Starting with Man of Steel in 2013, DC comics began their counterattack against Marvel in the film industry. However, as most audiences and comic book fans can see, the first three films DC and Warner Bro. released: Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Suicide Squad, were not very well-received. With the recently released blockbuster Doctor Strange killing it in the global box office, Marvel seems to be walking on water and running laps around DC. As a DC fan, I was disappointed about the situation. But unlike some other DC fans on the internet, I have a rather optimistic perspective about the future of DCEU. Here are my reasons.
1. It’s still at an early age.
Although DC and Warner Brothers tried to push DCEU forward in order to chase the footsteps of MCU next door, the truth is that it took Marvel Studio 4 years to go from the first Iron Man movie to its high point: The Avengers. Some movies along the way like Captain America: the First Avenger and Iron Man 2 received tons of negative reviews and disappointment. Marvel Studio found a so called “formula” for blockbuster superhero movies after years of experience. MCU has developed for over 8 years with 14 released films, while DCEU has only existed for less than three years with three movies. DC still has a long way to go, there is no need to judge now.
2. Character popularity.
Batman v Superman was considered as a huge failure with only 27% Rotten Tomatoes score, but it still won over $800 million worldwide, which surprisingly was even higher than Guardians of the Galaxy - one of the best superhero movies in cinematic history according to most people. The names Batman and Superman alone will draw enough attention to help the company profit during a movie release. This advantage simply wins DC confidence to move on. Even though the movies are taking serious hit, we can all relax that the end of DCEU will not come soon.
3. Promising previews.
The not-so-long-ago release of Wonder Woman and Justice League trailers were enough to get every DC fan hyped. Although a good trailer does not promise a good movie (look at Suicide Squad), it does mean a better chance at it. Besides, the trailers, set photos, behind-scene footage, and other promotional products all showed audience their determination to make the following projects worth seeing.
4. Geoff Johns is in charge now.
No matter how many people believe in Zack Snyder, he is not suitable for DC projects. He is really good at creating great visual experience, but his personal understanding of DC comics did not match with most of the fans. Geoff Johns, on the other hand, started his career as a comic book writer. He wrote and produced DC TV shows like Arrow, Flash, and Smallville which are all pretty well-received. And when the DC comic books were on the edge of falling apart, he made the decision to abandon the New 52 series and reorganize all the stories into The Rebirth, which so far has received excellent reviews. If there is one person who understands DC comics, it's Geoff Johns. So putting him in charge would mean a lot for the upcoming film projects. He is now co-writing the Batman script with Ben Affleck. Another person who is capable of doing so.
