With August (and Spider-Month) behind us, I’m sure everyone is eager for something to talk about other than Spider-Man or Marvel. So let’s take a look at DC Comics and unpacking what is happening to parent company Warner Bros., or should I now say Warner Bros. Discovery.

Back in May of 2021, it was reported that AT&T and Discovery confirmed an agreement to merge Discovery, Inc. with AT&T’s Warner Media. This new company, dubbed Warner Bros. Discovery, would be led by Discovery’s current CEO David Zaslav.

For those that don’t know Zaslav, when he became CEO of Discovery Communications in 2006, he shifted the company’s focus from a “cable company” to a “content company” and had done so with TLC as well. If you were curious why the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and TLC went from educational content to unscripted reality tv shows like Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo and 19 Kids and Counting, it was his decision.

Zaslav received criticism last month for several decisions made in reducing content on HBO Max and cancelling several projects to be used as tax write-offs. The total loss was nearly $25 billion (as of this writing) off the company’s market cap. Some of the casualties for these cancellations include Batgirl, Scoob! Holiday Haunt, Little Ellen (all of which were in the late stages of production) and the removal of over 30 animated programs from Warner Bros’ streaming platforms such as Infinity Train, Dodo, Elliott From Earth, Summer Camp Island, Uncle Grandpa, Victor and Valentino, Mighty Magiswords, OK K.O.! - Let’s Be Heroes, and Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart.

Other projects have also been cancelled such as Batman: Caped Crusader and The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie.

These decisions and others have led to a lot of people distancing themselves from Warner Bros. Discovery, most notably animators. The removal of the animated shows is also a wider symptom of streaming services not committing to more than one season of a show at a time.

Legendary Entertainment is also reportedly looking for a new home and to distance themselves from Warner Bros. Discovery. They are also unhappy with WB for potential box office losses due to releasing several films straight to HBO Max last year such as Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong and a lack of transparency. A legal battle was avoided due to an agreement to make the film’s simultaneous releases.

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who had a 19-year long career making movies with Warner Bros., had left after he publicly criticized the hybrid release model for HBO Max and theaters in an interview with ET Online back in 2020. This is just an example of the broken trust the studio now had with talent.

So to circle back to DC Comics, besides the above mentioned cancellations, Warner Bros. Discovery has cancelled the virtual event platform DC FanDome, reportedly to instead focus on in-person events.

Several films have been delayed with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom delayed to Christmas 2023, while Shazam!: Fury of the Gods has been pushed to March 17, 2023.

The only DC film that has been green-lit thus far post merger is a sequel to Todd Philips’ Joker film from 2019. That said, other projects are apparently in the works but haven’t been green-lit including the sequel to The Batman and the second season of Peacemaker.

There are also several other series whose status is unknown including Titans, Doom Patrol, Constantine and Madame Xanadu.

But without a doubt, the biggest release with the most unanswered questions is The Flash movie due to the numerous controversies with the film’s star Ezra Miller. This year has seen Miller being involved in numerous controversies including being accused of committing disorderly conduct, assault, and burglary resulting in multiple arrests and citations.

The studio has thus far considered options including Miller getting professional help and explaining their behavior in limited press, which would allow the movie to be released. If Miller did not receive help then they could be excluded from all press for the film and the role would potentially be recast for future projects. And the studios’ “last resort” is apparently to cancel the entire film, something they say is unprecedented due to its $200 million price tag, the film being key to their future DC movie plans, and because they already cancelled the Batgirl film (funny how that decision is immediately coming back to bite them). Miller has released a public apology announcing they were seeking professional treatment for “complex mental health issues”.

So what does this mean for DC and Warner Bros. as a whole? Well it isn’t a good place as a film studio to alienate your audiences, creators and talent for starters. I felt confident holding off making a column about this particular topic as I could see it as something that would continue to spiral out of control. I mean, I haven’t even got into the studio saying that making Justice League: The Snyder Cut was apparently a mistake after it was learned that most of the “people” clamoring for that were just Twitter bots.

Warner Bros. is home to a lot of series that I enjoy from Looney Tunes to The Matrix to Cartoon Network, and most importantly and pertinently to this column: DC Comics.

DC has fallen behind Marvel in the realm of film and the wider pop culture, something that is just so sad to me and has so much to do with the mishandling of the property. And I can’t even blame Zaslav and Discovery for that because it has been happening for years.

DC has some incredibly rich stories and characters ripe for the picking, but lacks anyone with the vision to see this through (except for the creators of Young Justice, but that itself may be in peril of not getting renewed for another season).

It will be interesting to watch as this unfolds. If this is all part of some three dimensional chess to bring everything back to form then good on them, otherwise I feel this might be the beginning of the end for studio.

That’s all folks.