Is the DCEU Dead??

[SSJPhenom]

There are few things that most everyone agrees on. For example; the Attitude Era was the best era in wrestling, Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest NBA player ever, and the majority of the DCEU sucks. I'd say about 8 to 9 out of 10 people would agree with those statements. What I want to talk about in this thread is the prospect of the DCEU being, for the most part, over with.

I know that there are still some movies that are scheduled to come out that exist within the shared universe that they've created, but they're not going to be all heading towards one big blowout movie with everyone in it ala the MCU. Not to mention that Henry Cavill has stepped down as Superman and Ben Affleck, although no official, is probably done playing Batman. We have Aquaman coming out in a few weeks, which by the way, just opened to record numbers in China and word is that the film is getting great reactions and reviews from audiences and critics. The embargo for the film hasn't lifted yet, but it looks like it's going to be a good one. After that we have Shazam. The one trailer that has been released on that looks pretty good and they have to obvious batarang in one shot to remind everyone that it's in the DCEU. After that I think it's Wonder Woman '84 and it's been delayed twice so far. There are no more plans for any team up movies and there is nothing concrete after Wonder Woman '84.

So is the DCEU dead? If so, where did they go wrong and is there a way to fix it? Let me now your opinions

[CyberPunk]

DCEU may not be dead, but it isn't in great health. DC and WB have done a shit job of setting up the universe. To think that these are some of the most iconic comic book characters, it's puzzling how they fucked this up.

For starters, they just tried to emulate the dark tones of Christopher Nolan's Batman formula without thinking if it fits the overall tone of the universe. They rebooted Batman without giving him a proper backstory. The scripts have been poor, execution has been poor and overall tone of the movies is way too serious and pretentious. Couple that with the fact that the DC TV shows aren't cannon, they just created separate universes for movies and TV and that just doesn't work. Man of Steel was an okay movie, but the follow ups have been horrendous. I don't think a good Aquaman or Shazam movie can rescue the hole that DCEU finds itself in narrative wise.

[Big Nick Dudley]

Not if they can string together several great films. Aquaman looks like a hit. Shazaam had a killer trailer and I doubt Wonder Woman 2 will flop. They can still turn it around.

[Jack-Hammer]

The DCEU had an uphill battle from the very beginning. The MCU has completely altered the way film adaptations of comic books will be made in that not only are the movies, as a whole, quite good in terms of action, but they're good in terms of stories and character development in ways that weren't really there before. The MCU has forced Hollywood to take these sorts of movies seriously and while there were successful comic book adaptations before the MCU, you didn't have mega box office draws and/or Academy Award winning actors basically begging star in these movies. Thirty years ago, Warner Bros. basically had to give Jack Nicholson the moon and stars for him to agree to play as the Joker in Tim Burton's first Batman film; his deal included that he'd receive substantial money from every subsequent Batman film that came out that was part of the continuity of the 1989 film. Today, these movies produce major stars and can jack up the careers of acclaimed actors who may not have been big draws before. Before the Avengers, Mark Ruffalo was a critically acclaimed actor but, let's be honest, damn near nobody knew who the guy was. His career has gotten a boost playing Bruce Banner in terms of fame and paychecks and being most famous for playing Bruce Banner/the Hulk hasn't dimmed critics opinions of him in subsequent projects given that he's continued to win or be nominated for major awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes and two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor.

The DCEU was going to be compared to the MCU, it was inescapable in the first place and I'm wondering if they weren't concerned with trying to look like copycats if they used the same sort of formula as the MCU. If that was a concern, they put more emphasis on it instead of making good movies. They didn't take the time to flesh out the characters, what made them tick, who they were and come up with a coherent story that tied everything together. Instead, they generally went for lots of loud, CGI action and packing the cast with Academy Award nominees & winners in the hopes that movie fans, somehow, wouldn't know the difference but they did. In my opinion, they should have gone with another Superman solo film, a Batman solo film, the Wonder Woman film, the Aquaman film, maybe given the Flash his own film, then do Batman v. Superman and then maybe gone for the Justice League film. They really tried to rush through it and the result has been, for the most part, movies that came off as mediocre, rushed and poorly cast.

Is the DCEU dead? I don't think that it's dead but it's probably never going to be on the MCU's level until they address and fix these problems going forward. A lot will depend on how Aquaman, Shazam and Wonder Woman perform; if they don't deliver, it wouldn't surprise me if they just scrap the whole thing and consider trying again later on down the line.

[Spidey]

They're making a ton of money and fans (for whatever reason) are still interested, so I'd say not anytime soon.

[Lee]

"Not to mention that Henry Cavill has stepped down as Superman and Ben Affleck, although no official, is probably done playing Batman." Fake news.

[Slyfox696]

It never ceases to amaze me how DC totally screwed up the movie thing. They had the most recognizable superheroes, and a history of successful movies. And yet, somehow, they've become a joke and Marvel has left them in their dust. It's crazy.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

I prefer DC > Marvel. So, I don't want to see it die.

[Lee]

I honestly think Aquaman, Shazam and Wonderwoman are what is needed. A shift from Batman and the reliance.

Joker is as it should be in that it's an "elseworlds" style movie not fitting into the rest. Really they should have done the JSA but that's too late now. The DCEU has a lot to add but a lot to learn from too. The real Captain Marvel is one of the most interesting characters in DC so it'll be interesting to see how he works on the big screen.

[klunderbunker]

If it's not dead, it's not likely to get better.

Above all else, the movies haven't been fun. Man of Steel was a bunch of violence and, aside from Wonder Woman, almost everything else has been dark and brooding. There's very little inviting to bring you into the fold and when that's your beginning, not much else is going to work.

The whole thing was going to be based on Batman and Superman. They're the biggest superheroes of all time and no matter what else anyone did, the two of them were going to be what mattered most. Superman was a disaster and dragged Batman down with him, leaving us with nothing interesting until Wonder Woman showed up in a great movie. Aside from that though, everything is dark and messy with everything being serious instead of fun. Comic books can be dark, but you have to have a good time too. That's not the case with the DCEU.