Now that Warners Brothers and Discovery have officially closed their merger, new CEO David Zaslav continues to put his stamp on the company. Earlier this month, longtime Warner Bros. Picture chairman Toby Emmerich announced his departure from the company, and was quickly replaced by incoming executives Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
Videos by ComicBook.com
As corporate positions continue to shuffle, it’s yet to be seen what will happen with DC Films, one of the company’s subsidiaries Zaslav reportedly feels is underutilized. In fact, a new report from Variety suggests the structure of the Walter Hamada-led outfit is still in flux and might be for quite some time. Though Hamada typically reported directly to Emmerich, the latest report suggest Hamada could even be on the chopping block as Zaslav and company decide what they want to do with it. As it stands now, Hamada is currently under contract with the studio until the end of the year in a role he’s held since 2018, taking over for Geoff Johns and Jon Berg at the time.
It’s long been said Zaslav wants DC Films to have a Kevin Feige-led figure to usher in a franchise that could take on the Marvel CInematic Universe. On the front, it’s said the executive has spoken with former Disney executives Bob Iger and Alan Horn for their thoughts. When it comes to Horn, the trade says Zaslav is in talks to actually bring the former Walt Disney Studios head on as a consultant.
When Marvel Studios still found itself structurally under Marvel Entertainment and the rule of Ike Perlmutter, Feige reportedly had talks with DC about joining the studio.
“Zaslav could make another run at Feige, who, I’m told, talked pretty seriously with Warners a few years ago when he was angling to escape the oversight of Marvel’s then-madman C.E.O. Ike Perlmutter. (Iger and Horn ended up siding with Feige, smartly,)” Puck News reported earlier this month. “And Warners has in the past reached out to Louis D’Esposito and other key Feige deputies, with no luck… Zaz has been looking, but given Feige’s stature in town and the inevitable comparisons between Marvel and DC, this is among the most thankless high-profile gigs in entertainment.”
The report says Zaslav has even had talks with former Fox and Paramount boss Emma Watts for the job, though those have since sizzled.
