The head of DC Entertainment is stepping down to focus on specific creative projects.
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work hard a day in your life. That’s the dream, right? Finding a bliss, throwing your whole being into it, and discovering financial reward as a result. So many distractions are placed in your path to true happiness, and few of us ever actually achieve the sentiment behind that tried-and-true expression. Sometimes a job sounds like your passion and only reveals itself as a prison after you’ve already tumbled far away from your original pursuit. A decade goes by, and you’re chained to a desk, looking out the office window, and fighting jealously against all the youngsters playing in the field that you once plowed.
The time has come for Geoff Johns to free himself from the suit that has shackled his creativity. According to The Hollywood Reporter, after a year in the position, Johns has stepped down as DC Entertainment president and chief creative officer. Instead, he will be instituting Mad Ghost Productions and focusing his talents at Warner Bros. and DC with an exclusive writer-producer deal. The time has come for Johns to return to his bliss.
Johns’ creative life began in the trenches of Hollywood as an assistant to filmmaker Richard Donner (alongside Marvel’s Kevin Feige). From there he fought his way into the DC Comics writer’s bullpen, where he revitalized Green Lantern as well as several other characters suffering middling popularity. Having established himself as a central figure in their publishing department, Johns was named CCO of DC Entertainment in 2010. He produced Green Lantern, Justice League, and co-wrote the story for the impending Aquaman.
Even while he was operating as DC Entertainment president, Johns was cranking out comics. Currently, he is in the middle of their epic “Doomsday Clock,” which sees the mashup of characters from “Watchmen” and “Justice League.” They said it couldn’t be done, and here comes Johns to rub the noses of negative nellies in the dirt.
From the fan’s perspective, his time in the boardroom simply did not produce the delights we experienced as comic book consumers. It appears that Johns feels the same way:
“I took on a role at DCE because I love the characters and this universe more than anything. But I want to spend my days writing and on set. I’m thrilled to get back to a more hands-on creative role. It’s a dream job on dream projects, reaching even deeper into DC’s vast pantheon of characters.”
His first major task will be producing and writing the screenplay for Green Lantern Corps. Having guided Hal Jordan in his most successful comic book run to date, Johns only needs to translate the enthusiasm for these characters that he exhibited on the page to the big screen. If we can forget all the Halloween sequels, we can easily ignore the Ryan Reynolds fiasco (heck, Deadpool 2 literally erased the atrocity from the timeline).
Johns belongs with a pen in his hand. You know it. I know it. Moltar knows it. The man not only has a deep love for these characters, he understands their appeal in ways few do. So far, the DCEU has failed to capture that passion with Johns sitting on high. Maybe, down in the muck of creation, the writer can do what the businessman could not.
Related Topics: DC Comics, Geoff Johns, Green Lantern
