Paramount Declares Snyderverse Revival Fully Funded — Warner Bros. Isn’t Buying It
The Warner Bros. bidding war is boiling over: despite chatter of a Netflix swoop and a push from Paramount Skydance, CNN Business says Warner Bros. Discovery is poised to reject Paramount’s bid, upending the chase for the storied studio.
Warner Bros. Discovery is in the middle of a full-on bidding scrum, and the temperature keeps rising. Netflix has been circling. Paramount Skydance has been pushing hard. Comcast is hovering. And now we have some sharper lines on where this might go.
Where things stand right now
According to a new CNN Business report, the WBD board is expected to shoot down Paramount Skydance Corp.'s bid. The studio has labeled Paramount's offer 'illusory' and, bluntly, thinks a sale to Netflix would be the better path.
Why the shade toward Paramount? WBD is skeptical about where the money is coming from. The Paramount package is backed in large part by investors out of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, and WBD flagged that as a fundamental concern.
Paramount, for its part, is not amused. The company says the financing is locked and loaded and called the doubts 'absurd.'
'The [Paramount] deal provides inadequate value and imposes numerous, significant risks and costs on WBD.'
That is from the WBD board to its shareholders. Translation: they do not like this deal. But the final word does not belong to the board. It belongs to shareholders, who will decide where this goes.
How we got here
WBD effectively put up the For Sale sign back in October 2025 after fielding multiple approaches to buy the company or carve off pieces. Since then, three obvious players have been in the mix: Netflix, Paramount Skydance Corp., and Comcast Corp.
Netflix angle: the Snyder of it all
Netflix and Zack Snyder already have a cozy history: the Army of the Dead franchise, the 2021 spinoff Army of Thieves, and the Rebel Moon films. That track record is why a certain corner of fandom has been loudly rooting for WBD to offload its DC heroes to Netflix, hoping the streamer would revive the Snyderverse.
To be clear, the reporting says Netflix is interested in WBD's film and TV studios and the HBO and HBO Max businesses. If that happens, it would obviously shake up WBD's superhero plans. Whether that specifically means Snyderverse 2.0 is still fan hope, not a done plan.
- Man of Steel: IMDb 7.1/10; Rotten Tomatoes 57 percent critics, 75 percent audience; budget 225 million dollars; worldwide 670,145,518 dollars
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: IMDb 6.4/10; Rotten Tomatoes 28 percent critics, 63 percent audience; budget 250 million dollars; worldwide 874,362,803 dollars
- Zack Snyder's Justice League: IMDb 7.9/10; Rotten Tomatoes 71 percent critics, 92 percent audience
Paramount angle: keep the current DC Universe rolling
Here is the other twist: CNN says some WBD shareholders plan to ignore the board's guidance and tender their shares to Paramount at 30 dollars a share. If that bid actually wins, it likely means the James Gunn and Peter Safran DC Universe keeps chugging, maybe even accelerates.
Why? Because Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has said he would keep creative teams in place, per The Hollywood Reporter. That reads as a promise not to blow up the current DC plan midstream.
The weird part
It is not every day you see a legacy studio calling a rival's offer 'illusory' while also signaling comfort selling to Netflix, with sovereign wealth backing on the other side spooking them. The money and the politics around it are as much a part of this drama as the capes and cowls.
The bottom line
The board likes Netflix. Paramount says its cash is real. Some shareholders may go Paramount anyway at 30 dollars a share. Comcast is still in the room. If Netflix lands WBD's studios and HBO/HBO Max, expect seismic changes and a louder chorus for Snyder-related projects. If Paramount wins, expect Gunn and Safran's DC plan to stay on track. Either way, the next move is in the shareholders' hands.