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Jul 23, 2023

What's Going On With DC Movies?

James Gunn may soon be rebooting the DC Universe, but DC Studios' recent disappointing releases are only bringing further problems into focus. Recent disappointing box office returns for DC Studios'

James Gunn may soon be rebooting the DC Universe, but DC Studios' recent disappointing releases are only bringing further problems into focus.

Recent disappointing box office returns for DC Studios' projects could pose some problems for the upcoming DC Universe reboot. Warner Bros. kicked off the DC Extended Universe with the release of 2013's Man of Steel, and while the franchise always tried to catch up to the overwhelming success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many of DC's live-action projects failed to impress audiences. This issue has only grown in recent years, particularly after a massive shake-up at Warner Bros. and DC Films that saw the latter evolve into DC Studios under the command of filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran, though they have some serious problems to overcome.

DC's live-action films have come under scrutiny since the beginning of the DCEU, mostly attributed to the darker and grittier tones developed under Zack Snyder's early creative direction and visual style. The studio's depiction of iconic DC Comics characters, including Superman, Batman, the Flash, and Lex Luthor, among others, were also criticized, leading to some controversial choices made in projects such as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, and The Flash. Gunn and Safran are rebooting the DCEU into the new DC Universe, starting with 2025's Superman: Legacy, but DC's recent disappointing releases pose a problem for the future of the franchise.

2022 marked a period of huge turmoil at Warner Bros. and DC Films, as WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. merged into Warner Bros. Discovery in April, appointing David Zaslav as CEO. While Walter Hamada had previously overseen DC Films, Zaslav immediately began hunting for a new head of the company, appointing Gunn and Safran as co-CEOs of the new DC Studios in November 2022. While there were still several projects to be released by DC Studios as part of the DCEU, Gunn and Safran planned a reorganizing of the studio's live-action franchise, which meant that audiences knew at the start of 2023 that the upcoming slate wouldn't actually amount to much.

Unfortunately, since DC's viewers were aware that the films released in 2023 wouldn't have much impact on the future of the franchise, this meant that DC's fans seemed to lose interest in any projects released by DC Studios. Shazam! Fury of the Gods performed far worse than its predecessor, The Flash became one of the biggest box office bombs in comic book movie history, and while Blue Beetle may have been more positively received, isn't performing well at the box office. With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom yet to release later this year, time will tell if the sequel can come close to the over $1 billion its predecessor made.

Despite a few great movies that found critical success, DC's recent projects have likely soured the studio's audiences and previously die-hard fans. There's also some level of a fan divide between those still disappointed with DC's decision to move away from the DCEU (or, earlier, Snyder's creative vision). Even a few strong showings, like the Blue Beetle grassroots marketing campaign in lieu of proper promotion, not enough people are getting out to see DCEU movies on the big screen.

While Marvel Studios certainly has its critics, the majority of its fan base has stayed loyal and dedicated to the ever-growing franchise, but the same cannot be said for DC Studios. The studio's treatment of actors and characters, particularly Henry Cavill's Superman and Ben Affleck's Batman, has also contributed to a lack of faith in what's to come. With a new creative team and narrative direction on the horizon, the DCU needs to reinstil the idea that it has a clear vision for fans to buy into.

There are several clear reasons that many have attributed to the downfall of the DC Extended Universe, and these issues date back to the very first live-action project in the franchise, Man of Steel. While Henry Cavill's version of Clark Kent's Superman was celebrated by some, others found the darker Superman who was willing to kill to be a misrepresentation of the character's DC Comics roots. This idea of misrepresentation continued through each of DC's projects, and there was also scrutiny aimed at Warner Bros.' misuse of these characters, or lack of use, as characters who should have been central to the franchise, such as Superman and Batman, were neglected.

In an effort to catch up to Marvel Studios' success, Warner Bros. rushed production on several of its early projects, racing full-force into a crossover film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, after only having released one previous film. In contrast, Marvel Studios released five films before bringing its heroes together in The Avengers. There was also a clear lack of cohesion and connectivity with DC's live-action projects, particularly after Zack Snyder departed the franchise, as each film seemed to take place in its own separate franchise without having many links to the wider world of the DCEU.

Marvel Studios found success by cultivating a light-hearted tone, but DC Studios' darker textures polarized many and felt like a disservice to the storylines established in DC Comics. This made it more jarring when DC tried to integrate humor into its projects, such as in 2016's Suicide Squad and 2023's The Flash, both of which failed to strike the perfect balance between funnier and more serious tones. Humor certainly has its place, but hopefully, it will land better in Gunn and Safran's new DC Universe.

Since the DC Extended Universe has been faltering in recent years, James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe has many challenges to overcome. Expected to kick off fully with 2025's Superman: Legacy, the new franchise will actually begin with TV shows Creature Commandos and Waller in 2024, and the upcoming slate of theatrical, animated, and television projects for DC Studios has already demonstrated a wide range of genres and exciting storylines taken straight from specific comic books in DC Comics' rich history. This will solve a major problem from the DCEU, as Gunn and Safran will be creating a much more varied shared universe with many different tones.

Each project in the DC Universe is also expected to expand the universe in new and interesting ways, helping to solidify more continuity in the franchise than what was seen in the DCEU. Gunn has expressed a desire to take plot points directly from DC Comics, meaning characters may be represented more accurately on screen, which will bring the DC Universe closer to Marvel Studios' depictions of its characters. It seems that the new DC Universe also won't be rushing into a crossover project, as no film along the lines of Justice League has yet been revealed, allowing characters time to grow and settle before being brought together.

The DC Universe may still be attaching acclaimed filmmakers to its projects, such as James Gunn himself for Superman: Legacy and James Mangold for Swamp Thing, and these directors will hopefully be given more creative freedom over their projects. While this could all spell good news for James Gunn and Peter Safran's developing franchise, many fans have bad blood with DC's recent live-action history, which means the DC Universe will need to work extra hard. There is hope for DC's future as long as the DC Universe can move on from the mistakes of the DCEU's past.