10 Fatal Mistakes That Ruined The DCEU
The DCEU is looking to bounce back in a huge way, but how did it come to this in the first place?
Birds of Prey may have under-performed at the box office, but despite several false starts over the years it looks as though the DCEU is finally poised to establish itself as a viable alternative to the all-conquering Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Harley Quinn's spinoff and Shazam! both received widespread critical acclaim, while Aquaman ranks as the highest-grossing DC adaptation ever made. Things are definitely looking up for the once-troubled franchise, with Batman getting rebooted once again under the man who worked wonders for the Planet of the Apes and James Gunn looking to work that Guardians of the Galaxy magic on The Suicide Squad, and that's without even mentioning the world's biggest movie star getting ready to join the party in Black Adam.
The future for the DCEU is brighter than it's been for a long time, and in order to maintain their current levels of success the brain-trust behind the superhero series need to make sure that they avoid the mistakes that dogged the early years of their attempt to expand the universe.
10. Rebooting Already Is An Admission Of Failure
It hasn't even been seven years since the DCEU was officially launched, and the fact that Warner Bros. are already in the midst of a soft reboot of the entire franchise indicates that they're more than aware that their initial approach was doomed to fail.
We're less than two and a half years removed from the date Justice League hit theaters, and Ben Affleck's Batman is already consigned to the history books, with the Caped Crusader getting rebooted once more with Robert Pattinson under the cape and cowl. Similarly, Ray Fisher's Cyborg seems to have been erased from existence, The Flash is still no closer to getting his solo movie in front of cameras, and the speculation surrounding Henry Cavill's future as Superman doesn't seem to be going away.
Suicide Squad's David Ayer has already admitted that James Gunn's follow-up isn't a direct sequel to his movie, while Birds of Prey furthered this sentiment by seemingly writing Jared Leto's Joker out of the DCEU for good. Warner Bros. decision to rewrite their own history so quickly after it happened only goes to show how badly they botched the early years of their shared universe.