10 Reasons Why DC Should Give Up On Its Cinematic Universe

6. No One Has A Clue What's Going On With Batman

Warner Bros.

While we may all be caught up in discussions regarding which Crisis DC might be concocting for their films, one such crisis they should, ideally, be considering is one of identity. As in Identity Crisis (in a literal sense).

No, we're not referring to Brad Meltzer's controversial comic book storyline here, but instead a very real crisis of identity that's afflicting the DCEU's Batman. The aforementioned transition between fash-man and old-school Batman will be welcomed, of course, but it's still jarring. The decision to focus on an older Bruce has also left an incredible amount of the character's timeline unexplored, making for a universe that, while uncharted, lacks the history for viewers to really empathise with its version of the Dark Knight.

It lends a sense of mystery to everything - that much is true - but again, we still don't know what kind of Batman this is meant to be. Further adding to the character's woes is the fact that his solo flick, tipped to release in 2019, is no closer to shooting now than it was a year ago, with production problems stemming from the 'will he, won't he' question regarding Affleck's long-contested involvement in the project.

Although it's true that we could all be misinterpreting Matt Reeves' comments this week regarding the film's connection (or lack thereof) to the DCEU, they do further compound the stress surrounding 'The Batman' and, to a greater extent, the wider DCEU itself too.

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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.