Batman is without a doubt my favorite superhero. After seeing the 1989 Tim Burton "Batman," I was hooked. I was pulled in again by Christopher Nolan's incredible "Batman" trilogy.
However, I clocked out with the recent Ben Affleck portrayal of the iconic character in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Justice League." The problem with those movies wasn't Affleck's portrayal, but more of a sense of weariness the movies carried, considering one of the best adaptations of this character had been released four years prior.
The truth of the matter is, DC needs to step back from Batman altogether.
DC has already confirmed plans of a new Batman movie with a newly announced actor taking over the role from Affleck. Yawn. Batman is one of the most famous superheroes to ever exist, and the amount of movies Batman has spawned is proof. But, is another one really necessary?
We have seen so many different actors portray "The Caped Crusader" that there is almost nothing they can do to shed light on a new perspective of this character. We've seen it all.
It's no secret that the DCEU is in some hot water after the flop of "Justice League," what was supposed to be DC's biggest release. However, a new Batman is not the way to go. Apparently, their plan for the new movie is to focus on a younger Bruce Wayne. To me, this signifies another origin story. Lord knows we have enough superhero origin stories in movies to last us decades.
It's obvious that DC is trying to copy Marvel's success, but to no avail.
After Marvel found a formula that seemed to work for them, DC tried to copy their format by releasing solo superhero movies and then bringing them all together to fight a big bad in "Justice League." This movie serves as an example of how one size does not fit all.
DC continues to miss the mark with their movies, and nothing they do seems to be working for them. Whenever something fails for them, they turn to Batman to fix their problems. They have yet to learn that this strategy is not working for them.
Not only do they reboot the character of Batman, but they also reboot his villains in attempts to gain interest. "Suicide Squad" is an example of this. They even plan on rebooting the Joker again in an upcoming movie starring Joaquin Phoenix. I'm sorry, but no matter how good of an actor they cast to play The Joker, none of them will be as good as Heath Ledger.
In all honesty, DC needs to scrap every movie they have planned altogether, and start fresh. Their movies in recent years have been messy and poorly executed, and if they keep up with the same plan, they will continue to be negatively received.
DC needs to stop copying Marvel and come up with a new way to make superhero movies because everything they are putting out, we've already seen before. And for goodness sake, stop using Batman as your backup plan when all goes wrong.
