‘Why Superhero Movies are Proving to be WB-Discovery’s Kryptonite III’ - Opinion Piece

Researched, Written & Edited by: Lee Fenton

(click here for Why Superhero Movies Are Proving to be WB Pictures' Kryptonite Part I)

(click here for Why Superhero Movies Are Proving to be WB-Discovery’s Kryptonite Part II)

(click here for WB Fiasco Update)

‘Why Superhero Movies are Proving to be WB-Discovery’s Kryptonite III’

In the first part of this series, I detailed the concept of ‘sunk cost fallacy’ and illustrated how it applies to the current situation at Warner Bros. - Discovery. In addition - I focused on Warner Bros. rights acquisitions of DC film properties.

In the second part, I connected the dots when it came to David Zaslov’s financial decisions, as well as a new development in the story; a US Congressman who has decided to investigate WB’s canceling of recent projects and whether or not the tax write-offs are legally sound.

In this third part - my intent is to convince you of the fact that Warner Bros. recent financial troubles stem from the direction they’ve chosen to take their ‘comic book’ associated properties in. This new gritty, and dark take on DC comics was something that prior to the Christopher Nolan films, was explicitly avoided by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Back in the early 90s when the choice was made to change direction (and director’s) with the ultra-popular Batman (1982) film franchise, this decision was based around the fact that the second Batman film (Batman Returns) was deemed ‘too dark’ to properly sell merchandise to children.

Why, do you ask, was this something the heads of the company thought true?

Well it was born out of a dispute with McDonalds - over Batman Returns themed happy meals.

In 1992 McDonalds signed a merchandising deal to promote Batman Returns with themed cups, fry-bags, and happy meals, among other things. Although the toys were not ones picked directly from the movie they were actually more stylistically in the spirit of the Batman: Animated Series (releasing a month after Batman Returns)

 Christian groups and parents were up in arms over the fact that the film was rumoured to be a toned down R-rated movie that had just barely nabbed a PG-13 rating. It was apparent that the public did not like the idea of the Batman Returns being marketed to children 1-10 years old through the purchasing of a happy meal. In fact, when McDonalds began promoting Tim Burton’s feature - all the restaurant chain had was a rough cut of the film, which still featured some violent and or risque` scenes that were not in the final version.

So the exec’s for McDonald Corp. decided it was okay to market an even darker version of the film to a demographic - that wasn’t even legal age to go watch the damn thing.

Kind of shortsighted, huh?

 Burton was in the process of working with Censor’s to achieve a PG-13 rating, which would allow for wider marketing but regardless the film was never meant for children. This is even apparent from Burton’s first Batman film - Jack Nicolson’s portrayal of the titular villain ‘The Joker’ is something akin to his performance in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’. 

Not meant for kids.

Tim Burton put it best. Here’s his opinion on the matter:

from the website: Vocal.Media

“Parents reacted badly to the film, but in fairness, and similarly to the 1989 film, Burton had never marketed Batman Returns as a kids' film. In the 2005 documentary Shadow of the Bat – Part 4: Dark Side of the Knight, Burton says that the audience reaction was too mixed to gauge, but the warning signs were there that he could have overstepped the mark:”

"It was a weird reaction to Batman Returns, because half the people thought it was lighter than the first one and half the people thought it was darker. I think the studio just thought it was too weird — they wanted to go with something more child- or family- friendly. In other words, they didn’t want me to do another one." [1]

So now all these decades later, Warner Bros. has attempted a course correction. Since the next two Batman films (directed by Joel Schumacher) went the way of the toilet, in sales and audience reception - the company employed the director Christopher Nolan to helm the next attempt at a big screen adaptation of The Dark Knight. Lo and behold - his grounded and realistic take on The Caped Crusader turned out to be a global phenomenon, the likes of which hadn’t really been seen with a comic book property, since Christopher Reeve’s Superman reigned supreme.

Not unless you count the smash hit that was….

Howard the Duck.

That was a joke. Clearly.

But you know what? This might be a good place to take a pause.

I know - how awful, turning this already bloated opinion piece into a four part series.

But honestly, there’s developments happening all the time with the story (I haven’t even touched on Warner Bros. Media CEO Zaslov’s recent comments about being ‘the most hated man in Hollywood’) and I can smell food cooking that I need to tend to. But don't worry the final part will be posted within a day or two.

I'm punctual if nothing else.

Thankfully - I don't cancel my projects after setting a release date.

No, I'll leave that to David Zaslov.

So, please wait for the exciting culmination of this ongoing saga:


‘Why Superhero Movies are Proving to be WB-Discovery’s Kryptonite Part IIII’

Sources: Vocal.Media

https://vocal.media/geeks/a-not-so-happy-meal-how-mcdonald-s-destroyed-batman-returns-and-cost-tim-burton-his-job