James Gunn’s Superman ushers in a new era for DC Comics adaptations on the big screen, and that’s going to be apparent from the film’s opening logos. On Threads, the Superman director and DC Studios co-head was asked if the movie will feature a new design for the Warner Bros. Pictures logo that traditionally has played before DC films. Gunn revealed that there won’t be any WB logo at the start of Superman, highlighting how DC Studios is its own separate entity. Superman is not considered a Warner Bros. film. It’s a DC Studios movie.
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“There is no WB intro,” Gunn wrote in response to the fan. “It’s a DC Studios film.”
While there won’t be a WB logo before Superman, the film is still being distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. That’s why there was so much conversation about the potential impact Superman‘s box office could have on WB as a whole. For his part, Gunn has downplayed the notion Superman is under an inordinate amount of pressure and has said he will be happy as long as the film makes back its budget.
Superman is gearing up for its release in July, and it seems poised to be one of the biggest hits of the summer. Early box office tracking indicates it could have an opening weekend in the range of $125-145 million domestically, which would be higher than Man of Steel. A result like that would give DC Studios and WB the blockbuster they need to continue forging ahead with the DC Universe franchise.
DC Studios seems to be taking a page out of the Marvel Studios playbook in this respect. Though each Marvel Cinematic Universe installment is distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the classic Disney castle logo doesn’t appear at the start of each film. Instead, audiences are treated to just the Marvel logo. The same thing has happened for Lucasfilm’s releases under Disney. So, while this is new for DC Comics adaptations, it’s actually fairly standard practice in the industry as a whole. One would have to imagine there won’t be a WB logo attached to any Elseworlds projects that get released under DC Studios (such as The Batman Part II).
Earlier this month, when Gunn confirmed the final Superman run time, he shed additional light on the WB/DC Studios dynamic. He debunked a rumor claiming Warner Bros. mandated a shorter run time for the film, stating WB had no control over that since Superman is a DC Studios film. Though DC Studios is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, it is a separate entity from Warner Bros. Pictures. The relationship between the two might seem confusing on the surface, but it isn’t too dissimilar from the Disney/Marvel dynamic. The big takeaway is that DC Studios maintains creative control over its projects without worrying about any interference from Warner Bros. Pictures. Though Gunn still has to answer to Warner Bros. Discovery, this should ensure the DC Universe unfolds the way he envisions it.
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