DC Comics’ Geoff Johns defends their splintered TV universe

DC Comics have been getting a bit of flack over their decision to make their TV & movie universe a splintered affair – including from us – with Constantine, Arrow and Gotham having nothing to do with each other.

But now, talking to Variety, DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns defends their decision to keep everything separate: “We want to give freedom to creators… so that they can take their passion [and make] the best show, the best film, the best game without having to tie it into other things… yes, it’s got to be adapted and expanded, whether it goes from TV to comics or comics to film, but the DNA of it is always true.” 

OK, so his argument is that, in order for their TV shows to be good – and no-one can really argue that their TV output hasn’t been great – it must remain separate so the creators can all focus on making that particular character/show as good as it can possibly be without worrying about effects on other shows or movies. Makes sense we suppose.

However, Agents of SHIELD executive producer Maurissa Tancharoen reckons it’s completely the other way around: “The fact that it is one universe means that when something occurs on our show or a character makes a turn, it ripples through the entire universe, which gives it much more weight. It adds the seal of approval of all those other cinematic franchises.”

Is it weird that both arguments make sense to us? Maybe we need to stop giving DC grief and just accepting that, just because it’s not what Marvel do, doesn’t mean it’s wrong…

Source: Comicbook Movie