10 Reasons Why The New 52 Was Doomed To Fail

7. Weird Redesigns

Green Arrow New 52
DC Comics

Okay, okay, we literally must know who shaved Oliver Queen, because that sh*t's just not cool.

In their attempts to fundamentally de-age their cast of characters, DC embarked on some rather... odd, redesigns. Green Arrow lost his iconic 'tache and goatee, a fake Lobo ran rampant with a younger, less gruff look, and Harley... well, the less that's said of 2011's Suicide Squad, the better.

And then there was this weird obsession during the relaunch to add lines and rough edges to every character's suit, because that's what makes suits cool, lines. Lots and lots of lines.

Superman was undoubtedly the worst culprit in this instance, sporting a costume that had a random red belt, lines aplenty, and an uncomfortable looking collar that Edna Mode would undoubtedly take offence to. And god, that's without even mentioning Tim Drake's updated Red Robin costume, which, while admittedly a slight improvement on the old one, made for just about the edgiest looking edge-suit in the entire reboot.

The entire thing was just an unmitigated fashion disaster, really. But hey, at least Rebirth's wardrobe is on point.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.