As has been rumored for some time, DC Films president Walter Hamada Warner Bros. Leaving Discovery. As reported by Deadline, Hamada has retired from the studio after 15 years in a leadership role and four years after taking over the DC Films banner. While Hamada’s time as president of DC Films has seen the release of many high-profit films, it also hasn’t produced the kind of interconnected universe Warner Bros. Discovery wants to build.
Hamada is the fifth executive to join Warner Bros. Discovery has left in recent months since boss David Zaslav rearranged both his team and the priority of the studio and brands like DC. While many DC projects have failed, the focus for the future is on big screen movies, and will be under new management when Zaslav manages to find “his Kevin Feige.” That in itself is of course no small feat, but it looks like whoever takes on the position will have it too Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson with them every step of the way after the actor recently revealed he wants to be an advisor to the DCEU as a whole.
When Hamada took over the DC Films brand, it was in the wake of the disappointment of Justice League, and while it’s had ups and downs since then, the DC franchise certainly seems to be making its way with some big projects already set up for years to come. How the change of command will affect the future of the DCEU is unclear, but it will not be an easy task for Hamada’s successor.
Will the current lineup of DC movies be released?
With a change of management usually comes a change in direction, scope and focus. Under Hamada, a number of DC movies have gone into production, and five of them are hitting theaters soon — unless there are last-minute Batgirl-style cancellations. Black Adam will be released this week, no doubt about it. Next Years Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Shazam: Fury of the Gods and The flash, can also be assumed to be on very solid ground. The last film deep in post-production is blue beetle, a movie that was originally headed to HBO Max, but somehow managed to dodge the chopping block. Because there is currently no idea how blue beetle fits in with the existing DCEU, this is the only film that could still be on the release schedule at a less stable level.
There are also other DC projects underway at various early stages, from sequels to The Batman, Joker and Constantinewith Keanu Reeves jumping back into his DC role of John Constantine, to TV shows like the animated movie Harley Quinn series and peacekeeper season 2, which is just one of James Gunn’s projects currently in the works.
All in all, a change is as good as rest, and it’s clear that Warner Bros. Discovery has rested long enough, with only two major releases hitting theaters recently. Now we’ll see how a change at the top seeps into the output of the studio’s biggest franchise.