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Here ’s a game for you superhero fans : Go toWikipedia , find the page for theDC Extended Universe , and look at the list of upcoming films . It ’s a pretty sturdy agenda , much in the same way its competition Marvel organizes its slate for the coming years . The common suspect are there , like the sequel toWonder Woman , a solo motion-picture show forCyborg(to make his debut appearance in this Winter’sJustice League ) , andShazam . What makes DC ’s listing unlike is its brevity - it ’s far shorter than the Marvel Cinematic Universe ’s current schedule - and the notably missing chemical element . Further down the page , there is a more comprehensive leaning of approaching films that do not have a date , and it is in this mish - mash of dubiousness that we find the biggest trouble with the DCEU in its current Department of State .
There are films likeThe Flash , which after two music director drop - outs and a total script rewrite , has now alter its title toFlashpointbut has yet to announce new directors or a release appointment . The solo film for Ben Affleck’sThe Batmanhas also gone back to square toes one , with Matt Reeves ( War For the Planet of the Apes ) interchange mavin Affleck as director and completely scrapping his script , which led to rumor that the role player no longer wished to be part of the DC world . This month , even more project were announce , including a moving picture forHarley Quinnand The Joker , and a solo Joker moving picture with a mealy and grounded spirit produced by none other thanMartin Scorsese . The latter Joker project will be separate from the DCU , with Warner Bros. planning a"yet - to - be announce streamer separate from the continuity of the mainstream DC Extended Universe … The new standard is designate to bring unique story angles to the studio ’s iconic heroes and villains . “This news invigorate a sundry reception , with fans question the pauperism for an origin story of one of comic script history ’s most explicitly puzzling universe . Whether it even makes it into production is another matter , as DC have so many labor float in the vinyl ether with slight forward adhesive friction right now . However , strike that this does happen , and it would be foolish to bet against Scorsese , it could be the kick in the right charge the DCEU motivation . After struggling to assert a unique identity and build substantial initiation since its parentage , a more character focused road could give them the direction they lust .
Warner Bros. has always had lofty plans for its work with DC Comics . Its origins with the studio have been in place since the former 2000s , afterBatman and Robinhad unceremoniously flopped and the superhero genre was waning in popularity . in the beginning , Wolfgang Petersen was attached to direct a Batman v. Superman film , with a script by Akiva Goldsman , but that fell through and the studio pore more on solo plastic film for their titulary grinder . finally , Batman Beginsbrought authenticity and audience back to the genre , and plan were revived to make aJustice Leaguemovie , withGeorge MillerofMad Maxfame in the director ’s chair , but neither Christian Bale or Brandon Routh ofSuperman Returnswere approach to recapitulate their roles . A combination of backing job and the writers strike put that project on indefinite hold , which is bad tidings for anyone who wish well to seeArmie Hammerplay Batman , but it did signal a potentially interesting direction for Warner Bros. to take with the DC properties : Various narrative that did n’t overlap or interlink , thus check creative freedom and the chance for more stories .
This is just revolutionary , of course . It ’s just the manner things were always done up until Marvel established a new normal , but it ’s interesting that Warner Bros. were quick to take that direction at one point . Imagine a human beings where both Christian Bale and Armie Hammer are Batman , each distinct in their depictions and offering a chance to see different facets of the character as write over several decade . Bale and Nolan ’s world could be the gritty neo - realism of the Frank Miller tale , and perhaps George Miller and Hammer ’s Bruce could be a more classical hero molding with a more vibrant reach .
That take would be scrap upon the announcement of the reboot of the Superman franchise , Man of Steel , which was to lie in the base for all future DC films . Its explicit intention was to get the glob rolling on a future expanded existence , which had proven to be a stratospheric achiever following Marvel’sThe Avengers . Man of Steel , directed by Zack Snyder , was a achiever , take in $ 668 MB on a $ 225 MB budget , making it the 9th high grossing moving picture of 2013 , aboveThor : The Dark Worldbut way of life belowIron Man 3 , which exact in over $ 1.2bn . By this head , the Marvel Cinematic Universe was eight celluloid in , and onto the 2nd phase of its sprawling but tightly controlled narration . The imperativeness was on for DC to keep up , and they immediately jumped intoBatman V. Superman : Dawn of Justice , which is where things start to unravel .
Batman V. Superman : Dawn of Justicehas its defenders , but the critics were cruel in their reviews , and audiences were not enthused by what they see , causing the photographic film ’s box federal agency to miss that crucial $ 1bn intake that Warner Bros. was so indisputable of . It took five films of build - up beforeThe Avengerscame to cinemas ; DC kill off Superman in their 2nd film . The stakes did n’t experience real , the return was n’t worth it , and audiences did n’t purchase it because everyone knewJustice Leaguewas on the way and they would n’t vex doing that photographic film without its most iconic hero . DC wanted their own expanded universe so badly that they did n’t take the oeuvre need or why a right physique - up and social structure weigh . It ’s a problem they ’ve struggled to allot with in their stick with film , most evidentlySuicide Squad , but it seemed as though they had turned a corner withWonder Woman . Patty Jenkins ’s film does colligate to the wider set up universe but only in its intromission and ending . For the Brobdingnagian bulk of the film , Jenkins and her squad have the exemption to tell a warm story , independent from the requirement to fit it into an expand creation . You could remove the beginning and ending and the film would remain strong , able to stand on its own two foot . First and first , Wonder Womanis a story about Diana , and even with the call for action determine - piece and caparison of the genre , it ’s a star character piece .
plan to make a separate non - canon slate of DC films could make fascinating storytelling opportunities . As The Joker himself said inThe Killing Joke , regarding his own lack of a backstory,“If I ’m go to have a yesteryear , I prefer it to be multiple choice!“There are myriad versions of The Joker , along with every major DC character , and each are as valid and worth exploring as the ones before them . Batman can be a bleak anarchist as well as a jive - dancing sixties cartoon as well as a sardonic detective . We ’ve realize variation of Bruce on screen through various films , television receiver shows and cartoon , so why not give that compass a swelled - covert choice for a whole range of writer , directors and actor ? Not only would it be the ultimate goldmine for a studio apartment that could use it , it would give them something to really stand out amidst increasingly leaden contention . If some watcher do n’t wish one film , there ’s something else for them and they wo n’t have to terminate an full enfranchisement as a result .
DC has some of the most iconic and captivating quality in modern fable , many of whom have stand the test of meter for decades and continue to breathe in fans the cosmos over . By attempt to build a singular world - building identicalness that prized gritty nihilism as its elementary characteristic , the DCEU doomed itself to a bleakness that smothered many of its fictional character . Combine that with the constant pauperization to drive everything into an overlap continuity and audiences and critics likewise were promptly exhausted by Warner Bros. offering . By trying to replicate the Marvel mold in a tighter fourth dimension - frame and with a deliberately darker smell , DC establish itself without an identity . Now , they can change that .
NEXT: JARED LETO CONFIRMS HE’S COMMITTED TO PLAYING THE JOKER AGAIN
