2. Expanding The Universe
It's the obvious one, but it seems to be the one element that has caused the most trouble. Marvel are two steps ahead of DC, granted, but there is such a limit on DC superhero offerings that it threatens to bore movie-goers in the near future. They plan on creating a Justice League movie, but history shows theyve rarely felt confident enough to travel outside the money making fan favourites. Swamp Thing was given two films in the 90s, and Watchmen was given the big screen treatment only four years ago. Green Lantern was released in 2011, though not to great success. Of 25 DC superhero films given live action treatment to date, 19 have been Batman or Superman films, or based on characters within their respective universes. Those not related to the two top dogs of DC comics have been failures to the extent that they simply havent been able to match up. Of 31 Marvel releases throughout history, 14 characters have been given on screen treatment, including three team up stories ('X-Men', 'Fantastic Four' and, of course, 'The Avengers'). Warner needs to give us more heroes to cheer on, and if done well then DCs line of superhero films can excel beyond Marvels standard. DC need to introduce us to the rest of its list, whether thats in the Justice League film or before it, they need to expand and put the time and effort into the franchise before they can gain the widespread respect and success that Marvel has drawn. Theoretically, they should have already introduced us to these other characters. Non-comic fans probably haven't ever heard of some of the characters DC has hidden away beneath the surface that is its top-tier heroes. That they are reliant on Superman and Batman is an understatement - they can not keep putting their faith in the two most popular superheroes if they want to create a franchise much larger than either individual. It's an issue that seems to have plagued Warner Brothers since claiming DC, but there is potential in all of the characters. The right script and direction will see the problem vanish. Is it really as difficult as it seems to be?