I really wanted there to be a DCEU in the cinema. I really wanted to see it. What I didn’t want was Zach Snyder’s vision. I think Snyder pretty much killed the Hope’s of a DCEU. He wanted to make a Cinematic Universe out of what was, at best, an Elseworlds story.
He wanted a Dark Superman, a more murderous Batman, to him that was interesting.
To me it wasn’t.
Now we have 2 “Post Snyder” films. Wonder Woman was still part of the Snyder era.
Aquaman - More successful than all of the Snyder films combined.
Shazam - Getting rave reviews from pretty much everyone.
Do you think that this duo of good superheroes films that are colorful, funny, and action packed could save the DCEU? Could it get us a Superman reboot without all of the angst?
I’m in the camp of — murdering aside (I always try to tell myself the people who clearly wouldn’t survive a certain attack didn’t die) — BvS being a masterpiece. I saw it when I was younger and I still stand by it being a poetic, realistic view of the world we live in if it had superheroes. It was director driven from a great artistic mind and it’s a shame he’s no longer involved with this universe.
I’m in the camp of — murdering aside (I always try to tell myself the people who clearly wouldn’t survive a certain attack didn’t die) — BvS being a masterpiece. I saw it when I was younger and I still stand by it being a poetic, realistic view of the world we live in if it had superheroes. It was director driven from a great artistic mind and it’s a shame he’s no longer involved with this universe.
With all due respect:
BvS under performed and was panned by critics.
Justice League outright bombed.
Suicide Squad succeeded financially but was hated by audiences.
You can’t make a cinematic universe when 3 of the 5 movies in it are panned, under performing, or failing.
The DCEU was toast. Even Warner Bros decided to can it. Shazam gives us hope and a new direction.
I want a Superman who saves kittens from trees. I want a Batman that doesn’t shoot and impale his enemies. I don’t care if it’s more “realistic” as I want it to be like the comics.
I want to see Superman flying by a school, see a crying child, and land to offer them some words of hope.
I want to see Superman save the city, not just save half of it.
I don’t want to see Doomsday in the second film in a franchise. (Seriously, save him for like movie 5-6.)
I agree with @henrywalsh77.6742. These last two films have felt (to me) more human and true to the characters than previous films. I just really feel more satisfied with movies in which I feel like I know something more about the character by the end of the film (or if it’s a team, when I feel I know more about the team identity).
@henrywalsh77.6742 No, Suicide Squad was hated by critics and mostly loved by audiences. The movies finical success wasn’t top heavy. It flowed in for months. People where going back to see it.
It’s not a matter of having one good film out of three or four clunkers, but consistent output of enjoyable, rewatchable films that appeal to an audience wider than people who think everything needs to be “dark” and “angry” and full of cynicism in order to be some hack storyteller’s definition “real”. That’s how Marvel Studios is able to get audiences to spend 2+ hours watching a raccoon and walking tree fight space aliens: they made many movies that, even if they weren’t great, still have rewatch value. As it is, I wouldn’t turn on Suicide Squad as background noise, and there’s very little that’d get me to sit through Batman v Superman: Death of Logic & Reason again. Man of Steel is a maybe; I can probably sit through it again, but if there’s something else on, that’ll take precedence.
Aquaman and Shazam both being so well-received right next to each other, are steps toward this consistency, but future movies will need to match them in their own ways. I’m sure Snyder’s heavily-reduced influence on the movies only did them good.
I completely agree with your viewpoint. I wasn’t a fan of Zack Snyder’s take on Superman and Batman. Nor was I a fan of his response to critics. You can’t just change Superman and Batman drastically, and then get mad when fans of those characters are unhappy with your work.
But can this new direction of DC films “save” the DCEU? Dude, I dunno… I feel like the ship has sailed on a connected universe. Ben Affleck is done, and word is Henry Cavill and Ezra Miller are too. How do you recast those characters without it being jarring? Justice League flopped BIG TIME, and very few people are fans of the Jessie Eisenberg Lex Luthor. I don’t think WB is even considering Justice League 2 at the moment.
Part of me is glad Green Lantern wasn’t in Justice League. Because if he were, the actor portraying him would probably be considering the door the same way Affleck, Cavill, and Miller are. When Green Lantern Corps comes, I’ll be glad knowing it began in the post-Snyder era.
@MattMcNeilly
Making a Green Lantern movie with Geoff Johns overseeing it would be amazing.
It does seem like we might just use Wonder Woman to kinda start off this whole shared universe. It would make sense to me if they just use Flash point to restart the whole shared universe. Like at the end of the movie when he THINKS he has solved everything; there’s just different actors as Bats and supes, you know?
BvS extended cut is a really good movie, much better than the theatrical release. Man of Steel is a solid movie experience. Suicide Squad is tough to watch, but not as bad as Iron Man 2 & 3, or Thor. The real problem the DCEU has is that it’s not a separate studio, rather an after thought of Warner Bros
Just saw Shazam today–It was really good. More movies like that would be welcome.