The reignited DC Comics movie universe, the DCU, has had a solid start. Superman was phenomenal, Supergirl was a ton of fun, the Lanterns show is controlling a lot of the conversation on social media, and the upcoming Clayface looks like a spooky good time. That being said, there are bizarre creative decisions being made that are worth being worried about.
First off, there have been a number of previously announced projects that have been cancelled. This includes The Authority, Waller, Booster Gold, and Paradise Lost. Out of the ten that were originally announced, that’s almost half. Obviously, restructuring would happen with getting anything like this off the ground, but this is a lot. What’s especially jarring with this is that there hasn’t been anything announced in their place yet.
There are decisions that aren’t quite as scary, but are equally as odd. For instance, Clayface will be hitting the big screen soon. While it genuinely looks like a fantastic horror movie brought to life by the brilliant Mike Flanagan and I am excited for it, it’s also really strange to have a Clayface film before Batman is introduced to this universe at all. Wouldn’t it make much more sense to see Batman fight against Clayface before giving him his own movie? Now we have Clayface without Batman, which doesn’t feel right.
We’re also apparently getting Gorilla Grodd without the Flash, in the form of a TV series about Jimmy Olsen no less. That certainly feels… random. The DCEU, the previous DC Comics movie universe, gave us The Flash, a Flash movie without any Flash villains, and now we’re getting a TV series about a Flash villain without the Flash. The show could be amazing, but that doesn’t stop it from feeling out of place, especially where the movie universe still hasn’t been completely established yet. Sure, this is something that us comic book fans will likely have a lot of fun with, but what about more casual audiences? Wouldn’t these choices do more to confuse or disinterest them?
We’re now a few projects in, and there’s still no sign of certain vital characters. There’s Superman, Supergirl, a few of the Green Lanterns, Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific, Clayface, and a few others, which is great and all, but where’s Wonder Woman, or Batman, or the Flash, or Green Arrow, or Martian Manhunter, or Aquaman? There are too many core characters who aren’t present or might not even exist yet, and their absences are only going to be felt more as projects like Clayface or The People v. Gorilla Grodd are released.
It’s also worth noting that they have both big screen movies and streaming TV series very early in the DCU. Having projects spread across multiple mediums from the get-go is dangerous, as audiences might not be caught up with everything going on in the story like they would be if it were just a movie or two a year. It’s hard to tell if this will be the case yet or not, but there’s still reason for concern there.
Personally, I’ve been enjoying everything I’ve seen so far a lot, and I’m excited for everything to come. I’m certainly a hopeful fan; I’m just concerned after certain decisions. Hopefully things play out in a way that works out for the DCU and for the audience.
Nonstop Nerd 