Written by Tom
The DCEU was beginning to splinter before our eyes. Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad had been critical punching bags. Justice League got released to complete indifference. Wonder Woman became a hit by rejecting everything that had defined the DCEU up to that point. Things weren’t good. Cinematic Universes were turning out to be damp squibs anyway. Despite the large number of them which popped up in the wake of Marvel’s, few had managed any real traction. Audiences didn’t like cinematic universes, they liked Marvel films, interlinked or not. At this point, it must’ve been tempting to give up on the whole thing. So they did. Sorta.
They didn’t give up on it completely. They were still to release Aquaman. Birds of Prey was to feature Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad. Wonder Woman had a direct sequel in production. James Gunn was nabbed for the universe as soon as he got fired from Marvel’s. But it was nowhere near as structured as it once was. Instead of trying to dictate what the audience wanted before giving it to them, DC’s new strategy was to throw things on screen and develop whatever proved popular. It’s notable that Harley Quinn’s getting her own film while the Flash and Cyborg have found themselves largely forgotten.
More than this, DC started commissioning movies that had nothing to do with the DCEU. Todd Phillip’s upcoming film Joker has nothing to do Jared Leto, for instance. And then, between the release of Justice League and Aquaman, we got this: a cinema outing for the TV show Team Titans GO! (more…)
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