The DC Movie Universe Has Some Major Problems That Are Being Overlooked

Maximus Rex
Maximus Rex Members Posts: 6,354 ✭✭✭✭✭
by Tim Zachary, October 2nd, 2015
http://moviepilot.com/posts/3572534

There's no doubt about it that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is going to blow the world's socks off; and, there's not doubt about it that the DCCU is going to be a really fun superhero rollercoaster. But, there's also no doubt about it that the DCCU has some major problems that everyone hates to admit.

Whether it's going up against Marvel, or going up against creative differences, or even going up against fans, Warner Brothers is going to be fighting a constant uphill battle. Competition is welcome, but someone always has to lose; and right now, the DCCU just isn't in shape to compete.


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There are ten glaring problems with the DCCU as of right now; ten problems that Superman or Batman may not even be able to fix.

10. It's Cutting Corners To Catch Up With Marvel.

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All good things must come to an end, and the superhero golden age is no different. Superhero movies can only reign supreme for a time, and Marvel is using the time to slay. It's obvious the head honchos at Warner Brothers want to revel in some ten billion dollar profits too, but that can only happen during a short window of time; so, they're rushing everything. They have to make money before it's too late.

Marvel is absolutely crushing right now, and quite frankly the DCCU just can't compete. Marvel gave us five solo superhero movies AND THEN a team up movie. DC gave us one solo superhero movie and is now giving us a team up movie. That doesn't seem thought out, does it? Heck, we're going to see several Justice League members in a Justice League movie, before they appear in their own solo movies! Sometimes, I seriously worry about Warner Brothers.


9. Wonder Woman Is Carrying The DCCU (Kind Of)

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Is it just me or is there way to much pressure put on Gal Gadot playing Wonder Woman? For as long as the DC movies have existed, DC has been forced to survive on multiple Batman and Superman reboots. Wonder Woman tried to come in swinging a few times in her own movie, but ended up just crumbling.

Now, the DCCU has the opportunity of a lifetime. The time is right. If they nail Wonder Woman in Batman Vs. Superman, then her solo movie could be the best thing ever for the superhero genre. The problem is that the world is waiting with baited breath to see if this is the Wonder Woman they've been waiting for. If it's not, then everything that has to do with the DCCU is going to crash and burn. If Warner Brothers cannot get even Wonder Woman to succeed in their universe, how the heck are they going to convince fans into seeing Aquaman or a new Green Lantern movie? If Wonder Woman fails, then the DCCU could very well fail as well. Because who wants another DCCU that revolves solely around yet more Batman and Superman reboot movies?


8. The Comparison Problem

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I would hate to be in Jared Leto or Ben Affleck's shoes. Here's why: no matter what Jared Leto does as the Joker and no matter how Ben Affleck fights as Batman, they are always going to be compared to possibly the greatest superhero trilogy of all time: The Dark Knight Trilogy. There's no escaping it. Marvel had it easy because they had never made an Iron Man, Captain America, or Thor movie before they made the MCU. DC on the other hand has multiple Batman movies and multiple renditions of the Joker, so no matter what Warner Brothers does to set apart Jared Leto's Joker or Ben Affleck's Batman, fanboys are not going to be happy.

You can't have a Joker better than Heath Ledger's mastermind portrayal, and quite frankly, no one is going to be able to depict a better Batman then Christian Bale. The Man of Steel is already being compared to other Superman movies, Wonder Woman is obviously going to be compared to her past movies, Green Lantern won't be able to escape his past movie, and the Flash - let's just agree that we'd all rather have Grant Gustin's version than Ezra Miller's! Warner Brothers - you've got major fanboy trouble brewing!


7. Green Lantern Go Home?

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I am not going to lie; Green Lantern had me gagging. It was probably the worst superhero movie I've ever seen. Looking at it's box office profit, I think most people were gagging as well. Warner Brothers hardly made any money off the movie. In fact, it could have been swallowed by a sink-hole, and no one would have thought twice.

Now, Warner Brothers is promising us a better version in 2020. Here's the problem: once your stomach churns and you gag over a movie character, that's pretty much it. Go get a coffin and bury that character a mile underneath the ground. Maybe, just maybe, the DCCU can give us a better Green Lantern; I'm more convinced we're going to leave the theater chanting, "Green Lantern, go home!"


6. DC's Movies Are Way To Dark To Make Money

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Man of Steel made seven hundred million dollars. That's amazing...until you compare it with Avengers: Age of Ultron. Avengers: Age of Ultron made over one billion dollars. When people take kids to the theater, they're not going to take them to a superhero movie that's entirely dark, gritty, and tragic. You have Superman and Zod toppling tower after tower and presumably killing thousands of people, and then Superman snapped Zod's neck. On the other hand, you have some pretty epic fight sequences in Avengers: Age of Ultron and you also have a lot of humor! Kids and parents alike love that kind of superhero movie.

Warner Brothers is taking way too dark of a spin on their superhero movies to get any money. Audiences don't want constant darkness and evil. That's increasingly depressing; it's way to realistic. We come to the theater to enjoy some great laughter and epic sequences, not a brooding superhero tragedy! Get it straight, Warner brothers!

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Comments

  • Maximus Rex
    Maximus Rex Members Posts: 6,354 ✭✭✭✭✭
    5. Who The Heck Is Aquaman?

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    Who the heck is Aquaman? Is that a joke? Aquaman? I know what you're going to say. You're going to say something like, "No one knew who Scarlet Witch was," or "No one knew who Falcon was." You're right. But they're a lot more grounded and believable then Aquaman.

    Granted, Warner Brothers could pull this off if only they don't make Aquaman a laughing stock. They will have to nail the tone perfectly, or else Aquaman is going to look like an idiotic joke. Fanboys love Aquaman, but there's a lot of people out there who don't know who the heck Aquaman is and to them he sounds like a little kid's imaginary friend. Aquaman could be the next big superhero, or he could be the next DCCU clown.


    4. Too Many Characters Way Too Soon

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    If The Justice League doesn't learn from Avengers: Age of Ultron's mistake, then it's going to face plant and face plant hard. Here's the huge problem: there are way too many big name superheroes set to appear in the Justice League. Half of them won't even have their own solo movie yet. So my question is how the heck is Warner Brothers going to even remotely have any character development for them and due justice to the characters without either making a) a absolutely ? -awful superhero mashup movie or b) a five hour long movie with way too much exposition.

    We had two Captain America movies, three Iron Man movies, two Thor movies, and an Avengers movie to set up character development before we saw Avengers: Age of Ultron. Without those, we wouldn't have cared a nickel about any one of the Avengers. There's no possible way we are going to care about any of the Justice League members without them having their own solo movies first. Plus, there's no way Warner Brothers will even remotely be able to do the characters justice to their comic book counterparts in a short three hours. It's not going to happen, and fanboys will let them know it didn't happen after The Justice League falters.


    3. Two Different Universes; Two Different Problems

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    DC faces a really big problem that's going to come full circle and bite them in the rear. They chose to make a separate TV universe from their movie universe. Initially, that sounded promising until a problem arose. The problem is that not only are fans going to be utterly befuddled with different events and characters, but fans are also going to prefer characters rather than others. For example, what happens when we have two different Flashes running around? Will we vote for Ezra Miller's or stay loyal to Grant Gustin's?

    One could argue that Warner Brothers opted for the lazier, faster option of having two different universes in order to catch up with Marvel. Regardless if that's true or not, there are going to be problems with both universes. DC is going to get double-power kicked and it's going to hurt them. Unlike Marvel, they won't be able to fix their movies with a TV show explanation or vice versa. In a nutshell, Warner Brothers just chopped off their own leg and is only begging for worse.


    2. They Might Follow Marvel Too Closely

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    Marvel has done an out-of-this-world great job setting up an organized, linear plan for their movies. They have built a world that has blown fans minds. They set up their big bad from the very first Avengers movie, and have been working to that final showdown ever since. It's quite nice to be a Marvel fanboy right now.

    The DCCU on the other hand appears to be a jumbled mess. They could scramble the order and try to set up in phases like Marvel; setting up a big bad somewhere in the future and then setting their goal on making a world changing showdown in three or four Justice League movies. The only problem is, then that people wouldn't bother watching a lack-luster copy cat version of Marvel. So what's the solution? I don't have a clue, and I don't think Warner Brothers does either. They can't follow Marvel too closely and risk losing fans, and they can't make their movies spaghetti fashion either and risk losing fans that way. It's a real conundrum.


    1. The Golden Age Is Ending

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    All good things must come to an end. The Golden Age of superhero movies and is now, but it's starting to end very slowly. If you close your eyes you can smell it, the faint smell of exhaustion. Fans are growing weary of going to the theater every few months; they are growing weary of big guys in colorful suits destroying aliens and other threats.

    With the increased output of superhero movies we're about to see this next year, there's a pretty great chance fans are going to feel winded. Marvel has a distinct advantage in that they've built their trust with fans. Fans will go see their movies because they know it's worth it, even if they are increasingly exhausted of seeing superheroes. The DCCU has a huge problem in that it's just starting. Who knows if fans are going to want to give the extra energy to see yet more Batman and Superman. Maybe they can survive, but there's do doubt about it that the DCCU is going to have an extremely rough time fighting for survival these next few years.


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    Yeah, I love the MCU but I also love Batman and Superman. I'm a superhero fan, so it doesn't matter if it's DC or Marvel. But we've been kidding ourselves when we say that the DCCU is going to be just fine; it's not. It has some major problems, and unless Warner Brothers manages to fix them, these problems could ruin the DCCU even before it starts.
  • CeLLaR-DooR
    CeLLaR-DooR Members Posts: 18,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
    100 CS on n.10 and maybe no.4 but the rest is based on what? The golden age of comic movies is endin'? What's he on about? Marvel already proved a buncha times you don't need to be a popular hero to have a good movie.

    ? don't wanna include the pre-MCU movies when talkin' Marvel but wanna talk about that wack AF Green Lantern come on man. 'too dark to make money' smh he's one of those idiots
  • 5onblackhandside
    5onblackhandside Members Posts: 2,585 ✭✭✭✭✭
    100 CS on n.10 and maybe no.4 but the rest is based on what? The golden age of comic movies is endin'? What's he on about? Marvel already proved a buncha times you don't need to be a popular hero to have a good movie.

    ? don't wanna include the pre-MCU movies when talkin' Marvel but wanna talk about that wack AF Green Lantern come on man. 'too dark to make money' smh he's one of those idiots


    Aint nobody see Guardians of the Galaxy doing what it did, I aint never heard of any of dem ? in that movie
  • Maximus Rex
    Maximus Rex Members Posts: 6,354 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Ain't nobody see Guardians of the Galaxy doing what it did. I ain't never heard of any of dem ? in that movie

    Not only that, the GOTG roster in the movie wasn't even the characters in the book. These are the characters that were in the book.

    29547-4398-32838-1-guardians-of-the-gal.jpg
  • CeLLaR-DooR
    CeLLaR-DooR Members Posts: 18,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Ain't nobody see Guardians of the Galaxy doing what it did. I ain't never heard of any of dem ? in that movie

    Not only that, the GOTG roster in the movie wasn't even the characters in the book. These are the characters that were in the book.

    29547-4398-32838-1-guardians-of-the-gal.jpg

    And they managed to keep everyone happy. Even the fanboys, despite the changes (@X-Men supporters)
  • Bussy_Getta
    Bussy_Getta Members Posts: 37,679 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Maybe I'm being optimistic but I think Jared Leto's joker could stand up to Heath's. We'll see tho.
  • nujerz84
    nujerz84 Members Posts: 15,418 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2016
    100 CS on n.10 and maybe no.4 but the rest is based on what? The golden age of comic movies is endin'? What's he on about? Marvel already proved a buncha times you don't need to be a popular hero to have a good movie.

    ? don't wanna include the pre-MCU movies when talkin' Marvel but wanna talk about that wack AF Green Lantern come on man. 'too dark to make money' smh he's one of those idiots

    This article was written 5 almost 6 months before BVS came out. Its One of the countless articles of its type being highly critical and dismissive before any movie came out.

    These type of articles were being written for months leading up to BVS.

    So when dc fans say there seemed to be some kind of bias towards the DCU there is grounds and evidence to support that theory.
  • Idiopathic Joker
    Idiopathic Joker Members, Moderators Posts: 45,691 Regulator
    BoyPussy wrote: »
    Maybe I'm being optimistic but I think Jared Leto's joker could stand up to Heath's. We'll see tho.

    I agree. It isn't about recreating what ledger, nicholson, or romero did. It's about making the character your own.
  • Lou Cypher
    Lou Cypher Members Posts: 52,521 ✭✭✭✭✭
    BoyPussy wrote: »
    Maybe I'm being optimistic but I think Jared Leto's joker could stand up to Heath's. We'll see tho.

    Leto is going to be the best joker I think. Definitely going off of the darker storyline for the joker too where he was the most ? up.
  • reapin505
    reapin505 Members Posts: 4,009 ✭✭✭✭✭
    BoyPussy wrote: »
    Maybe I'm being optimistic but I think Jared Leto's joker could stand up to Heath's. We'll see tho.

    The tattoos still bug the hell outta me for some reason. Seeing him slap the ? out of harley then ? on her though made me want to give that movie a chance.
  • nickel-us P
    nickel-us P Members Posts: 2,491 ✭✭✭✭✭
    This whole thing guna be a disaster smh
  • soul rattler
    soul rattler Members Posts: 18,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2016
    So DC is somehow both trying too much to be like Marvel, yet also not trying hard enough to be like Marvel?


    You know what the difference between Marvel and DC's approach is? Marvel had the tasks of both educating us on who their characters were while simultaneously convincing us that we should care enough to watch movie after movie.

    DC doesn't have that problem. When you hear the names Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman, and also Green Lantern and Aquaman, there is instant name recognition. The word "Justice" alone invokes a certain image. Justice League, Superfriends, etc... DC doesn't have to educate us on their characters because we've known them all of our lives. And I'm not just talking bout the comic book nerds of the world, but those of us who get all of our knowledge from the cartoons, movies, and video games of the 80's, 90's, and 2000's. All DC has to do is execute an acceptable incarnation of something we already know and love.

    As faithful as Marvel has been, though they deviate from the source material alot, if they gave us a completely different Iron man or Thor, most of us wouldn't flinch because outside of Spiderman, Hulk, and X-Men, Marvel characters aren't THAT popular in pop culture compared to DC. That's what these MCU fanboy won't admit. They're like the kid who got bullied in school who grew up to be his bully's boss and now it's time for revenge. Deep down, they're just compensating for the past (pre-MCU) that they never had.
  • Revolver Ocelot
    Revolver Ocelot Members Posts: 3,393 ✭✭✭✭✭
    100 CS on n.10 and maybe no.4 but the rest is based on what? The golden age of comic movies is endin'? What's he on about? Marvel already proved a buncha times you don't need to be a popular hero to have a good movie.

    ? don't wanna include the pre-MCU movies when talkin' Marvel but wanna talk about that wack AF Green Lantern come on man. 'too dark to make money' smh he's one of those idiots

    Exactly. We're already on a 3rd Spiderman and a 2nd reboot and the first SM movie came out in 2002. You got all 3 awful Fantastic 4 movies, the 2 Hulk movies, Daredevil, and some mediocre Wolverine movies.
  • Splackavelli
    Splackavelli Members Posts: 18,806 ✭✭✭✭✭
    BoyPussy wrote: »
    Maybe I'm being optimistic but I think Jared Leto's joker could stand up to Heath's. We'll see tho.

    I love you've the way you think.
  • Splackavelli
    Splackavelli Members Posts: 18,806 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I strongly disagree with number 10 and cutting corners is a ? thing with each. Do we really need to wait another 4or5 years through 5 or 6 justice league set up movies when most of us knows who these characters are ,their origins and their motivations?
    And what's up with that dumb justice league photo manip? The rock as John Stewart is a horrible idea. I don't like him as roadblock in the g I Joe movie I definitely I don't want to see him as green lantern
  • Splackavelli
    Splackavelli Members Posts: 18,806 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Ain't nobody see Guardians of the Galaxy doing what it did. I ain't never heard of any of dem ? in that movie
    l

    Not only that, the GOTG roster in the movie wasn't even the characters in the book. These are the characters that were in the book.

    29547-4398-32838-1-guardians-of-the-gal.jpg

    I had that issue when I was in school
  • nujerz84
    nujerz84 Members Posts: 15,418 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I strongly disagree with number 10 and cutting corners is a ? thing with each. Do we really need to wait another 4or5 years through 5 or 6 justice league set up movies when most of us knows who these characters are ,their origins and their motivations?
    And what's up with that dumb justice league photo manip? The rock as John Stewart is a horrible idea. I don't like him as roadblock in the g I Joe movie I definitely I don't want to see him as green lantern

    The Rock will be playing Black Adam this should be common knowledge.
  • Maximus Rex
    Maximus Rex Members Posts: 6,354 ✭✭✭✭✭
    So DC is somehow both trying too much to be like Marvel, yet also not trying hard enough to be like Marvel?

    You know what the difference between Marvel and DC's approach is? Marvel had the tasks of both educating us on who their characters were while simultaneously convincing us that we should care enough to watch movie after movie.

    DC doesn't have that problem. When you hear the names Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman, and also Green Lantern and Aquaman, there is instant name recognition. The word "Justice" alone invokes a certain image. Justice League, Superfriends, etc... DC doesn't have to educate us on their characters because we've known them all of our lives. And I'm not just talking bout the comic book nerds of the world, but those of us who get all of our knowledge from the cartoons, movies, and video games of the 80's, 90's, and 2000's. All DC has to do is execute an acceptable incarnation of something we already know and love.

    That's one hella of point. Did Marvel Studios hella change the game, yes, but DC is working off of the brand name recognition of the not only the three most important and well known superheroes in fandom, but also in popular culture. DC is like iPhones, J's, and Beats, people are going to ? with them just because.

    Which why BvsS shouldn't have been the project they did, (at least not right now anyway,) and the damn sure as hella should have did The Death of Superman, somebody should have dreaded that ? . As you previously stated we already know Supes, The Batman's, and due to the TV show (and yes a lackluster movie) know Barry's and Hal's origin story. So that would have only left Diana's, J'onn's and Aquaman to be introduced to the public. Maybe DC should have took that route. I sincerely that Suicide Squad isn't dark comedy version of The Avengers. The people at the WB should have enough faith in the name recognition of their properties and screenwriters to do quality projects.

    As faithful as Marvel has been, though they deviate from the source material alot, if they gave us a completely different Iron man or Thor, most of us wouldn't flinch because outside of Spiderman, Hulk, and X-Men, Marvel characters aren't THAT popular in pop culture compared to DC. That's what these MCU fanboy won't admit. They're like the kid who got bullied in school who grew up to be his bully's boss and now it's time for revenge. Deep down, they're just compensating for the past (pre-MCU) that they never had.

    I'll do you one better than that potna. People seem to forget that the Avengers were Marvel's B and C list characters and Marvel Studios went with Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Widow, the Hulk, and Hawkeye, out of NECESSITY. If Marvel had the rights to Spidey, the Mutants, (and possibly F.F.,) we would have gotten Spidey and X-Men movies first, then we'd probably just now be in the middle of the Avengers related trilogies. I also think that if Marvel had F.F. that it would have been Galactus being teased all of this time instead of Thanks and we have been seeing Galactus devouring planets and ? .
  • soul rattler
    soul rattler Members Posts: 18,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    ^^^I couldn't agree more.
  • TheNightKing
    TheNightKing Guests, Members, Writer, Content Producer Posts: 2,484 ✭✭✭✭✭
    BoyPussy wrote: »
    Maybe I'm being optimistic but I think Jared Leto's joker could stand up to Heath's. We'll see tho.

    I'm afraid they might go too far with this rendition of the Joker. He might be too sadistic and not calculating enough. Joker got to be smart and have a plan within his chaos.
  • Splackavelli
    Splackavelli Members Posts: 18,806 ✭✭✭✭✭
    nujerz84 wrote: »
    I strongly disagree with number 10 and cutting corners is a ? thing with each. Do we really need to wait another 4or5 years through 5 or 6 justice league set up movies when most of us knows who these characters are ,their origins and their motivations?
    And what's up with that dumb justice league photo manip? The rock as John Stewart is a horrible idea. I don't like him as roadblock in the g I Joe movie I definitely I don't want to see him as green lantern

    The Rock will be playing Black Adam this should be common knowledge.

    I know I was just saYing that that photo manip was ass.
  • CracceR
    CracceR Members Posts: 4,346 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2016
    maybe it would have been better if dc started off with maybe flash and a good green lantern movie etc. to build their universe and characters up
    and then really bring in batman, superman etc in phase 2
  • jono
    jono Members Posts: 30,280 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Marvel takes risks DC doesn't.

    When it comes to their characters Marvel has done more for Blade which is an even lower caliber hero than Cap or Iron Man than DC has done for WONDER WOMAN who is the preeminent female superhero on the planet.

    When it comes to their character all DC cares about is Batman & Superman, all the other characters revolve around them. In Marvel they will push Punisher, Daredevil and other "lower caliber" heroes in a way DC had always been afraid to do.

    I mean seriously Jessica Jones has a TV show, I didn't even know that character existed until the show was announced. Marvel goes in the BAG. DC continues with the Batman/Superman theme.

    Continuing with that how many different Superman based TV shows and movies have taken place?
    Smallville, Supergirl, Louis & Clark and there are probably others I don't remember. On top of 4 Christopher Reeves Superman movies, Superman Returns, Man of Steel and now Batman Vs Superman.

    No other character is positioned that way except Batman. There was an old Wonder Woman show but that in what the 70s?

    Why not think outside the box? When Marvel did it now DC is doing it. It comes across as copycatting so yeah the comparison bias is real.

    Whether its out of necessity or not is irrelevant they are doing it. DC floundering is their own fault for not building up the other characters before dumping them all in one movie.

    And the Aquaman movie is going to flop, the character isn't that interesting and contrary to what was said in here nobody knows what the ? he is supposed to be. I just call him Water Superman or Superman with fish powers.

    Take a chance, if DC had done that in a major way before then BVS would have been more successful.

    There's no reason Thor is about to have his third film and we haven't gotten a proper Green Lantern, or a Wonder Woman movie. Those two characters are way more popular but when you cast them as extras in Batman or Superman stories thats how people will take it...they are just extras.

    Perception is very important. Marvel took characters that supposedly nobody knew or cared about and made them feel important. DC doesn't do that. Marvel losing Spidey and the X Men ended up being a blessing in disguise because it forced them to care about their other characters just as much if not more
  • BangEm_Bart
    BangEm_Bart Members Posts: 9,503 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Word, a booster gold, blue beetle or Mr. Terrific would've been a perfect side intro. The reason why Batman and superman are so big in the DC universe is because they emulate Greek gods so it's not so much relatable as is it Greek tale. Hence, Lex mentions them to Greek poetry in BVS where as Marvel is more down to earth and not overpowered.