Cyborg, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Captain Marvel will appear in DC movies. Credit: DC Comics.
Time Warner (TWX) has announced plans to make -- count 'em -- seven DC movies in four years. Is that a reasonable schedule? Can investors reasonably expect Warner to compete with what Walt Disney (DIS -0.87%) has built via Marvel Studios?
Guest host Alison Southwick puts these questions to Fool analysts Nathan Alderman and Tim Beyers in this episode of 1-Up On Wall Street, The Motley Fool's web show in which we talk about the big-money names behind your favorite movies, toys, video games, comics, and more.
According to Nikki Finke, 2016 will bring not only Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, but also Shazam and Sandman. Then, in May 2017, we'll see Justice League followed by Wonder Woman that July and a Flash-Green Lantern team-up over the holidays. Man of Steel 2 is slated for May 2018, Finke reports.
Nathan applauds the expansion of the DC Cinematic Universe, especially the inclusion of a Sandman movie based on author Neil Gaiman's acclaimed comic book series. He's also intrigued by the notion of a Flash-Green Lantern team-up and a long overdue Wonder Woman movie.
But these and other DC movies like them won't deliver for Time Warner investors if they don't first deliver for fans, and that means making good films. Cinematic history is littered with the corpses of superhero epics that introduced too many characters, too quickly.
Tim says the bigger concern is that there's no one person in charge of running the DC Cinematic Universe in the same way that Kevin Feige runs point on live-action projects for Marvel Studios, allowing Agents of SHIELD to be connected to Captain America: The WInter Soldier and this summer's Guardians of the Galaxy. Instead, at Warner and DC, Zack Snyder and David Goyer are making Batman vs. Superman and Justice League while the studio recruits talent for its other films. And let's not forget Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Marc Guggenheim, who together are building an independent TV universe. Having someone to tie it all together would increase the odds of long-term success for the entire franchise.
Now it's your turn to weigh in. Click the video to watch as Alison puts Nathan and Tim on the spot, and then leave a comment below tell us what you think of Warner's slate of DC movies and Time Warner stock at current prices. You can also follow us on Twitter for more segments and regular geek news updates!
