MARVEL are now confidently into their 'ALL-NEW ALL-DIFFERENT' era of their characters and it's been widely accepted by their reading audience, thanks in part to the fantastic method of condensing all their universes into one via their SECRET WARS storyli

Goodbye 'Ultimate Universe'. Goodbye 616 'Universe'. Hello to a brand new and really easy to get into comic book universe. Comics have gotten really popular but with so much history in the main characters and with such vast publications and timelines, it can be a little daunting to a new reader. MARVEL clearly saw this and decided to wrap up everything they'd done and start again. A risky yet bold move that has worked out for them. So when DC announced they were planning something similar to end their 'NEW 52' run, everyone was happy right? Well, no. In fact we were all quite nervous. DC's track record of late has been as reliable as a McCann babysitting service.

It's important to remember the 'NEW 52' run isn't new anymore but it isn't exactly old. The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comics. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC cancelled all of its existing titles and debuted 52 new series with new first issues. This wasn't the most popular decision, for example Action Comics and Detective Comics, which had retained their original numbering since the 1930s, were rebooted. It wasn't all bad, it did bring DC into the modern age. The relaunch included changes to the publishing format and print and digital comics were (and still are) released on the same day. Various changes were also made to DC's internal continuity to make characters more modern and accessible. In addition, characters from the Wildstorm and Vertigo imprints were absorbed into the DC Universe too. But a lot of people said that the 'NEW 52' was too dark and that the characters and stories had lost some of their light-heartedness and their original identity. Basically DC did to their comics what they have done to their films. Snyder'd the fun out of it. There was also complaints of there not being enough female heroes and the few that there were published, were not being portrayed in the best light.

Then last year DC began the now infamously messy 'CONVERGENCE' storyline. Like MARVEL's SECRET WARS, it too was supposed to bring all the DC universes that had been created and then condense them into an epic crossover storyline for the ages. Closing everything up and making it really easy for people to get aboard the DC train. However, that wasn't to be so. During its run I myself saw many piles of 'CONVERGENCE' comics collecting dust in the comic shops near me. My Talk Nerdy colleague. Chris Wakefield, said it was genuinely a confusing nightmare to read them. He had no idea what was going on and would struggle to explain to me what the stories he was reading were about.

In fact as I type this I can pick up many of the comics for a mere 99p off of EBAY, compare that to the just-for-fun 'HOWARD THE HUMAN' comic that came out during MARVEL's 'SECRET WARS' run. It isn't an important comic in that run, just a play on words that's gotten out of hand. Yet this HOWARD THE DUCK spin-off is such a good quality read that it's still retained its £4 value. That to me says some people are desperate to get rid of their 'CONVERGENCE' comics but are still eager to find and read a 'SECRET WARS' comic that really has no link to that storyline other than being set in its universe. 

You can see now then when DC announced their 'REBIRTH' story (a story that was going to finish the 'NEW 52' run) why people were pretty worried. But you know what, they may have finally seen the error of their ways. You see, it's not a reboot, merely a relaunch. What do I mean by that?

With the release of DC Universe: Rebirth Special, characters not seen during The New 52, including Wally West, Doctor Fate and others have returned to continuity, while other characters, such as Ted Kord and Ray Palmer/Atom returned to their characterization from prior to Flashpoint. The continuity of the 'NEW 52' isn't lost and the tone of the comics, along with some old much missed characters, goes back to how it used to be. DC fans get to have the best of both worlds. Another major talking point about all this is that it looks like THE WATCHMEN are being brought into DC's continuity. The fucking WATCHMEN! When that was teased everyone, including hardcore DC haters let out a little sex wee. How amazing is that? Characters like Doctor Manhattan and Ozymandias are set to come head to head with characters like Batman and The Flash, or at least one can hope.

To me it looks like they are turning around their comic book universe. Which got me thinking, is there more to this than meets the eye? If DC can turnaround their comics universe, can they repair the damage done to their cinematic universe? Will they attempt to mirror the direction of their comics? I for one think, yes they will.

For starters DC have realised that dark and gritty isn't what we're going to see their Super-heroes for. After the dark matter turd that was BATMAN V SUPERMAN, DC have been busy. DC chief content officer Geoff Johns, who helped establish the brand’s presence on television, and Warner Bros EVP Jon Berg will now co-run DC Films, Ben Affleck has been brought in as an executive producer along with rumours he is to direct his own standalone BATMAN film and early reports of filming for the new JUSTICE LEAGUE movie sound like there is a sense of comic relief in the tone and direction of the story. There's actually going to be jokes told in this movie. Never has an injection of banter been so needed than in DC's cinematic universe. Let's hope they have a coherent storyline to boot as well...

Also look at the difference in tone to the way DC have marketed the upcoming SUICIDE SQUAD film as the months have passed:

Don't forget that the solo BATMAN film isn't the only addition that they've added to shake up their film line-up over the next few years. Justice League isn't going to be a 2 parter anymore but 2 standalone movies. Green Lantern is going to involve the Green Lantern Corps themselves and HARLEY QUINN is getting her own film.

I wholeheartedly believe that they are pushing to steer their cinematic universe in the same direction as their REBIRTH relaunch. It is with this reasoning that I also believe that the WATCHMEN (you know, the guys I sex wee'd over before?) will be coming to the DC cinematic universe too. Think about it, in 2012 DC launched a bunch of issues titled 'Before Watchmen' to act as a prequel to the highly successful 1986 comic run. I would like to think that one of many reasons they did it was to test the water, putting these characters back in the spotlight after being out of it for so long and to thicken the characters up a little more to prepare them for a possible cinematic future.​
​Take into account that the 2009 WATCHMEN movie came out to mixed reviews and divided a comic community somewhat with it's infidelity to a much beloved and sacred storyline. The timing wasn't entirely great either, superhero films weren't as we now know them and were still finding their feet. The woeful Wolverine Origins was released that year and we still had another year until 2010's disappointing Iron Man sequel. But THE WATCHMEN is such a strong story and batch of characters to have in your artillery, you really think they haven't thought about having another go at it? Remember there was only 10 years between Raimi's SPIDER-MAN and Sony's 'Amazing' attempt at the web-slinger. DC have announced films up until 2020, by then it will have been 11 years since Snyder's WATCHMEN, so why would they not have thought about bringing them into their future line-up? It's not unusual to suggest that in 15 years we could get a WATCHMEN film of some description and what helps that train of thought is their introduction into the REBIRTH storyline.

​I am have no doubt that although the DC REBIRTH storyline is probably well thought out, will be highly successful and was put forward as an idea for the comic book community first...a division of DC have also wanted it to be laying the pipeline for its cinematic universe. A foundation to work off of if you will. Looking at its possibilities from beyond the pages of the reader. As someone who is a bit of a DC skeptic and  has just read the first 80 page REBIRTH issue, I think that they have finally figured out what they're doing. From what I am reading and hearing about on an almost weekly basis, it sounds like DC have realised that we don't want films and comics to be as angsty as a 17 year old Call of Duty player, with no substance to the story. Just written to set up another 4 films. It's not fair to say they need to be like MARVEL because they don't, they need to have their own identity yet I do feel that they are beginning to look at what MARVEL are doing and are just trying to have fun again. At the end of the day, I don't want to be a DC skeptic or a MARVEL head. I just want to enjoy reading and watching the adventures of all my heroes and just have fun. Which is a pretty nice sentiment for a blog that incorporated a Madeleine McCann joke.