It's no secret that DC fans have been divided over the last decade, and while I'm someone
who has liked some of things we've seen, I also feel like it's an exciting time to look
forward, because of the range of approaches we could be getting.
And this involves both the stuff within the core DCU, but also the films outside of it,
which is now known as DC elseworlds.
There's always the potential for more dissapointments with the future of DC and any comic book movie
for that sake, but I think with everything we've heard over the last
week or so from James Gunn, there's also a good chance that this can all be pulled off
in a big way too.
In this video essay, I'm going be giving my thoughts towards DC's future, both
through the main DCU projects and also the DC Elseworlds movies, discussing the vast
potential it has in the times ahead and the main reasons for that.
Before I get into it though, if you want to keep up to date on any of my future
content surrounding the DCU, Matt Reeves The Batman universe and and other upcoming DC
projects, then don't forget to support this upload
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But without further a do, lets dive into my video essay on why the upcoming DCU and DC
Elseworlds projects can be great.
So with the recent announcements for DCU film slate and the DC Elseworlds plans, it got
me thinking about the future of DC and whether I'm excited about what's in store.
For the record, I'm someone who has liked some of
the recent DC movies and also ones of the past, but I've found last decade to be an
up and down period overall.
For instance, of the previous DCEU projects, I really liked Man
Of Steel, Wonder Woman and the Snyder cut of Justice League.
At the same time, I didn't love what we saw with DCEU instalments like the wonder woman
sequel, the original Suicide Squad and even the recent Black Adam film.
A lot of the others I've found to be quite in the middle, and while they weren't bad,
I just didn't think they were particularly great or promised a sense
of long form storytelling.
And then when it comes to the seperated DC projects, like The Batman and Joker, I've
found those to be very appealing, because they've given us a different
kind of comic book movie, ones that critics and audiences love, and one that do extremely
well at the box office too.
So as a whole, it's been a mixed era for DC, one that has
had some absolute gold, but then one that also has some dissapointing missteps too.
So you may be asking, with the recently announced slate
of DC with films like Superman Legacy, the brave and the bold and the elseworlds movies,
what makes this any different?
Well, to begin with I think what really excites me is DC's future is the promise of more variety.
I'm currently in a phase with comic book films, where for 80% of the time, I go into
studio based projects and expect a quite middle-of-the-line blockbuster film.
We've seen that with the recent phase 4 of Marvel, giving us quite muddy films, both
visually and in the stories they adapt too.
Sure from time to time we got a No Way Home or an Endgame, but what kept the excitement
there was nostalgia, character crossovers or large scale spectacle.
We haven't seen the level of impressive individual
storytelling from Marvel that we got in the opening phase, in later phases like with The
Winter Soldier or Guardians of The Galaxy, or
in the stuff around that, like with logan, Sam Raimi's Spiderman trilogy or the earlier
X-Men films.
More importantly though, the filmmaking just hasnt been that great.
Personally, I feel like I go into a universe based comic
book movie, expecting to consume more product that will set up the next product, and the
product that I consume isn't of the quality that
will make me revisit that individual effort in ten years time.
And the resulting feeling I get is one of growing exhaustion.
On the other hand, while DC have put out some stinkers in
Wonder Woman 1984 and Black Adam, there have been a few gems in recent years that have
focussed more on the individual storytelling, coupled with competent filmmaking. 2019's
Joker gave us the oscar winning portrayal of a mentally
ill man becoming a villain in the downfall of society.
The Synder Cut of Justice League gave us the authentic version of a director's
superhero teamup, that while is liked and disliked by many, to me, had a well told visual
story amongst it's central characters, showing that troubled individuals with broken families
can come together to form a new one that helps others.
James Gunn's The Suicide Squad sequel was similiar in those regards and it showed that
Gunn had a deep fascination for DC that was yet to be explored even further.
And Matt Reeves The Batman gave us the detective noir take on the caped crusader that Bat fans
have wanted to see for a long time, one that again
resulted in numerous oscar nominations and success at the box office.
Just over these last few years DC have shown variety and the particular focus of not just
making a connected universe, but individually well made films
that are all different.
Heck, I'm probabaly one of the only people on the internet who actually likes some of
snyders films, The Batman, The Suicide Squad and Joker.
But while in recent times we've seen that the DC fanbase has been divided quite heavily,
I think the plan going forward has shown that the studio, James Gunn
and everyone involved going forward has somewhat learnt from the quality and success of these
recent films and projects.
They now know that regardless of whether they make a traditional
universe film or one outside of it, that they have to continue to focus on individual quality.
Yes you plan a 8 to 10 year slate, but if you come out of the gates with Superman Legacy
and it's not very good, then things start to become shaky.
They have to focus on the individual stories and filmamkers within that extended plan.
And the fact that they are aiming to give us a variety of that within both the
universe and the stuff outside of it, it's a side to these new announcements that makes
me very excited.
When it comes to DCU side of things, having a creative lead like James Gunn and not just
a studio head spearheading the universe, there's a growing sense that the filmmakers who sign
on to make these projects are going to be the types that will have creative control.
Directors like Snyder didn't have that to the extent that the would have liked, and
I think the evidence of Justice League only speaks to
that point.
Whereas by having an actually creative comic book director at the helm, I think there's
a greater chance that filmmakers can make a more creative cinematic universe with verious
types of films.
There's already been a mention that DC are aiming to attract filmmakers like James Mangold
and Christopher McQuarrie to do universe based films and not the seperated
elseworlds stuff, and that on it's own is really fascinating.
You'd think the director Logan or the recent mission impossible films would
be those that lead more towards the elseworlds type of films.
But no, this actually seems like the calibre of filmmaker that they want for the DCU as
well.
Of course, these aren't confirmed as of yet but it shows the promise
of a new DC and one that is looking for high calibre filmmakers to put their stamps on
different comic book characters.
The new slate of DC includes films that range from Superman all
the way to Swamp Thing, giving the opportunity for an element of surprise, not just from
the unique characters we get on screen, but the
people who sign on to make them and the filmmaking styles that bring it all to life.
Of course, all of this could go wrong and by 2027 we may be asking for them to reboot
the whole thing all over again, but the promise for
a slightly different universe, based on the projects announced, does give me hope that
they can surprise us through the quality onscreen.
And by doing that consistently over chapter 1,
you can really build a universe and attract a large audience through individually great
films.
But say the DCU doesn't work.
What would people turn to and what would provide an attraction point that films like The Batman
nd Joker have been incredibly successful at these past
couple of years.
Well, coming back to that point on variety, DC have actually gone ahead and done something
that I've really wanted to see them do for probabaly the last 5 years.
When Todd Philips Joker came out, the filmmaker
said in interviews that he really liked the idea of a DC Black Label.
And that is the idea that DC would have unique, more artistic
endeavours, seperated from the core DC universe, to provide the comic book genre witha new
form of life.
It would allow talented filmmakers to come in and hopefully make films like
Joker, that have wild approaches to characters we know and don't know, and possibly result
in successful films that are more in line with oscar nominated films then they are with
the conventional comic book fair.
Joker proved that this model may be something that DC should turn too, because clearly,
the audience weren't responding as much to the universe movies in
the ways that the studio wanted.
And then when Matt Reeves Batman film comes along, one that's again seperated from the
core universe, it makes it no brainer for DC to dive into that
approach even further.
So now alongside a new DC universe, we have DC Elseworlds.
This is incredibly exciting because unlike other studios, DC have got that extended plan
of variety already in place to start moving.
Yes Marvel have got that special presentation thing in motion and it's working quite well,
but we haven't seen that for the big screen yet.
Whereas with DC, they have proven examples of the
individual takes being successul with both The Batman and Joker.
With Elseworlds already having a few films lined up with The Batman Part 2,
Joker Folie a Deux and the Black Superman film, the brand is giving audiences different
types of comic book projects and releasing them simultaneously with the universe stuff.
If you prefer the long form storytelling of a cinematic
universe then why not try James Gunn's new chapter of the DCU.
Or if you're like me, and you're more attracted to the individual comic
book movies that are seperate and do their own thing, then you've got DC Elseworlds.
That to me is a great plan, that looking ahead, has the potential to be really successful.
And even if things don't work out with the DCU, then
if they continue to put out films like The Batman and Joker with the Elseworlds stuff,
then I think we're gonna get some great films regardless.
Looking at it in a general sense though, whether it's universe based or not, we've got intelligent
filmmakers spearheading all of this future content.
We've got one of Marvel and now DC's best creatives leading
an extensive universe with two theatrical films coming each year.
James Gunn and Peter Safran aren't overdoing it and putting out 4 projects
a year, because they'd rather make each individual project with care and focus on a limited amount
so that they can do that right.
And then we've got extremely talented filmmakers on
the elseworlds side of things with Reeves, Philips and so on.
Just imagine in the next few years we got a Luthor movie in the vein of Joker and it
was directed by an all time filmmaker like David Fincher or someone like that.
Not saying that this would happen but like we've seen with Tood Philips and Matt Reeves,
the DC Elseworlds category allows for that kind of
filmmaking and storytelling to happen at the same time.
So overall, I think DC has a bright future ahead, and while the brand has had up and
down periods over the last ten years, the certain focus on a new model of extended variety
is something that makes me excited for what's in store.
But that was my video discussing the potential of the DCU and DC Elseworlds.
I'm fascinated to see how each film in both categories will individually be tackled, and
like we have been promised, I'm expecting filmmakers to
get the creative control that they need to distinguish their take on a comic book movie
or tv show.
We saw over a decade ago how Warner Bros gave Christopher Nolan the control to make
a trilogy of Batman films after he delivered a great pitch, we saw the same with filmmakers
like Todd Phillips, Matt Reeves and Zack Snyder with their respective approaches, and hopefully
James Gunn and Peter Safran will offer new filmmakers the chance to make their unique
projects after seeing what they propose.
Quality filmmakers is what excites me the most about
DC pulling off a good sense of variety in their films, and we can only hope that in
2025 and onwards, we start to see some good instalments
from both the DCU and elseworlds too.
But let me know whether you're excited for the future of DC, and what you would personally
love to see from both sides of the studios structure.
Let me know down below in the comments section.
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