What is going on over at Warner Bros. and DC? DCEU director and creator Zack Snyder has just released an extremely cryptic message “from Lord Darkseid” on Twitter that suggest the DCEU may not be over after all.
If Warner Bros.’ hierarchy has greenlit another DCEU project with Zack Snyder at the helm, then they are bigger fools than even I thought.
Not only is DC stretched thin with numerous directors and projects being created under the guise of different universes, but the failure of DCEU is also the reason why Warner Bros. had to merge with Discovery nearly a year ago.
Critical and commercial flops like Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Josh Weeden’s The Justice League, Wonder Woman 1984, Suicide Squad (2016 version), Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, Black Adam, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods have all come under the DCEU banner and have disgraced a once proud, successful franchise.
Remember, before the DCEU was a thing, the superhero movies coming out of DC was the Dark Knight Trilogy, Superman Returns, and Michael Keaton and Tim Burton’s Batman movies (Batman, Batman Returns) of the early 1990’s.
Yes, there was the comically bad Joel Schumacher Batman movies (Batman Forever, Batman & Robin) and Catwoman somehow was made, but the overall feel of DC was that things were looking up as Marvel was just getting started on the MCU.
I mean, the Dark Knight Trilogy was nominated for seven Oscars and won twice, Superman Returns was nominated for an Oscar, and Michael Keaton and Tim Burton’s Batman duology was nominated for three Oscars and won once. Hell, even Batman Forever was nominated for three Oscars and that movie is an abomination!
How could Warner Bros. and DC not think the sky was the limit for these DC films as the audiences were not only gobbling them up like candy (more like billion-dollar candies), but the film critics and academy voters were rewarding them as well? What could possible derail such a juggernaut? Oh, that’s right, the DCEU was introduced in 2013 with Man of Steel.
The DCEU was the sole reason why Marvel completely obliterated DC in the Comic Books Movie War (or what I’m calling cinema in the 2010’s), and a huge factor in Warner Bros. near downfall.
Seriously, if Discovery didn’t come in and save Warner Bros. asses (well, more like buy them out and become their overlords), we’d have seen one of the most legendary movie studios in Hollywood’s 100+ year history crumble and fall apart before our very eyes.
So, when the DCEU was finally cancelled, great independent DC universe movies (ex: Joker, The Batman) were getting greenlit, and James Gunn was named the creator/director of a new DC-inspired cinematic universe, I thought a new day was dawning over Warner Bros. Pictures studios.
But it seems like Warner Bros. executives really want to destroy the film studio as it seems like Zack Snyder is hinting at a new Darkseid/Justice League DCEU movie. Are these executives really that braindead?!?!
Okay, that may be a little bit too harsh as we really don’t know what this announcement is other than it involves Darkseid and Zack Snyder is somehow. Unfortunately, the trailer was only 30 seconds and half of that was filled with useless filler, so there’s not much I can go off about in the trailer alone.
I’ll just settle down and see how things play out…for now.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Warner Bros. Pictures/DC) (Zack Snyder’s Justice League | Official Trailer | HBO Max – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Warner Bros. Pictures/DC) (Zack Snyder’s Justice League | Official Trailer | HBO Max – YouTube)