The cinematic universe model is an extremely tantalizing offer for every major film studio. If it works, it guarantees a hardcore fanbase that will show up for every new piece of the puzzle. The downside is that only one studio has ever successfully pulled it off, and even Marvel is starting to lose steam. DC refuses to learn the obvious lesson of the MCU, even on its second try.
Marvel has received a lot of mockery for itscomically large 10-year plans. Every so often, Kevin Feige and his colleagues show up on a stage with a towering timeline packed with new Marvel movies. Though many fans now look at the never-ending march of future superhero films as a grim purgatory, Marvel earned the right to promise the world.
RELATED:Superman: Legacy Gets A Huge Update From James Gunn
Marvel was Able to Start Out Small
Despite the pile of disinterred corpses at the feet of the MCU, it’s not that hard to make a cinematic universe. There’s no secret. The aspiring studio just needs to look at Marvel and do what they did. Make a good movie, let it catch on with audiences, and follow up with a sequel or two. People forget the early days of the MCU. In the beginning,Marvel droppedIron Man, and fans loved it. Just over a year later, the first sequel hit theaters.The Incredible Hulk, Thor, andCaptain Americacame out to massive financial success and rave reviews. It was never a sure thing, and each project represented a calculated risk. All of that build-up led to the well-earned fireworks display that wasThe Avengers. DC is less willing to play the long game.
Before Marvel had a cinematic universe, it had multiple solid film franchises. IfCaptain Americahad flopped, they’d start over with something else and continue the process from there. The problem is that every other studio sees the massive mountain of prestige and moneythat Marvel has accruedand falls over themselves chasing it. They want the fireworks show without doing all the work it takes to justify it. They want to celebrate their accomplishments before they’ve actually made any. DC is the obvious contender to stand against the MCU, but they’ve fallen at the same hurdle as every other challenger.
DC has canceled more projects than they’ve finished.Batgirlis the biggest failure. It was a film that was almost finished, it sported a widely beloved star in a rare villainous role, and it would’ve been the grand return of Michael Keaton’s Batman. The careless tossing ofBatgirlwas a disaster, but it landed softly on a heap of other dead ideas. Ben Affleck’sBatman,Batman Beyond, the Cyborg movie,Deathstroke, theKryptonTV series,The Wonder Twins,andseveral other films and shows were abandoned after being announced. Especially in the world of comic book movies, every character is somebody’s favorite. There were people excited about every one of these canceled projects. Those people will have a hard time being interested in the plans of the DCU, as the voice in the back of their minds reminds them of the disappointment they felt last time. DC has to start small, and they already had the perfect film to build from.
Though they can’t say it out loud, much of the modern DCU is an apology for the previous DCEU. In that effort, it’s also an open apology for the filmmaker who held the primary creative reigns over thatfailed experiment, Zack Snyder. Despite his insufferable sycophantic fanbase’s arguments, the DCEU under Zack Snyder was oppressively grim and violently unpleasant.Man of Steelis one of the biggest examples of the ongoing “evil-Superman” trope that has completely drained the life from the character. It was also the opening salvo of the original DCEU. There’s no better start for a newDCU thanSuperman: Legacy, but that film is far from the only project coming from the studio. That level of restraint was impossible for the old DCEU and is impossible for the new DCU.
James Gunn has received a lot of praise and a ton of positive attention for his upcoming tenure as head of the studio. He has effectively taken the rolethat Kevin Feige holdsin the MCU, both in actual job performance and public persona. Unfortunately, he didn’t follow the early part of Feige’s story in which he hid in the shadows and gradually built his empire. Instead, fans are waiting for a ton of upcoming projects, all of which have a decent chance of being canceled. Before the previous 10-year plan had time to die properly, there was already another big publicized ad campaign. It’s an issue of setting expectations. If fans could enjoy one film at a time, they’d be more likely to get excited about the eventual cinematic universe. DC has its ideas, but it still doesn’t have the patience to execute them properly.
