A Controversial DC Film Boss Is Finally Gone
Walter Hamda, former DC Films boss, has effectively left his role at Warner Bros. Discovery.
This article is more than 2 years old
DC Films boss, Walter Hamada, has exited Warner Bros. Discovery Hamada had already begun his exit from WBD, which had been fueled by his anger when CEO of WBD David Zaslav made the controversial decision to cancel Batgirl. Hamada agreed to stay to see the release of Black Adam take place, which is set to happen this weekend.
Walter Hamada is ensuring that his time as DC Films boss is definitely ending, as he has already cleared out his office, and has not been part of any of the creative meetings that have happened recently. To be fair, his job is done, and Black Adam is set to have a projected $135 million opening weekend, despite the early negative reviews. This will end Hamada’s tenure as DC Films president, in which he served the last four years in.
Warner Bros. Discovery has been attempting to bring in its own Kevin Feige-type person. Feige is the creative director of Marvel Studios and has turned the comics franchise into a juggernaut, which is something that DC is now attempting to replicate. David Zaslav had attempted to bring in Daniel Lin as the next DC Films boss, but Lin had apparently turned down the job.
It would make sense for most people to not be so keen to be the next DC Films boss, as Warner Bros. Discovery has made some questionable moves as of late. Walter Hamada left after the controversy surrounding the Batgirl cancellation, but more cancelations followed, as Zaslav is meant to cut $3 billion from the company’s budget. That has included gutting a ton of upcoming animated releases and movies, leaving many to wonder if WBD can even recover from these moves.
David Zaslav is planning to merge HBO Max with Discovery + next summer, and Cartoon Network is also set to merge with Warner Bro’s animation department. This has led to plenty of layoffs as both departments merging means there is to be a ton of downsizing. Despite these movies, WBD is still looking for someone to take over as the next DC Films boss.
The plan currently is to enact a “10-year” plan that is going to mimic what Marvel did when building the initial Marvel Cinematic Universe. The next DC Films boss is meant to take things to that level, and presumably connect Black Adam, The Flash, Aquaman 2, Shazam 2, and more into a more cohesive plan that can outlast the Zack Snyder-built universe. There has not yet been another candidate apart from Daniel Lin, though former Fox chief Emma Watts is said to be in the running for the position.
Warner Bros. Discovery is going to have to make some drastic moves to get the new DC Films boss to clean up the mess that has been ongoing in the comic adaptation side of things. While we would assume that Black Adam is meant to connect the DC Cinematic Universe together, the rest of the movies on the schedule might not do the same. It is going to be a “wait and see” type of situation with the company until a replacement for Walter Hamada is found.