Struggling DCU

Hey DC you need to give your head a shake. For real, about the big screen at least. I have heard that some of the television series are good. Like Arrow, Flash and Titans. I haven’t watched so I can’t comment but Gotham has gone to hell. That show had such potential, if they kept it gritty it might have lasted a few more seasons. Supergirl doesn’t catch my interest but at least they have a sampling on TV that is supposed to be decent. However DC is failing on the big screen, or so I think.

The MCU launched in 2008, Iron Man started what is possibly the most successful studio in the last decade. Man of Steel in 2013 could have been the jump off point for the DCU but as of yet, it is not. It is failing. Now to be fair, the dark knight trilogy was still going on when the MCU launched and it was kick ass. Had it not been written to be a trilogy this could have been a great launch for DCU but it wasn’t so let’s not waste too much time on it but before I shit on DC I do have to say that trilogy was very well done. So let’s just start with Man of Steel.  This could have been (Still could be?) the perfect jump off point. A new superman, along with some depth to him we still got the superman mythos. Zod was awesome, Luther was awesome. Even Lois and his parents were a perfect cast. This easily could have been the DCU Iron man had they followed it up right…..    

Dawn of Justice was a potential universe maker that became a bomb. Let start with Batfleck. I like him, hear me out. As a Batman who has fought crime for 20 years and is on the verge of retiring he is good. BUT WTF! If you are launching a universe should you not start with the main characters being young enough to keep going? Making an old manbat is backasswards.  Now for some convoluted reason Bruce wants to kill Superman and on top of that Lex has figgered them both out, who they are… Although the peek at Justice League is fairly cool. Wonder Woman was the shining star of this. Not Batman and it was Bats they were trying to introduce! It did have some highlights though like the fight between Bats and Sups, the fight with Doomsday and in my opinion the best part was Batman saving Martha. That scene looked like it was straight out of the Arkham games. The low light was the end of the Sups Vs Bat fight. REALLY??? Saying Martha stops the whole thing?! Weak, really weak. SO what do I say? I can't see how this movie is going to start a franchise. Was it a fun ride? Yes, but was it a building block? I am not convinced.

Next we had Wonder Woman. This one is a legit hit. It introduces a new hero. It has a good story. Hell there is even a good twist at the end as to who Hades is. Next to MOS this might be the next building block. I have no issue so for this one I have to say the DCU was actually developing.

Then we got Suicide Squad. Again a fun movie, that makes no sense for continuity. So the Joker is young as is Harley but Batman is in his 40s? Deadshot is older and croc is, well he is croc so who knows. If this was a stand alone movie maybe. But they specifically tie it to the main DCU. Besides the Superman death references, Luthor spoke about Belle Rive. Some people are predicting Jared Leto Joker is actually Jason Todd. IF and only IF that is right and there was a prior Joker that might be okay. Other than that, Suicide Squad makes no sense to a bigger universe. I don’t know people shit on it, if you keep it out of the DCU it isn’t bad. It isn’t great but there is much worse out there. I like what they tried, a different story line in the DCU. Like a DCU answer to the MCU other story lines like Ant Man or Guardians. It just fails in that way because the timeline makes no sense. So really the DCU still isn’t coming together. My last and a common beef with this one was Joker. My beef is the timeline makes 0.0 sense. Mista J shouldn't be 20 years younger? 10 even? Than Batsy, I already said that. I have no beef with the portrayal of him as so many do. Heath was the man, I doubt anyone is going to do a better job IMO at least. So now everyone wants Heath, but at the same time they don't? Like Gotham, the first Joker was a mimic of Heath and I thought it was awful. Leto in SS is nothing like him and people called it awful. So now every Joker is either a rip off or it they aren't they aren't doing it right? Here is the rube, Heaths' Joker would never work with Harley. That whole love story that plays out wouldn't happen in the Dark Knight. Am I fan of the Leto portrayal, not really. BUT I understand you can't keep making the same guy over and over for different shows. Yes keep him insane, violent and brilliant but twist it up a bit. This is one thing SS did quite well, even if you don't like this version of Mr. J.

Finally we get the Justice League. I didn't hate it. Was it the Avengers? Hell no. I meant to ask earlier, why is Wayne Manor in shambles? If we get a Batman prequel will we find out? Ezra Miller is awesome and the flash doesn't really need explaining. Cyborg on the other hand... He feels rushed, like they should have had a cyborg movie or something. Or more time put into his story. Sups is back of course. Wanna know a secret? I would have left him dead! For one movie, at least. Actually surprise people, don't make Superman show up and save the day. A twist might hook people. Aquaman is good, they took a character that was mainly mocked and made him a legit hero. Looking like Jason Momoa likely helps that, with the whole badass attitude. Steppenwolf was a boring villain. Sure he is play for Darkseid, but too soon?? The thing is DC has its icons. Use them. The fact is most of the major known villains are from the bat family, why not use them? Again they don't need to be an exact clone but it took 20 movies before the big bad showed up in the MCU. Thanos was teased yes but didn't actually come for 20 movies! Luthor saying ding ding at the end of Dawn of Justice was great! That earth was ready for higher powers, so take your time. Get some foreplay. I mean Luthor meets Deathstroke and teases a villains alliance in the after teaser, why not have run with that? To me again things don't seem planned. With the MCU, there always seemed like a running story EVEN if we weren't privy to it with DCU it seems more like comics. Different writers, telling different stories with little planning. Again I didn't mind this movie, I like super hero genre but if Marvel and DC are competing and it's Avengers Vs Justice. This round easily goes to MCU.

Aquaman, I haven't seen it yet. It got mostly positive reviews. I was told it isn't a deep plot but a fun ride. So maybe that is what the DCU needs right now.

A few side notes, DC is dark. Even Deadpool makes a crack about it. I don't mind at all, in fact the Dark Knight was dark and is BY FAR the best DC movie. However if you are going to do that route you need to stay it. You can't bounce back between cartoony and dark. MCU isn't dark, it does aim for the feels in some movies and it has sadness but they don't bounce. I think for a project this size at least the main DCU should be cartoony. You want stand alone projects, sure make them dark but if you want a big hit, dark and gritty doesn't mix with mainstream comics in universe building. Look at the cluster Gotham became.....

Its round two make it count! WW is getting a second movie, keep with that formula. It was a winner. Aquaman did decent so keep this going. Figure your shit out. I keep reading Batfleck is gone. Which isn't good. You can't be losing your main guys and hope to keep fans. So write it well if he is. You need a stand alone Batman, pretty much goes without saying in the DCU. However if they do one make it a prequel. If Batfleck is gone and a new actor is required, explain his first 20 years. Maybe, maybe they can salvage a fucked up timeline this way. Superman is supposedly gone? I read this all the time on nerd sites. I hope it isn't true, if you lose bats and sup just reboot. Throw in the towel. I don't think fans could swallow a new Iron Man and Cap after Avengers. I read he is leaving to play Geralt fulltime for netflix. I am sooooo pumped for that show BUT so worried after seeing the teaser that it will be a bomb. That however is another rant for another day... I am just saying DC can't lose the two big guns and carry on UNLESS they have an extremely well written out plan, but evidence hasn't been good so far.

Shazam looks awful. I dunno if it is main DCU or what but honestly it looks bad. There I said it.

Get your Jokers straight. Is Leto the man? If so why is he much younger than bats? Is the new Joaquin Phoenix in the DCU or is it a stand alone? He looks bad ass. I am personally waiting for this one and hope it is good but how many Jokers are you going to have running around? If Batfleck was still around Joaquin looks like a Joker to match... But you already introduced Leto.... Get your Jokers straight.

Birds of Prey. NO comment. I don't know nearly enough about this project to comment. I do know SS

made no sense continuity wise so I hope this one does.

This has been negative, I get it. I don't want to shit all over DC. I like some other their titles. The fact is the movies aren't terrible (Some are pretty decent), just missing something. I dunno what, if I am honest. Also some other there Non-mainstream shit is amazing. BUT in building a DCU, it just is a mess. Even with decent movies it seems a jumble. I am greedy, I want to see them get it together and make some magic BECAUSE I want a decade of good movies from them for me to watch. The ingredients are all there, so please make some movies!