Warner Restructures DC To Compete With Marvel

11 Sep 2009 at 12:47:50 by Tim McDonald

Warner Bros is set to restructure its DC Comics unit in order to compete more effectively with Marvel.

As you no doubt remember, Marvel recently saw a massive influx of cash when it was bought by Disney for $4 billion USD, and the LA Times is reporting on Warner's plans to compete.

DC and Warner haven't had the best relationship due to a lack of communication, it's reported, despite Warner having owned DC for almost 40 years.

This restructuring means that Diane Nelson - the brand manager who has dealt with the wildly successful Harry Potter for Warner since 1999 - is now in charge of the newly-named DC Entertainment, with a mandate to exploit DC's properties across all forms: movies, TV, interactive, digital, and consumer products. Nelson will be reporting to the Motion Picture Group president Jeff Robinov, who reportedly killed a planned show based on Robin following his not being consulted prior to the announcement.

The move will give Warner Bros more control of the properties, which means that we might be seeing both better use of the top-tier characters while lesser-known ones may be more effectively used if a particular breed of entertainment will suit them.

In the words of Warner president Alan Horn, "Before, DC as a publishing entity in New York was a repository of assets accessed by the motion picture group, TV, games and consumer products." With the reorganisation, however, "there will be much more cross-pollination."

DC has certainly seen a resurgence in Batman lately, with Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight movie doing brilliantly both at the box office and on DVD, and Batman: Arkham Asylum getting rave reviews and fantastic sales. If DC can bring this sort of attitude and skill across to its other properties, it may actually give Marvel a run for its new money.

And while we're on the topic of Arkham Asylum, don't forget that it's due some DLC soon.

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