Back in 2013, the first DCEU film: Man of Steel a controversial reboot of the Superman franchise), hit theaters. It was the first in a series of soon-to-be sixteen films, with varying degrees of success. It aimed to replicate the monumental cinematic universe Marvel had created with the MCU. However, as the years went by, Warner Brothers ultimately decided to scrap the DCEU and start fresh. So what happened? And what’s next for DC movies?
The beginning of notable concern from Warner Bros. began in 2016 with the release of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as Suicide Squad. While both were financial successes, Dawn of Justice only passed the $800 million when Warner Bros. was expecting it to easily pass the $1 billion dollar mark. Suicide Squad was not a slight box office disappointment, but received almost universally negative reviews due to what many perceived as false marketing based off the trailers. While both movies were easily some of the biggest blockbusters of 2016, they simply couldn’t compete with the financial and critical success of the MCU.
In the following year, two more DCEU films were released; Wonder Woman and Justice League. The first of which was a large financial and critical success, becoming the highest-grossing female-led superhero film by the time the film was released. However, the Avengers director (Joss Whedon) could not save the unfinished film as Zack Synder halted in order to mourn for a family loss. Because of Whedon’s and Synder’s directorial differences, critics and fans felt the film was a mess of conflicting ideas and filming styles. This resulted in over a $200 million dollar loss for Warner Bros., causing the studio to re-evaluate the way the DCEU was going to function.
From 2018 onwards, the DCEU films focused more on one-off adventures and specific characters. First was Aquaman, the first and only film to pass the $1 billion mark due to its appeal in the Chinese market. 2019 featured Shazam!, a critically successful but financially underwhelming origin movie.
2020 and 2021, like most movie studios, were catastrophic years. Films that were projected to make significantly more money were box office failures due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman 1984 received lukewarm reviews and were simultaneously released on HBO Max.
2021 also featured Zack Synder’s Justice League releasing on HBO Max to overwhelmingly positive reviews, and with it came the announcement of the ‘soft-reboot’ film of Black Adam.
Black Adam was originally intended to re-invigorate dying interest in the DCEU and bring in the long-anticipated Justice Society. Disappointingly, however, Black Adam was met with lukewarm to negative reviews as well as disappointing box office numbers.
Soon after the release of Black Adam came a new announcement: the DCEU would be coming to a close, and Warner Bros. would be appointing Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad director James Gunn to be the new head of management for a new, rebooted universe: the DCU.
Despite this, four films were still left for the DCEU. 2023, despite having three films come out so far, has been a detrimental year financially for the DC brand as well as Warner Bros. Shazam! Fury of the Gods faced negative reviews and the lowest opening for any DCEU film, and The Flash, a highly anticipated culmination of the DCEU, was faced with mixed reviews and was considered a box office bomb. Blue Beetle, despite having some of the best reception of any DC movie as of late, was also a major box office bomb.
Clearly, the DCEU tried, and failed, to capture the cinematic magic in Marvel’s own shared universe. James Gunn, being a renowned superhero film director, will hopefully bring a new freshness and a unique approach to the DCU films. However, we still have one more DCEU film to come out before the DCU can really begin to take off.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hits theaters December 22, 2023.
