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DC unmade: failure, fandom and the Justice League films that could have been

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dc.contributor.authorGreene, Ryan, author
dc.contributor.authorDiffrient, David Scott, advisor
dc.contributor.authorMartey, Rosa, committee member
dc.contributor.authorBurgchardt, Carl, committee member
dc.contributor.authorElkins, Evan, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-09T20:52:05Z
dc.date.available2024-09-09T20:52:05Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractUnmade films have received little attention as a general category, and this is doubly so for unmade superhero genre projects. The fact that these unfilms are failures in otherwise vibrant action franchises has typically led to their elision from canonical narratives. In studying two of the many defunct superhero films in Warner Brothers's DC catalog, it is possible to compare the failures of each in order to discern the industrial and narrative practices that contributed to their collapse. I apply scholarship on failure and comic book film adaptation to the case of George Miller's Justice League: Mortal. I trace the director's grand vision of a franchise juggernaut that was ultimately cancelled due to a confluence of bureaucratic interference and backlash against the promise of unlimited, speculative success. I then turn attention toward WB's second attempt to create a superhero ensemble film, Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon's Justice League (2017). From the ashes of the film's financial under-performance and critical failure rose a dogged fan movement to release an unknown and totally different director's cut. To understand this fan community and its impact on unproduction, I evaluate the Snyder Cut movement's defense of Zack Snyder's unmade DC Extended Universe, their battle against Warner Brothers and their refusal to accept failure. Taken together, these two unproductions demonstrate two divergent visions of failure. One lacked fan backing and so rests inert, its pieces scattered across the internet. The other rose from the unfinished realm of shadow cinema, lifted up by fans who vilified its producer while demanding that executives pay for its release.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifierGreene_colostate_0053A_18433.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/239229
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2020-
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectcomic book movies
dc.subjectfandom
dc.subjectunproduction
dc.subjectfailure
dc.subjectadaptation
dc.subjectsuperheroes
dc.titleDC unmade: failure, fandom and the Justice League films that could have been
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineCommunication Studies
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

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