DC Comics has obviously has opted for a different approach as compared to its more happier counterpart – Marvel – who are expanding their cinematic universe with each new movie and television series or episode. DC Comics decided to keep their movies and TV shows separate from each other a year ago, hence creating two different universes (although some TV shows have the same universe while other have a different one).
This approach was originally looked as an advantage for the multiverse. But here is where I need to break the ice for the fans, they shouldn’t really get their hopes high for seeing something like Crisis on Infinite Earths-style team-up among the movie and TV characters. There are no crossover plans between the two divisions.
President of DC Entertainment Diane Nelson noted that their movie to keep the movies and TV shows apart has offered “maximum creative flexibility,” and that it would negatively affect the stories creators and producers are trying to tell if everything is connected. This was said at the Variety’s Entertainment and Technology Summit. In her words:
“[The focus on a single universe of characters with connected storylines] could end up handcuffing our creators into trying to work with the same storyline or force them to hold back characters or introduce certain characters. Ultimately it hinders the ability for someone like (showrunner) Bruno Heller to come in and create ‘Gotham.’”
Talking on the same matter, Nelson pointed out that Fox’s Gotham and the 2016 upcoming blockbuster Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice have “no creative constraints” regarding each other, allowing both stories to be told without worrying about continuity issues. If you don’t already know, all of DC’s film from Man of Steel onwards exist in the same DC Extended Universe. While at the TV side of things, all of DC’s shows on the CW exist in the same world, while Gotham and CBS’s Supergirl are doing their own thing.
DC film fans can look forward to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hitting theaters on March 25, 2016. Meanwhile, DC’s TV shows will begin airing their new seasons in the coming weeks, starting with Gotham Season 2 next Monday.