DC Cinematic Universe ( The James Gunn era)

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Seems a bit early to call it broken when we haven't even seen Gunn's first production

They fired Cavill, that's what broke it. If it helps, I'm not a Superman fan - I just like the movies and wanted to see Henry Cavill do a 2nd film that wasn't a team-up film.

I don't see why it wouldn't, DC's characters can be approached a lot of different ways. Hell with Batman alone we've gotten everything from Batman '66 to The Batman and they've all worked.

I don't care about DC, I just want to see a good Superman movie. I've seen very little of Gunn's movies, so I'm not convinced he's "the guy" to do the next Superman movie. Maybe the trailers will be good.

Gunn has discussed how they'll approach things in some interviews he's given. I'm lazy and don't feel like looking for one right now, but I'm sure you could find one if you really want to know what he said.

I only saw SS once over 6 years ago, haven't seen TSS nor BOP nor Peacemaker, so I'm really not invested in S2 yet.

 

[Christopher]

The general reaction to the DCEU was fairly negative, so rather than continuing to try to repair it, they brought in James Gunn, who directed the three Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel and The Suicide Squad (the second one), and Peacemaker, to just reboot the whole thing.

Which seems unnecessary to me, since the negativity was mostly toward the early DCEU films and their clumsy universe-building attempts, and after a while they settled into a groove of just letting each individual film be its own thing with the shared universe simply as background texture, and it worked much better that way. Of course the quality varied from film to film, but the films were so loosely connected that one weak one didn't really have any bearing on the quality of the others, which was a sensible and effective approach. So I fear it's a mistake to go back to trying to build a closely integrated Marvel-style continuity.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

A while back, I made a watch list for when I get around to revisiting the DCEU. Is this accurate?

DC Extended Universe (2013-23)
2013 Man of Steel (Superman)
2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (MOS sequel) / Suicide Squad (BVS aftermath)
2017 Wonder Woman (prequel) / Justice League (BVS sequel – theatrical cut)
2018 Aquaman (JL spin-off)
2019 Shazam!
2020 Birds of Prey (SS spin-off) / Wonder Woman 1984 (part 2)
2021 Zack Snyder’s Justice League (director’s cut) / The Suicide Squad (part 2)
2022 Peacemaker (8-part miniseries – TSS spin-off) / Black Adam (Shazam! spin-off)
2023 Shazam! Fury of the Gods (part 2) / The Flash (JL spin-off) / Blue Beetle
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (part 2 – final DCEU film)

 

[JD]

Which seems unnecessary to me, since the negativity was mostly toward the early DCEU films and their clumsy universe-building attempts, and after a while they settled into a groove of just letting each individual film be its own thing with the shared universe simply as background texture, and it worked much better that way. Of course the quality varied from film to film, but the films were so loosely connected that one weak one didn't really have any bearing on the quality of the others, which was a sensible and effective approach. So I fear it's a mistake to go back to trying to build a closely integrated Marvel-style continuity.

I think they panicked when Fury of the Gods and The Flash didn't do as well as they hoped. I had liked the last few movies, so I would have been fine with them continuing on that way, but I'm a huge fan of Gunn's, so I'm really looking forward to see what he does with everything.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

I think they panicked when Fury of the Gods and The Flash didn't do as well as they hoped. I had liked the last few movies, so I would have been fine with them continuing on that way, but I'm a huge fan of Gunn's, so I'm really looking forward to see what he does with everything.

Shazam! is one of the funniest superhero movies I've seen. Why didn't the sequel do well? No chance of a third film? I haven't seen The Flash, but I assume Ezra Miller's insanity has something to do with the box office.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Peacekeeper, S1 was part of the DCEU, so how is S2 gonna work out?

Not well, if S2 uses/refers to anything established during its DCEU period.

The general reaction to the DCEU was fairly negative

Exaggeration.

Affirmative. For me, it wasn't broken, I liked what they were doing for the most part. The "rebooting" is what broke it.

Yep, because WB is desperate to turn DC movies into another franchise.

This does not impress me. I saw the first two GOTG movies, they were fun, but I dunno if that kind of approach would work for the DCU.

It is concerning, considering the precedent set when WB dragged Whedon's one-note hack-ness into the theatrical Justice League, all to make it similar to the Avengers, and that was a misguided, silly disaster (not a surprise), only corrected by Snyder's true version.

 

[Christopher]

I had liked the last few movies, so I would have been fine with them continuing on that way, but I'm a huge fan of Gunn's, so I'm really looking forward to see what he does with everything.

I'm more lukewarm toward his work. I find it okay, but I'm not as impressed by it as others are. And what I liked about the later DCEU was that it let each film be its own thing, an expression of its own director's voice and style, rather than putting one creator in charge of everything.

 

[JD]

From he's said, it sounds like Gunn is going to give the other directors and writers who work on the DCU projects a fair amount of freedom to do their own thing. He's repeatedly said he's at least not going to force everything to be done in his style.

 

[The Realist]

They fired Cavill, that's what broke it. If it helps, I'm not a Superman fan - I just like the movies and wanted to see Henry Cavill do a 2nd film that wasn't a team-up film.

I am a Superman fan -- a big one -- and I was not a particular fan of the character's DCEU appearances, nor of Cavill in the role. Different strokes. Certainly Cavill and Snyder have their (extremely) vocal adherents.

I don't care about DC, I just want to see a good Superman movie. I've seen very little of Gunn's movies, so I'm not convinced he's "the guy" to do the next Superman movie. Maybe the trailers will be good.

I'm not 100 percent convinced Gunn's the right guy, either, and I am highly skeptical of at least one of his early choices for the film. But I am choosing to approach it with excitement and optimism, because why would I wish to do otherwise?

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

I am a Superman fan -- a big one -- and I was not a particular fan of the character's DCEU appearances, nor of Cavill in the role. Different strokes. Certainly Cavill and Snyder have their (extremely) vocal adherents.

I'm not 100 percent convinced Gunn's the right guy, either, and I am highly skeptical of at least one of his early choices for the film. But I am choosing to approach it with excitement and optimism, because why would I wish to do otherwise?

OK, Superman fan, I have a question, please. I love the old Christopher Reeves Superman films, Returns, and the 3 DCEU films Cavill is in. I don't count the Snyder Cut of JL as a 4th film, just a director's cut of an existing film. On TV, I watched (randomly) Lois & Clark, often only half paying attention. Smallville was good, but I lost touch in S3 or S4, I can't remember. I was getting older, and it got too teeny bopper for my tastes. I've seen the opening episodes of Superman & Lois at a friend's house, thought it had a good opening.

This is my entire exposure to Superman. What kind of fan am I?

 

[The Realist]

Casual, not committed, I guess I would say?

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Casual, not committed, I guess I would say?

Thank you. With most of the "franchises" that people talk about on these TrekBBS forums, that's basically what I am - the "casual movie goer" who's only seen a few entries. I do have some franchises outside of Star Trek I am a big fan of. Stargate is one, and if we're talking movies, the Alien & Predator films is another example.

 

[Christopher]

From he's said, it sounds like Gunn is going to give the other directors and writers who work on the DCU projects a fair amount of freedom to do their own thing. He's repeatedly said he's at least not going to force everything to be done in his style.

I hope so. But then, I still don't see much point in the reboot, because that's basically what they were already doing by that point.

 

[JD]

It sounds like they will be more connected than the last few DCEU movies were.

 

[Set Harth]

REEVE not Reeves! That is a pet PEEVE!

and the 3 DCEU films Cavill is in.

It's at least 4.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

REEVE not Reeves! That is a pet PEEVE!

Now I am thinking of the conversation between Superman and Lois in MOS. "It's an S."

It's at least 4.

Man of Steel (#1)
Batman v Superman (#2)
Justice League (#3)
What's the 4th? Am I forgetting a cameo or something?

 

[Mudd]

The Snyderverse was a lot of mediocrity. Cavill and Adams were the only good things about it.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

The Snyderverse was a lot of mediocrity. Cavill and Adams were the only good things about it.

Loved MOS, BVS, JL (both cuts); formed a nice trilogy.
Loved WW, Shazam!, and Aquaman; looking forward to the sequels to each.
SS was OK, haven't seen BOP, TSS, or Peacemaker.
Haven't seen Black Adam, Blue Beetle, nor The Flash yet.

 

[Mudd]

The first WW was good, thanks to Jenkins.

 

[The Realist]

What's the 4th? Am I forgetting a cameo or something?

Spoiler

Cavill has a very brief cameo as Superman in a mid-credits scene in Black Adam.

The Snyderverse was a lot of mediocrity. Cavill and Adams were the only good things about it.

Adams was the saving grace of Snyder's films -- a minor miracle in her every scene, and the very best live-action Lois Lane to that point. She could even make Cavill seem temporarily less wooden anytime she shared a scene with him, by the sheer force of humanity she projected his way.