DCU’s Batman, Superman movies will use comics to counter Marvel

We’ve been here before: A film studio keeping tabs on Marvel Studios’ ridiculous track record announces a similarly ambitious plan to go from zero The Avengers and beyond for the next five to ten years. Thus was born the Dark Universe. It was the impetus for a bloodshot movie that was once should lead to moreand a similar DOA Hasbro universe that has only led to this so far Snake-eyes. A new milestone was reached this week when Marvel’s Distinguished Competition became the first company to boldly sketch a cinematic universe twice.

Three months later The Suicide Squad And Protector of the Galaxy Writer/director James Gunn has been announced as co-CEO of DC Studios alongside producer Peter Safran, the two have unveiled the first phase of their plan for the next 10 years of DC movies. It’s the second time DC has done this after collapsing in slow motion his first plans in 2014, now known colloquially as the Snyderverse. This song and dance is getting old, and Gunn’s preemptive exhaustion, naming the first of his plans for DC movies and TV “Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters,” is perfectly reasonable. It’s the worst way to introduce a “universe” to an audience, but companies continue to do it because they cultivate the expectation among fans that they will be treated like investors. And if they’re expected to show up for a decade’s worth of movies? Maybe they are.

Push beyond the corporate eligibility that can come with a roster of superhero movies, and there’s some really promising things about the direction this week’s announcements are implying. Regardless of what one thinks of Gunn’s track record, he’s something the mega-franchise era of superhero cinema didn’t really have before: a true creative at the helm who speaks a lot about the importance of storytelling. This could be bullshit – the whole thing thing might not fold and fall apart like it fell apart the first time – but there Is a bit of care here that we’ve never seen before. Gunn remarked that only one film Superman: Legacyhas a release date and everything else will come when it’s done.

A Superman movie as Gunn’s opening salvo is a bold move. It’s historically the prime DC Comics superhero that Hollywood has had the most trouble with, and coming up with a massive plan to suddenly get it right feels like a pretty banana idea. For a Superman movie to be successful right now, it has to be differentand Gunn seems to recognize that – “You can’t tell the same ‘good, bad, big thing in the sky, good boys win’ story again.” he told the attending press when announcing the slate.

If Gunn’s declared allergy to dairy at work proves true, landing with a distinctive Superman film could license later DC Studios films to be even bigger departures over time. And the pitches showed up Are different, if only in how they seem to be doing something the MCU can’t really do anymore: adapt comics.

Gunn’s customization choices all depend on either specific storylines or characters with clear touchpoints and little divergence in their story. The Pitch for the DCU Batman Movie, The brave and the boldcites Grant Morrison’s tenure with Batman comics and Robin, which introduced them to canon. Supergirl: The woman of tomorrow is a direct lift of the Tom King and Bilquis Evely miniseries (also our pick for one of the best comics of the last year). A vicious, prisoner-taking superteam, The Authority has largely survived in much the same form as they were envisioned in Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch’s seminal comic. And Swamp Thing’s deep roots in southern gothic and occult horror have been known since Alan Moore et al. reinvented a once-simple monster in a now-legendary linchpin of DC’s mature reader heyday of the late ’80s to mid-’90s.

These are all choices that give Gunn and his brain ample room to put their money where they are, as a series of idiosyncratic comics given equally distinctive filmmakers could really result in a DC cinematic universe that differs in tone and Genre feels really varied. The MCU is now just too big for that on all levels.

At this point, Marvel Studios films have their own dense continuity to honor and an established house style and cosmology that all new installments must visually adhere to. At this stage, comics are broken into pieces while supporting the MCU, and it would be nice if its competitor excelled at doing the opposite – by making films that support the wide variety of DC’s much longer and more diverse history.

But what’s best might be some Gunn not announce: an Avengers-style crossover. There may be one in the bag that isn’t being shared just yet, as Gunn said it’s just part of the new DCU plan. Yet this omission, alongside the stated focus on story and script, strongly suggests that the next DCU is also a more distinct one, more tied together by the comings and goings of consistent characters and less by plot. Because that’s really the best way a DCU can differentiate itself from Marvel: by offering a diverse range of movies with familiar faces that audiences can jump in and out of without missing much. No sagas or phases – just a good time.