The Final Nail in DC Cinematic Coffin
Walter Hamada was clearly hired in a panic.
He was a producer at Warner’s subsidiary New Line Cinema for ten years. His track record there wasn’t terrible. That said it wasn’t exceptional either. He oversaw a string of horror films in the 2010s. The Conjuring, Conjuring 2, and Annabelle and the like. As you can see from this list Hamada was basically producing the same film over and over again. Sort of like the Shannon Tweed films in the 1990s that had names like Indecent (Noun) and Naked (Verb).
From a financial perspective, the studio had every reason to be happy with him. For a budget of $20 million, Hamada would deliver a worldwide gross of $300 million. They weren’t that great but no one in the history of Hollywood ever complained about something like that. “If the cash is there, we do not care.”
He genuinely hit the big time with this formula when he produced, It, and It Chapter 2. On a combined budget of $110 million, he delivered a combined gross that was over a billion. Making him officially a somebody in Hollywood.
He got the big job at Warner because he had a win with Shazam!. However, it should be noted, that this movie’s success was nowhere near his usual level. It only took in $365 million against a budget of $100 million. Absolutely a hit but nowhere near Marvel territory.
It was pretty far from flawless. I have made my own feelings plain over what was done with the OG Captain Marvel character elsewhere.
Nonetheless, Warner had to hire someone after the bloodbath over Josstice League was cleaned up and the heads were rolled into the garbage dumpster. Walter Hamada unquestionably had success in the lesser genres and could even be reasonably accused of having a big win with Shazam!
Even if that movie got the character of Billy Batson completely wrong. However, I can blame the medium talent, Geoff Johns, for most of that. Although, it should be noted he did nothing at all to defend the character’s integrity. He just turned those things over the comic book guy on his staff.
Regardless, he had exactly the resume that Ma Bell was looking for. He could deliver huge wins on tiny budgets.
There is little question that he hated being forced to greenlight the Snyder Cut. The executives on his team at Warner Media were announcing that this was a one-off and that the Snyderverse was dead the night before it was released. Or I should say officially released. Someone with access to a pristine copy of the Snyder Cut uploaded it before the launch. That was deliberate sabotage on the part of someone high up at Warner because there are less than a dozen people who would have had early access to an unwatermarked copy.
I’ll be honest with you. I don’t mourn the passing of the Snyderverse. Zach Snyder couldn’t get Superman or Wonder Woman right. He loves deconstructing aspirational heroes and I loathe, detest and despise this hideous practice.
While I didn’t like the Snyderverse, I am keenly dreading what will follow. Walter Hamada is rumored to be turning the whole thing over to Bad Reboot. Lens flairs and mystery boxes beaucoup!
If this rumor is true, JJ Abrams will most likely turn the TV end of things that are on his plate over to his retarded little brother Alex Kurtzman. We can expect the kind of Woke that Marvel will only be able to dream.
In the end, it doesn’t matter. There is no bringing back a character after he’s been dragged through the mud for years.
Revitalization movements always fail
Revolutions succeed.
Man the barricades at Arkhaven!
