Posted in: Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: Batman, opinion, superman

Why DC Studios Needs to Series Franchise Superman Like Batman

If the small-screen DCU can have Batman Universe shows like Gotham, Harley Quinn, and The Penguin, then can't the same be done with Superman?

Given how attached DC is to its two biggest IPs in Superman and Batman, there shouldn't be any surprise to how often both universes get rebooted with various takes. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who can match the presentation James Gunn has had in his brief tenure as head of DC Studios at this point, especially with how much he's gotten the greater public to be excited by Superman again with the release of the recent trailer of the David Corenswet-starred film. I can't imagine anyone but him perfectly executing the live-action introduction to Krypto, something no previous live-action cinematic Superman franchise film has ever attempted. Warner Bros and DC's creative angles at the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader couldn't be more dramatically different, aside from the animated side.

How WB and DC Can Learn Adapting Their Approach to Batman to Superman in Live-Action

When it comes to the live-action front, what's happened with the Superman IP over the past 20 years? We've had the successful WB revamped modernized origin series Smallville, and without that starting point, we literally wouldn't have had the Arrowverse. There was a failed Aquaman pilot, but nothing from the Superman universe to get his/her own series. We had The CBS/CW series Supergirl, which was successful in and of itself, but it helps when you can take much of the lore and apply it to the Melissa Benoist-starred series. You also had the likes of Martin Manhunter (David Harewood) and James Olsen/Guardian (Mehcad Brooks), but no spinoff series? You know what you got?

Another similar spinoff series is Superman & Lois, the final (unofficial) Arrowverse series. Again, not taking away from the wonderful job that Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch did as their respective characters, but I think that series could have benefitted from a Gotham-style approach. To set this up, the Fox series was about Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) trying to bring order to the Gotham City Police Department as the city has largely been overrun by organized crime and finding out quickly how much he has to bend before things start to turn his way.

Why can't we have a similar type of series where Perry White could have tried to combat the rampant corruption and lawlessness of organized crime and Lex Luthor? Perhaps he could have a young Lois Lane to take under his wing to help with Metropolis' underworld, seeing would-be heroes take their shots along the way before a young Clark Kent emerges trying to get that Superman-ing thing down without dragging it out the way Smallville did. It's not like you can't have Metropolis PD and S.T.A.R. Labs actively assisting the existing superheroes when supervillains terrorize Metropolis in the meantime. The Penguin showed us that crime figures like Oz, Sofia, Sal, and Carmine fill out that series space without needing Bruce Wayne to get in the way. So why can't Metropolis crime boss Bruno Mannheim and Intergang or an up-and-coming Lex Luthor do the same to Metropolis? That's not even getting into the success of DC Universe-turned-Max live-action shows Titans and Doom Patrol, which again have their fair shared comic roots entrenched in Batman lore.

It's not just Gotham that can serve as the perfect example. Batman has also served up animated shows like Harley Quinn, expanding to her own live-action film Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad film, The Penguin, and the live-action Pennyworth, another Batman prequel series. The other major attempt at expanding Superman without having the character is the short-lived Krypton on Syfy.

Even if we go off allies that Superman lore has produced from Smallville, Supergirl, and S&L, are you telling me not a single hero earned a spinoff opportunity? I'm well aware S&L IS a spinoff of Supergirl, but who are we kidding? It's mostly the same stories with another template, even if it's executed well. Just off the top of my head, aside from Guardian and Martian Manhunter, you also have Steel, Hawk, Hawk Girl, Guy Gardiner, Dreamer, Mon-El, and you couldn't have another spinoff from any of them?

I would welcome a Bruno or Lex Luthor series as an idealist who had to claw and earn his way only to be twisted by others along the way, which is why Michael Rosenbaum's incarnation was so fascinating to watch on Smallville. I also thought Chad L. Coleman's Bruno was one of the more compelling characters on Supergirl. Growing up watching other live-action TV attempts like Superboy and Lois & Clark, and films like Superman Returns and Zack Snyder's DCEU, it feels exhausting having to always see how DC wants to reinvent the wheel with Superman while it's trying different things with Batman. Perhaps we can get that narrative shift started with the upcoming Superman and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.

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