Finally, a book about the tangled history of DC Films is coming

Some news broke yesterday that gladdened my heart in these times desperately in need of heart gladdening. 

Someone is finally writing a book about DC’s Film Franchise History, and that someone is Variety Executive Editor Tatiana Siegel.

The news came in a Variety story lauding staffer Siegel’s deal, with such details as the publisher – Crown – and the editor – Aubrey Martinson – and the agent – Aevitas Creative Management’s Jon Michael Darga. The blurb is bland:

The book will offer a complete, behind-the-scenes story of one of the most storied, dramatic and successful superhero franchises in Hollywood history, from George Reeves to David Corenswet. 

But as a long time observer of the DC Film Story…..oh man. The possibilities. The personalities. The puzzlements. 

I’ve long enjoyed Siegel’s detailed coverage of Hollywood’s Superhero Era, so she seems uniquely qualified to dig into the subject matter. Yes, yes, there are such triumphs as Richard Donner’s Superman and Christopher Nolan’s Batman. But then there are so, so SO many weird alleyways, dramatic reversals and behind the scenes power plays. 

A few possible topics:

• Richard Donner being REMOVED from Superman 2!
• The Michael Keaton controversy
• Superboy – a contemporary source told me that DC president Jenette Kahn wept when she watched it for the first time. 
• The failed JLA pilot
• Nicolas Cage as Superman
• The first failed Batman vs Superman
• Wonder Woman’s failed pilot with the ice cream social
• Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman
• Jeff Robinov, front stabber
• That time that Marv Wolfman, Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns were locked in a room together to try to shore up DC’s movie slate.  
• The vast vast vast tentacles of the Snyderverse 
• Batfleck
• DC Films 
• The Rock’s meddling
• The Ayer Cut
• Ezra Miller
• AND THAT IS ALL OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD. 

Some of these are TV projects, outside the provenance of the book, perhaps, but what a long wild story it is…maybe one that is too much for one human to even cover. 

The MCU got a wonderful history in MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzalez and Gavin Edwards, probably the best book about the comics industry, I mean, the movie industry, in recent years. (I need to write up my notes from my reading of it some day.) And that took THREE people. 

Suffice to say that even from my own reporting from a distance, the stunning twists and disastrous turns of the DC Movie History are a story with many, many heroes and villains – some of them little known to the public. 

In other words: Tatiana, I know you have impeccable sources, but you’ve got my email if you need it. 

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