DC Universe Was Too Good To Last

It took longer than some people expected, but official word came on Friday that DC Universe, a streaming service offering original content, archival movies and TV shows, comics and goodies for fans of DC’s superhero pantheon, was “transforming” into DC Ultimate Universe, a digital comics subscription service, on January 21, 2021. It’s an unfortunate but overdetermined finale for a niche platform that outperformed expectations and delighted DC fans for nearly two years.

According to the announcement, DC Ultimate Universe will offer access to 24,000 digital comics, including some original digital-first series, for $7.99 per month or $74.99 per year. Most of the original series that debuted on DCU, such as Doom Patrol, Titans, Harley Quinn and Young Justice, will migrate to HBO Max. It’s not clear whether the DCU archive of movies, TV shows, animated series and specials will get their own branded channel on HBO Max, but that would not be surprising.

The move seemed a foregone conclusion as early as 2019, after AT&T
T
purchased DC and HBO parent company Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) and began cleaning house. DCU was conceived and launched under the prior regime, at a time when the trajectory of the streaming wars suggested a proliferation of targeted, niche services for specific audiences rather than big category-killers to take on Netflix
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. By the time it saw the light of day, DCU already seemed out of step with prevailing market trends and WarnerMedia’s recent drive to consolidate its subbrands, accelerated under AT&T’s new ownership.

That said, on its own terms, DC Universe was a good idea that, eventually, was very well executed. It provided a brand-centric hub for all things superhero: comics, fan-oriented talk shows, exclusive merchandise, an excellent back catalog of DC’s well-regarded animated shows and films, and the promise of original programming that went beyond the family-friendly fare of the CW’s Arrowverse. It was a galvanizing presence at conventions like New York Comic-Con and put some really original, eye-opening shows in front of fans – including a couple of breakout hits.

At launch, DC Universe stumbled out of the phone booth before its cape was fully attached to its costume. There were some technical glitches and a paucity of really great original shows on day one. But time was of the essence so it was worth rushing. DCU not only stole a march on rival Marvel – Disney+ was still more than a year off – and also on the incipient change in management and philosophy portended by the pending AT&T sale.

That said, there was plenty for fans willing to be patient and let DCU grow into its potential. The selection of digital comics kept getting better. The service upped the quality of archival shows, offering HD and sometimes 4K UHD versions of classics like Batman: The Animated Series and some of its animated features. Titans grew more intriguing over its initial season, and the new seasons of the animated Young Justice offered hardcore fans of DC’s complicated cosmology and deep bench of characters everything they love about the company’s distinctive storytelling style in a great-looking package.

The real eye-opener was Doom Patrol, an original live-action series that seemed like a longshot to connect for all kinds of reasons – not least of all that it was based on one of the strangest titles ever published in DC’s 80-year history. The producers fully embraced the strangeness, giving viewers one of the most compelling and distinctive “peak TV” series, featuring well-constructed plots, memorable characters, creative casting, and a sense of humor that mined the absurdity of comic-book tropes without condescending to fans.

With several more original series like Swamp Thing, an animated adult version of Harley Quinn, and Geoff Johns’ Stargirl on the way, it seemed like DC Universe was poised to maximize its fan appeal and even cross over to a wider audience.

The first sign of trouble is when Swamp Thing saw its budget cut and its season reduced from 13 to 10 episodes mid-production. Even good production couldn’t disguise the impact of those cuts on the production value and story integrity, which took a nosedive mid-season and left a bunch of plot threads dangling in the Louisiana breeze. It wasn’t exactly a vote of confidence when DC announced the show would be cancelled five days after the first episode dropped.

Rather than succumb to the undertow, DCU bounced back in the fall of 2019 with the profane and surprisingly delightful animated Harley Quinn, featuring The Big Bang Theory’s Kelly Cuoco as the voice of the murderous moppet, leading a ragtag band of miscreants through some goofy, exciting, and ultimately warm-hearted adventures. The show got an immediate renewal and the second season was aired right on the heels of the first one, creating a lot of momentum and ending on a note that a lot of the show’s fans were rooting for from the start.

The ongoing success of these shows may have complicated plans to roll DCU into HBO Max when the service was finally ready this spring. DCU, against the odds, was holding its own and doing its job bringing hipness, visibility and cred in the demo to the DC brand, which has often seemed stodgy compared to Marvel.

The network had its last hurrah as a standalone streaming platform over the summer with the release of the second mind-bending season of Doom Patrol and the release of Stargirl, whose episodes debuted on DCU a day before they aired on the CW. Stargirl in particular was one of DC’s most ambitious attempts to bring its backbench of legacy characters forward into mainstream culture. As a labor of love for executive producer Johns, the writers and the charming and talented cast, it combined the deep geeky appeal of DC’s multiverse with the teen-drama sentimentality of CW’s usual fare more successfully than most of the Arrowverse, and was popular enough to earn a quick renewal – on the main network.

The success of almost all the original programming that was on the DCU drawing board from its inception indicates that the service could have had a real shot at overperforming its goals if it had maintained corporate support. Instead, its success made its premium content a target for cannibalization by its colossal young cousin, HBO Max, and has left DC with the rump of a branded destination where it can outlet its digital comics.

If you’re a fan of DC who wants access to that archive, I guess that’s good news. There are lots of great stories in those 24,000 issues, and DC Universe Infinite subscribers get a $25 (annual plan) or $10 (monthly plan) voucher for HBO Max.

Still, it seems like DC Universe, like the DC corporate unit that sustained a lot of staff reductions and belt tightening last month, deserved better.