A Plethora of Super Heroes

We've hit on this before, but it becomes clearer and clearer that Time-Warner is not going to let Diz Co. have the lion's share of spandex franchises without a fight.

Taking a page from the Marvel Studios playbook, Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara unveiled a 10-movie slate of superhero movies Oct. 15. ... "DC will be a key engine for growth across all Warner Bros.," he told analysts. But between Warners' DC-based movies, Disney's Marvel, Fox and Sony (which both hold licenses to key Marvel properties), nearly 30 hero pics are planned through 2020. Is the movie universe big enough for them all? ...

This theme song has been played many times before.

When Westerns were in vogue, companies cranked out Westerns. When it was space operas, or sex comedies, you could make book on each conglomerate contributing its fair share. (In ice hockey, this is known as "skating to where the puck was.") Now, with CG animation all the rage, most everybody's jumped in. And although long-form cartoons enjoy the biggest profit margins, caped crusaders aren't far behind.

Time-Warner started the trend of big-budget super hero movies decades ago (Batman, Superman, but Marvel has lifted them to a high (and highly lucrative) art form. Warners clearly doesn't intend to allow this particular status quo to stand.