Soon after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice failed in impressing the majority of the critics and a huge section of the audience, Warner Bros. appointed Geoff Johns and Jon Berg to oversee the DC Extended Universe and fix things. And now, after months of working in their new roles, the DC Films co-heads have finally spoken about their goals and progress in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal (via Comic Book Movie).
Johns makes it clear that they are working on changing how the DC characters are perceived. He says:
Mistakenly in the past I think the studio has said, “Oh, DC films are gritty and dark and that's what makes them different.” That couldn't be more wrong. It's a hopeful and optimistic view of life. Even Batman has a glimmer of that in him. If he didn't think he'd make tomorrow better, he'd stop.
The outlet adds that Zack Snyder's Justice League will address Batman's actions, like torturing crooks and attempting to kill Superman, in this year's March 25 release. A few months ago, Ben Affleck did say in an interview that his character is no longer "extreme in that way" and is "wanting to redeem himself" in next year's November 17 release.
During the interview, Berg says that they find it very fulfilling to have the DC characters be "part of the fabric of pop culture". However, he doesn't hesitate to admit that they are disappointed with the fact that the previous movies weren't "better reviewed".
While Zack Snyder had previously claimed that Justice League was always meant to be lighter than Batman v Superman, Jon Berg reveals that he and Geoff Johns did work with screenwriter Chris Terrio to lighten up the upcoming movie's tone. He says:
We accelerated the story to get to the hope and optimism a little faster.
Johns concludes by saying that they are trying to take "a really hard look at everything" to make sure that they "stay true to the characters and tell stories that celebrate them".
