Maybe one day, people will realize that Warner Bros was the true villain in the DCEU’s failure all along.
Wonder Woman 1 was a success and positively received. Snyder worked on the story and executive produced it. WW84 was all Patty Jenkins. From the story, directing and reception. Wonder Woman 3 was cancelled after WW84 flopped. As of right now, there are no plans for a new Wonder Woman in the Gunnverse.
Suicide Squad 1 was a success financially. It even won WB an Academy Award for best Make-Up and Hairstyling. Thanks to Killer Croc, Harley and Joker. Snyder worked on that film as well. As it was more closely tied to his version of JL, before the execs at WB had it cut and edited to resemble Deadpool 1. Which also released that year.
James Gunn’s sequel was a box office bomb. A bomb so bad that even though Gunn is the head of DCU studios now. Gunn has said there are no plans to do another Suicide Squad film. Best we’ll get is Creature Commandos and Peacemaker season 2.
Aquaman 1 was a high success. The only billion dollar gross in the DCEU, and the last movie Snyder had anything to do with before he was fired. What did WB decide to do to capitalize on this film’s success? Wait 5 years to release a sequel and tell the whole world the film didn’t matter to the rebooted universe going forward; before it hit theaters. Aquaman 2 was a financial disappointment but there are worse performing films out there.
Such as Shazam 1 and Shazam 2. Shazam 1 never had any thunder. Released between Captain Marvel and Avengers Endgame. The first movie was a modest hit. The second movie was a disaster. Losing money big time compared to the first film (a recurring pattern of DCEU films) and losing to Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Somehow, someway, people blame Shazam 2’s woes on Black Adam. Another dud in the DCEU. Black Adam did about as well as Aquaman 2 financially. Not a totally disaster like WW84, The Suicide Squad and Shazam 2, but not a profit like it needed to justify the Rock’s takeover.
Let’s talk about The Flash. A film James Gunn called one of the best comic book movies ever made. This was before he was officially the head the DCU. Gotta tow the company line. Outside of being stuck in development hell for years. Ezra Miller’s antics and criminal activity, put promoting this film in a real tough spot.The film was yet another box office bomb for the DCEU. As well as, being another character Gunn has said there are no plans to do a new movie for in the DCU.
Another casualty was Blue Beetle. I hated to see this movie fail. One of a number of niche properties Walter Hamada thought would be the next hit for the face of the DC brand.
Hamada’s other ideas for CBM included:
A Wonder Twins movie. Pre-production was cancelled early because they thought it was too niche. Ya think?
The Leslie Grace Batgirl movie. That was completed and then junked for a tax write-off by current WB chief executive David Zaslav.
The Sasha Calle Supergirl movie. Meant to replace Cavilman.
The New Gods movie with Ava Duvernay and Tom King. Tom King is now working on the Supergirl movie.
After years of saying they had plans for GL. They are finally moving ahead with a series on their Max streaming service.
JJ Abrams’ Black Superman movie with Ta Nehisi Coates. Announced back in 2019. This film still has not officially been cancelled but we all know it’s not happening.
JJ Abrams Justice League Dark movie.
Lastly, we can talk about Justice League. Theatrical and Director’s cut. WB lied and denied that there was different version of the film we got in theaters for years. When the world did see Zack Snyder’s Justice League, it was met with critic approval and fan approval. The only professional critic positively rated film in his Superman trilogy.
ZSJL also came out at a unique time for cbms. In 2021, there were 3 Justice League type properties released. Mark Millar’s Jupiter’s Leagcy on Netflix, the Eternals by the MCU and ZSJL by HBOMax. Eternals and Jupiter’s Leagcy were both rotten with critics. Eternals was also a box office bomb for Marvel. Only WB had access to the genuine article. Only WB had the Real McCoy. And they did nothing to capitalize on that moment. Not saying that Zack Snyder needed to comeback, but there was life in the direction WB had abandoned to pursue their scattershot approach. People wanted Avengers level ensembles. People wanted to see the A-Listers they were familiar with. Instead we got the series of niche movies nobody asked for.
This is all AFTER Hamada brought on WB’s directors from their horror series (Annabelle, It Follows, The Conjuring) to chart a new direction for the DC movies, keep costs down and maximize profits.
Next to Sony and their Spider-Man-Less Spider-Man movies. No other studio has dropped the ball as hard as WB has. Zack Snyder has been gone from WB since March 2017. Nearly 8 years now. I don’t think you can blame him for anything that happened after he left. It was all WB and they made the wrong call at every turn.
