When news broke earlier this month that executives from Warner Brothers and DC Comics had met to rehash how the studio handles the house's superhero properties, comics bloggers began to read between the lines. Was DC trying for more autonomy in developing films based on its properties? Could a DC film studio be a possibility? Would such a thing make sense, given that Warner and DC are already under the same corporate banner? PW talked to some comics industry insiders about what they think DC might be up to, and what its next move should be.

Brendan Deneen, senior v-p of Objective Entertainment, who previously developed superhero properties at Dimension and Miramax, said he thinks the smartest move for DC would be to develop a ministudio. “They could create something like New Line,” he said, referring to the indie shingle at Warner Brothers. By doing so, he elaborated, DC could function with some autonomy, while remaining under the auspices of Warner.

Since much of the chatter about DC's stake in the movie business has followed Marvel's bold move into Hollywood—and the overwhelming success of its first film, Iron Man—many have been wondering whether DC is now recognizing the value of having comic book people developing comic book films.

Deneen certainly thinks so. “Having Warner Brothers is the best and worst thing for DC,” he said. “For Warner Brothers to really exploit [the DC] characters and franchises, you need a dedicated team of people who get the material,” he explained, citing a comedic version of the Green Lantern that the studio was at one point considering, with Jack Black in the lead. “That's exactly what you don't want to do and is kind of indicative of the trouble [Warner] has had in developing these great properties.”

And DC, in Deneen's opinion, is in an even better position than Marvel to tap into its archive, since it owns the rights to all of its marquee characters. (X-Men, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, all in the Marvel world, are currently under the control of other studios.)

Carr D'Angelo, co-owner of Los Angeles's Earth 2 Comics shop and a former exec at Universal (he worked on an early adaptation of The Hulk there), agreed that DC needs someone on the inside: “The studios have hundreds of movies in development at any one time, so it makes it hard for [a company like] Warner Brothers to say, let's do this now. How many false starts were there before Batman Begins or Superman Returns got off the ground? If they want to create excitement [about these properties], then I think DC needs some kind of point person.”

While Warner has long been criticized for failing to shuttle DC properties into production quickly enough—David S. Cohen, in his piece about the initial meeting between the companies in Variety, characterized the process as “lethargic”—some think this is more about the haphazard nature of Hollywood production than anything else. Ted Adams, president of comics publisher IDW, pointed to the recent success of The Dark Knight, which broke records with its opening weekend box-office haul, as proof that nothing is wrong with the DC-Warner relationship. “I think the success of The Dark Knight proves that whatever they're doing, they're doing it right,” he said. Adams added that the strong early buzz surrounding the forthcoming adaptation of The Watchmen, slated for a 2009 release, further drives his point home. “Watchmen looks like it will be faithful to the source material, which seems to be the most direct route for success with these movies.”

Tom McLean, who writes the comics and film blog Bags and Boards for Variety, also doesn't see the necessity of a DC studios subsidiary. “[Warner Brothers] might decide to set up a little office and give them a little money and see how [their movies] turn out, but they don't have to do that. Warner Brothers already has dozens of DC properties in development; the question is whether they will pull the trigger and start making them.”