10 Ways Joker's Origin Movie Could Completely Change The DCEU

8. Shifting Tones

Batman V Superman Bruce Wayne Barry Allen
Warner Bros.

By far the biggest criticism to have emerged from DC's universe-building misadventure has been that all of their films (Justice League permitting), have been tonally bleak and just way too dour. Man of Steel in particular felt like a cinematic dirge, and that's a major problem when the character is meant to be an uplifting, inspirational one.

Of course, there's nothing to stop DC from shifting the tone in their extended universe. We have, after all, just seen that with Wonder Woman, which seemed to find the perfect blend between high-stakes action, drama and humour. It's certainly possible for the DCEU to navigate a universe filled with dissonant tones and striking characters - much like its source material does - but it could be the case that WB opt for these self-contained films when looking to create an altogether different kind of title.

Certainly, the Deadpool-led 'R'-rated resurgence has taken the genre by storm, and, much like the failed Marvel Knights banner attempted with Punisher: War Zone and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, it could be that we get these stand-alone features as a means of differentiating between both mainstream and offbeat cinematic continuities.

Marvel Knights was on to something, even though it only launched two feature length films. If DC tried something similar - with the way comic book films are today - then they could be as well.

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Content Producer/Presenter

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.