To reiterate, the decade-long DCEU was, overall, very uneven. Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder initially created a dark, grounded vision of the DC Comic superhero universe that involved a lot more violence and death, inspired by Snyder’s overblown, hyper-adolescent aesthetic. Many didn’t take to Snyder’s vision in “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” but he did accumulate a vocal army of defenders. Meanwhile, Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” was widely praised when it was released and David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad,” although critically panned, was a financial hit. Elsewhere, James Wan’s “Aquaman” bafflingly made over a billion dollars, while David F. Sandberg’s “Shazam!” is one of the best superhero movies ever made (and turned a healthy profit to boot).
Overall, though, the property stumbled a lot during its decade. Infamously, Snyder had to leave his “Justice League” because of a personal tragedy, with “Avengers” director Joss Whedon stepping in to re-write and re-shoot large portions of it. Many fans were outraged by Whedon’s many changes to the film, and rallied to have a director’s cut released. Snyder’s subsequent four-hour version of “Justice League” was released on streaming, tacking another $70 million onto the whole endeavor’s price tag.
This was in addition to disappointing commercial turn-outs for the “Wonder Woman,” “Shazam!,” “Aquaman,” and “Suicide Squad” sequels, on top of the “Suicide Squad” spinoff “Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) under-performing in theaters. Indeed, perhaps we have overestimated the culture’s general interest in Harley Quinn, as almost all of the DCEU movies featuring her tanked save for “Suicide Squad.” Just as notably, “Black Adam” and “The Flash” lost tons of money. Finally, after a decade of big swings, a few smashes, and many clumsy misses, the DCEU experiment came to an end.
James Gunn’s new DC movie experiment begins in 2025, and it would, under most circumstances, feel logical. If superheroes are still drawing big crowds, why not merely reboot the universe and try again? The difference this time, however, is that public domain deadline. Public domain is hanging over the new DCU like the Sword of Damocles. The new DCU will not have the luxury to experiment and play around, risking bombs and failures. It needs to be all bangers since there won’t be another chance to reboot DC Comics in cinematic form after this.
