There's a Crisis on Infinite Earths. Dismayed DC fans are slamming Warner Bros. for "trying to replace" Ben Affleck's Batman and Henry Cavill's Superman with their respective predecessors, Michael Keaton and Christopher Reeve, whose classic superheroes now dress up the exterior of the new welcome center to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood building in Burbank, California. The tour, which highlights "100 years of storytelling" with the most iconic Warner Bros. characters and franchises, has been updated to include the retro Keaton Batman and the Reeve Superman alongside modern DC superstars from the DC Extended Universe: Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa's Aquaman, and Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn.
Photos of the renovation captured by Awards Ace editor-in-chief Erick Weber show the Studio Tour Hollywood building adorned with banners featuring favorite series Friends and The Big Bang Theory, the classic Looney Tunes, and characters from Warners' Wizarding World franchise, including Daniel Radcliffe's Harry Potter and Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander of Fantastic Beasts fame.
The placement of the Keaton Batman and the Reeves Superman, and the absence of Affleck's Dark Knight and Cavill's Man of Steel, is seen by some as a slight towards the two actors whose futures are uncertain in the shared DCEU. Affleck and Cavill last reprised their roles for a brief round of additional photography on filmmaker Zack Snyder's director's cut of Justice League, which the studio controversially decided was not canon with its ongoing universe that next brings Keaton's Batman into the DCEU in The Flash.
"You've got the current members of the DCEU movies up there EXCEPT Ben Affleck's Batman and Henry Cavill's Superman…why??" one fan tweeted. Wrote another, "They're literally trying to erase the movies and characters we love right in [front] of our eyes."
"The lack of respect towards Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck is astounding," reads one fan's tweet in response to the updated building. "They clearly don't want to acknowledge that MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V SUPERMAN and ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE exists."
Another fan countered, tweeting: "It's mother flipping Superman and Batman, not Henry Cavill or Chris Reeve or Ben Affleck or Michael Keaton. They just chose to feature their most indelible versions of the characters on film. No shade at all."
The Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, which reopens on June 26 after a 15-month hiatus, features props and experiences encompassing all eras of DC films, including 1989's Batman, The Dark Knight, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and recent releases like Wonder Woman 1984 and Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Here's what fans are saying about the new look: