9 Changes Warner Bros Wishes It Could Make To Its DC Universe
Hindsight is basically a superpower.
The early reactions to Justice League suggest it’s far from the trainwreck it might have been. While critics unanimously agree the big DC Comics team-up is by no means perfect, most had kind words to say about its upbeat tone and bombastic action.
A rocky road has led Warner Bros to this point, with Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad proving divisive, but Wonder Woman restored optimism to its cinematic universe with her stellar solo debut, and, by all accounts, the Amazon princess is the show-stealer in the ensemble movie.
There are signs Warner and DC have got their act together on the cinematic universe front, though in hindsight, they’d probably be the first to admit that they would do things differently if they could make like Booster Gold and travel back in time.
Beating Marvel to the punch by launching a major female-fronted superhero film first was a good first step on the road to redemption, but the gulf between the MCU and its DC counterpart might not be the chasm it is today had the studios made some of these changes early on.
9. More Standalone Films First
Warner Bros executives looked at the Marvel Cinematic Universe next door and turned greener than the Incredible Hulk. When The Avengers hit big at the box office, they wanted a DC-flavoured rival to this bastion of superheroic might yesterday.
The only problem was that the majority of DC Comics’ heroes needed a movie reboot at this point, while others needed a cinematic debut and origin story.
If there’s one mistake a studio must avoid when building a cinematic universe, it’s haste. Marvel, which introduced each of its main characters with solo outings before bringing them together in The Avengers, has the formula down to a tee, and Warner charged to the finish line quicker than Barry Allen in a race against Superman in its desperation to emulate its rival.
Before the Justice League came together, each of its members should have been given standalone films, and good ones at that. Only Superman and Wonder Woman had that privilege, and the latter was messily introduced in Dawn of Justice's joyless dressed reherseal alongside Ben Affleck’s Batman.
Everything about the universe creation process was rushed. Granted, Justice League sounds like it has turned out better than expected, but if Warner had held it back until 2020 to focus on scene-setting solo movies, it might even have been the MCU killer the studio is so eager to make.