Although Chris McKay seems like a great fit for the film, having been involved in both The Lego Movie and its Batman spin-off, we really need to get away from the idea of the DCEU having to be 'badass'.
In fact, can't we just ban the phrase in its entirety? Like cool, the film's going for that edgy vibe, but as soon as that word gets toted the mind instantly falls to Liefeldien perceptions of nineties superhero-dom. No one wants a spiky edgelord roughing up criminals in Gotham, so - if possible - could we leave 'badass' behind when hyping up the project?
It's great to hear that McKay is promising a lot of 'heart and emotion' to compliment the film's ostensibly action-heavy approach, but it really should be making an effort to divest from the clichés that have ridden the DCEU since Man of Steel hit the scenes in 2013.
That doesn't mean aping the supposed 'Marvel formula' that permeates the MCU, but it does mean taking a step back from what has, for a great deal of fans, made DC's cinematic offerings less than enjoyable.
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.
