DC Entertainment Has No Current Plans for Superman

MTV News spoke to Diane Nelson, the newly-anointed head of Warner Bros.’ DC Entertainment Inc., and asked her about how the new venture will affect the DC films already in the pipeline and which heroes we can expect to see onscreen in the near future.

Anyone hoping we would see Superman soar again following the recent formation at Warner Bros of a DC Entertainment (DCE) division, tasked with exploiting the potential of DC Comics heroes in other media such as movies, is going to be sorely disappointed.

Diane Nelson, the new president of DCE, told MTV News: "We actually don't have any current plans for Superman."

She added: "We've obviously done a lot of great things behind the property in our history, and it's a key part of the family, but we don't have current plans behind Superman."

Warner Bros faces legal action from the heirs of the character's creators if it doesn't have a Superman film in production by 2011. So it could be that news will follow further down the line; there is still time to get moving before that deadline.

2009 is almost done and one year is a hell of a short time to get a massive tentpole like a Superman movie underway, so unless the studio has a secret plan, it looks like the chances of us seeing another Superman film in the works before the legal deadline are pretty slim.

All rights to the character revert to the creators' families in 2013, which means the film rights can then be offered to other studios, including Marvel/Disney.

Honestly, I can't imagine why Warner Bros. and DC wouldn't want to do everything they could to bring back Superman in the way that Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" was supposed to. While I didn't hate "Superman Returns," I believe that it was a lackluster return for Krypton's last son, and Superman deserves a more thrilling contemporary adaptation.

If WB has the competence to work with producer Charles Roven to bring together such an amazing team to bring Batman back in a huge way, then why not Superman? I'm hoping that DC Entertainment is simply taking a big breath before they make their next move, and that Superman won't be on the backburner for much longer.
For the meantime, let’s remember that the goal of DCE is to maximize the profitability of the ENTIRE DC brand - not just trying to find new ways of cashing in on the same character. The studio already has "Jonah Hex," "Green Lantern," "Deadman," "The Losers" and "Lobo" - all lesser-known DC heroes - headed to the movies, so why not continue to focus efforts on turning no-names into show-names? Superman will always be king, whenever he returns to the big screen.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: MTV News, Screen Rant, The Geek Files, First Showing