10 Cinematic Universes That Failed To Happen

While not an outright failure, the DCEU is certainly one of the most ham-fisted attempts to kickstart a cinematic universe. It all started in 2013 after the release of Man of Steel, Warner Bros. were eager to match the success of Marvel’s Avengers, which released the year prior to massive box office success. Looking at this, Warner Bros. made the decision to skip a Batman solo movie and jump straight into Batman v. Superman, a movie title that has gone down in infamy.

Although it has its ardent defenders, it can’t be refuted that Batman v. Superman is a mess. Trying so hard to catch up with Marvel, Warner Bros. try to race us to the Justice League by including the heroes in an email attachment that Batman sends to Wonder Woman. Its woefully inept and critics caught on, slamming the movie on release. While the box office did fair better, it was a big disappointment for WB, who expected it to at least match The Avengers.

The initial failure of the DCEU, caused by both Batman v. Superman and the poor critical reception to Suicide Squad (released in the same year) caused WB to re-evaluate the franchise going forward, overseeing a change in tone and general aesthetic. And while this seems to have paid off with the release of both Wonder Woman and Aquaman, it wasn’t able to save Justice League, which saw the lowest gross of the franchise. Smartly, WB have shifted focus to solo and more smaller movies now, such as Joker and individual sequels.

It’s probably for the best.