logo reflects the desire of it’s company to continue to progress it’s characters into the 21st century all while remaining loyal to the spirit of their original characters and the fans who love them. The logo could not come at better time to not only line up with the Rebirth launch on May 25th as well as represent the new era of the DCEU with Johns and Berg at the helm.
We have all criticized Warner Bros./DC ad nauseam since the release of Batman V. Superman and their rebirth announcement. However now looking at the journey we have traveled to get to this point, it seems that DC has listened to their fans through social media and other outlets and are trying to make a meaningful change and course correction to their overall brand, both on film and on the comic pages. Perhaps this is the moment that DC has finally figured out the characters they have are so iconic that that their values transcend time. And rather than repeatedly modernizing or deconstructing their properties they are going give us those values both on film and on the page by entrusting them to people who truly understand what make these DC heroes super in the first place!
(Sources: The Hollywood Reporter & CBR)
Please let us know what you think of the new DC Logo and new DC film leadership in the comments below or tweet me @thereelbradbell