DC Studios and Warner Bros. are in the headlines lately, but not in a pleasing pattern. The media giant is in a really bad state now, and the market value isn’t looking the best for them.
- Warner Bros. Discovery stocks hit the lowest on 22nd December 2022 at just $8.82 in the entire decade.
- Soon after, the value hit the second-lowest low again on 27th December 2022 at $8.85 per share value.
- WBD stocks saw their golden moment when Justice League Snyder Cut was released back in 2021.
After the recent decisions made by the studio on various things, the company stocks plunged, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s per-share value dropped again on 27th December 2022, at $8.85.
According to the data collected from NASDAQ, this number is the second lowest drop for Warner Bros. Discovery in a decade after the stock prices hit an all-time low of just $8.82 on 22nd December 2022.
But this was not the obvious case, as the stock prices saw their best numbers when Zack Snyder’s Justice League aired on 18th March 2021. Just after its release on 19th March 2021, Warner Bros stock prices skyrocketed to $77.27, an all-time high in a decade for the studios. Unfortunately for them, the number has just fallen to the lowest in the decade in just over a year. Well, What is the problem, and how can both WBD and DC Studios survive this drop?
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Why Is Warner Bros. Discovery In Trouble?
After the release of Snyder’s Justice League, fans became optimistic that Zack Snyder’s DCU vision would move forward. That version of Justice League was way better than Joss Whedon’s Justice League depiction. But soon, Zack Snyder confirmed that WB did not approach him to create any sequel to the film.
Joss Whedon’s Justice League caused a massive loss to the Studio. However, Warner Bros. saw a ray of hope after Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman film came out. The solo adventure of Princess Diana in World War I did great business at the Box Office under Patty Jenkins’s direction. It collected $822.8 million at the Box Office, which became one of the biggest numbers for any solo female superhero film.
With the success of Wonder Woman, DC’s Aquaman stunned the audiences with Arthur Curry’s underwater kingdom of Atlantis. The film did more than 1.1 Billion at the Box Office thanks to James Wan’s creativity.
We cannot say this was a huge blockbuster, but the same pattern followed Shazam!, a superhero film made under just $100 million and did $366.1 million at the Box Office.
Even though these projects were coming hard, WB was clueless about how to move forward with DC’s cinematic universe. There was a lack of binding properties to gel up these superheroes in one film.
But after the pandemic, WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery, Inc. on 8th April 2022 changed everything. Rumors were coming about the cancellation of Snyderverse. It became almost certain that Henry Cavill’s return in Man of Steel 2 would not happen.
However, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson somehow managed to convince the studio of Henry Cavill’s return in his film’s post-credit scene. In the end, the film failed miserably at the Box Office, just like the recent DC films (except The Batman, which obviously is a masterpiece).
WB soon hired James Gunn and Peter Safran as the new DCU heads to help direct the DC films in the new direction. They rejected most of the DC projects, including Wonder Woman 3 and Man of Steel 2, which fans were dying to get. Henry Cavill also confirmed his departure from DCU on his Instagram. So does Dwayne Johnson as well. Both Gal Gadot and Zachary Levi’s futures are up in the air. But rumors suggest Jason Momoa will return as a new character in the new universe (maybe Lobo).
Gunn also confirmed that most of the DC films would not move forward with their character as the studio is driving in a different direction. Gunn vows to prioritize the lesser-known DC characters in his ideal version of DCU, prioritizing the OG Justice League members.
Fans did not appreciate these drastic changes, especially after firing Henry Cavill as Superman and ditching the Snyderverse. Almost every day, James Gunn tries his best to reply to fans’ questions on Twitter. The Guardians of the Galaxy director always answers to justify his decisions. So, the fans’ rages and negativities have been reflected in the studios’ stock prices as well.
We know that removing Henry Cavill may not be the sole reason to drop the stock prices, but the public’s view on WBD is negative now, and things need to change.
Can DC Studios Rise Back?
This may be one of the darkest periods for Warner Bros. and DC Studios. But the fans have to be patient with Gunn’s vision. The new DC Studios head always tells fans to wait for the official announcements in the next year. As he suggests, some of them are just false rumors.
DCU is millions of miles away compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s achievements, but DC comics have more popular characters, exciting storylines, and the three biggest superheroes in comic book history in their inventory. They also have some of the comic book’s most iconic supervillains too.
DCU indeed struggled in the theaters, but the Arrowverse is the polar opposite in the case of popularity. James Gunn did exceptionally well with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Before the superhero team’s MCU debut, no one knew about the Guardians of the Galaxy. But now it is one of the most popular superhero teams ever.
Gunn replicated the same thing with “The Suicide Squad.” Fans must be forbearing of James Gunn and his vision with DC Studios. Matt Reeves’s The Batman and Todd Phillips’s Joker are prime examples, but they will not be part of James Gunn’s DCU.
Yes, It takes a lot of prep and planning to outdo Zack Snyder’s vision, but we are confident that Gunn’s vision would be one of the most creative 10-year plans we’ll ever see.
Well, What do you think? Let us know it all, and make sure to visit averagebeing.com for more superhero insights.
