9. Close The Gaps In The Universe
The Justice League property would be a great thing, considering what it would mean to fans, and how they would respond, regardless of overriding concerns regarding the appeal of some of the wider characters, but DC could bank on similarly positive fan engagement by simply acknowledging more generally that Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and the rest of the cast of DC superheroes exist in the same world. In the same way that Nick Fury was a unifying character whose presence closed the gaps between Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America and helped extend the boundaries of each of their own worlds, as well as suggesting confidence in the longevity of the properties (and confidence breeds confidence,) DC should launch their upcoming stable of films in bridged phases, with unifying events (even if they are only acknowledged) and characters jumping the boundaries into other properties. It is that sort of bold move that helped build the Marvel movies brand into what it is now - the Phase concept is now in common usage, and there can be confidence from fans that even a minor misstep won't lead the studio to suddenly shut up shop and start afresh. The same cannot be said of DC, who seem perpetually on the verge of making a decision to cancel everything, if responses don't come back how they first envisaged. Fundamentally, DC movies feel a lot more reactive than Marvel ones: it's difficult to see the decision to bring Batman into Superman's sequel as anything but a reaction to the relatively poor box office return of Man of Steel. That film was far from a failure, but DC seem to have lost a little faith that Superman can be as strong a box office pull on his own, and have gone the easy route of fan service, and brand-merging by bringing in the Bat. They need to have confidence in their brand, and to make more future plans, which will give fans something more concrete to invest in.