DC Needs To Dig Deeper Into Their Archives To Succeed

In the decades since Watchmen and The Dark Knight Rises were released, revolutionizing superhero comics and the DC Universe, there have been hundreds of compelling superhero stories told by dozens of creators at DC. Larger-than-life characters tackling amazing concepts have populated the pages of books ranging from Superman and Batman to Manhunter and H-E-R-O. So, why is it that whenever Hollywood comes knocking, it's always the same, small handful of comic books and graphic novels from the same, even smaller handful of writers and artists, that are being drawn on as inspiration for the adaptation?

In the decade since the comic was written, Flashpoint by Geoff Johns, Andy Kubert, and Sandra Hope has been adapted -- with varying degrees of comic book accuracy -- three times: once on TV, once as an animated movie, and once as a live-action movie. And it isn't alone.

Watchmen has spawned a feature film adaptation, a DVD release for a fully-acted motion comic, and a TV sequel. The Dark Knight Returns got an animated adaptation, and big chunks of its narrative have influenced numerous other adaptations, from Batman to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Hell, The Death and Return of Superman was adapted twice as feature-length animated movies (once as a stand-alone film and a second time as a two-part epic), with Superman's death adapted into Batman v Superman and flirted with in virtually every Superman story since the original comic came around in 1992. And they're already teeing it up as a possibility for the third season of Superman & Lois. 

With so much repetition, it can feel like DC have "run out" of source material. After all, Marvel has been making movies since before Flashpoint and has not been having this issue. But the reality is not that they have run out of stories. The problem is that they are going back to the same things over and over again, refusing to branch out or get creative. Why the hell is Doomsday back again? Why are they adapting both Crisis on Infinite Earths (last adapted in 2019-2020) and Watchmen (last adapted in 2019) as 2024's big DC Universe animated movies? That's insane.

Some of this will sort itself out automatically. Crisis on Infinite Earths was a natural thing for the Arrowverse -- which was built in large part around The Flash and Supergirl -- to adapt, and at this point, multiverse stories are starting to really run their course in terms of mainstream film and TV. Geoff Johns's version of The Flash and Green Lantern and Shazam are unlikely to continue on as the main/only version to get any love now that he isn't an executive at Warner Bros. anymore. But it's something that Warner Bros. and incoming DC brass James Gunn and Peter Safran have to put some effort into. Resist the urge to play those hits, because we've heard them all...and they're starting to blend in and become background noise.