Joss Whedon on why DC Superhero Movies don't work

Warner Bros. recently unveiled their release date line-up for several of its films including DC's 'The Green Lantern'. But why has Warner Bros. and DC comics been having a hard time trying to get their characters to the big screen. Their main success has come out of the Batman franchise, so why hasn't anything else been working for them? Why has it taken them so long to start locking these DC comic movies down? Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly TV show creator Joss Whedon recently talked with Maxim about why DC Comics are having a hard time turning it's superheroes into movies:

"Because, with that one big exception (Batman), DC's heroes are from a different era. They're from the era when they were creating gods."

"DC's characters, like Wonder Woman and Superman and Green Lantern, were all very much removed from humanity. Batman was the only character they had who was so rooted in pain, that had that same gift that the Marvel characters had, which was that gift of humanity that we can relate to."

I never thought of it that way but he makes a very good point. It's hard for most people to relate to these kinds of characters. At the same time I think that if they are successful comic books then what is stopping them from becoming successful movies? Obviously people are still reading the comic books. But then Fanboys and girls don't make up the majority of the movie going market, maybe it is everyone else that is a hard sell. He then goes on to talk about his Wonder Woman project:

"I have no idea the status of the movie and, honestly, I never did. I was told they were very anxious to make it. I wrote a script. I rewrote the story. And by the time I'd written the second script, they asked me...not to."

"They didn't tell me to leave, but they showed me the door and how pretty it was. Would I like to touch the knob and maybe make it swing? I was dealing with them through [producer] Joel Silver who couldn't tell me what they wanted or anything else. I was completely in the dark. So I didn't know what it was that I wasn't giving them. I've moved on."

So that must not be happening any time soon. I am a huge fan of both DC and Marvel superheroes, but they really are very different worlds. I am really excited to see how 'The Green Lantern' turns out. That is going to give us a good idea of what to expect from the rest of the DC Universe characters when and if they hit the big screen. As long as they are done right, I think that DC will find film success.

Source: The Geek Files