The latest rumor for The Batman states that Ben Affleck will not be playing the worldās greatest detective. Instead, Matt Reeves plans on telling a story about a younger version of the iconic character. This would be a story set in the past with no connection to the DCEU.
Basically, here is the plan. If Aquaman, Wonder Woman 84, and The Flash movies are well received, then The Batman will stay apart of the DCEU. However, if some or all of these films fail, The Batman will be a reboot of sorts for the DC universe.
So for those of you who are playing at home, we may end up with not one, not two, but three different DC movie universes. First, there is the controversial DCEU. Then we have whatever universe that the upcoming Joaquin Phoenix Joker origin film (not to be confused with the Jared Leto Joker origin movie) resides in. Finally, we could potentially have this new universe for The Batman.
Do you guys actually plan things out at WB or is this just a throw something at the wall hoping it sticks kind of process?
Today, Iām going to point out some of the worst problems the DCEU has faced and how to fix the universe altogether.
Leave Aquaman and Wonder Woman Alone
Wonder Woman is by far the best DCEU film. Which is ironic considering how much some people hated the casting of Gal Gadot for Wonder Woman back in 2013. Gadot has killed it as the fearless Amazon so far and Wonder Woman 84 looks to be just as good as the first one.Ā We havenāt seen Aquaman yet but based off of Jason Momoaās charismatic portrayal of the character, this movie should be just fine.
This one is simple. Leave these two characters and movies alone. I donāt want to see that these movies are horrible because the studio demanded scenes to be cut to fit a specific run-time.
Stop Trying to World Build and Just Make Good Movies
Here is another issue these movies face. They try to world build too much. Darkseid, New Gods, Injustice, Flashpoint (I think), and Justice League. Those are some of the teased stories just in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice alone.
Again, Wonder WomanĀ has been the best DCEU film to date. One of the many reasons why it worked is due to the fact that this was a stand-alone story. It didnāt try to set up an overarching villain or set up a team. Aquaman looks to accomplish the same thing.
You donāt have to make your own version of Avengers: Infinity War just yet. Calm down. Just make one good movie at a time.
Use The Flash as your Main Focus Going Forward
Honestly, Iām not the worldās biggest fan of Ezra Millerās Flash. Iāve always preferred Grant Gustinās portrayal of the character in the hit CW series and believed that he should have played our scarlet speedster on the big screen. Based off of his appearances thus far, Millerās Barry Allen is a far cry from what he is supposed to be (he actually resembles the Wally West version of the character).
Regardless, The Flash is your get out of jail free card. Make your Flashpoint to the future movie and change whatever you want about the DCEU. Change your Batman, plots, inconsistencies, etc. After that, make Barry Allen the main focus of these films going forward.
We can see the next Justice League movie through the eyes of Millerās Flash (much like the early 2000ās Justice League film that never got into gear). This could offer a fresh perspective on a team-up superhero flick that hasnāt been done before.
For the Love of God, Just Let Superman Smile (without CGI)
I was on board with a Nolan-like Superman movie. Man of Steel still holds up today as an underrated origin for the boy scout. Where the character began to lose me was in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. There wasnāt that much of a contrast between him and Batfleck. Both were dark and brooding āheroesā that killed their enemies in cold blood.
Justice League set to rectify that with a rebirth (literally and figuratively) for Supes. We all know about the horrendous CGI lip in Justice League but what gets lost in all of the jokes is the performance Henry Cavill gave as Superman in the movie.
This was Superman. He wanted to help people. There was a boy-scout attitude in his tone and most importantly, he actually smiled.
A little bit of fun goes a long way in these films guys. Let Superman have fun while characters like Batman play the straight-faced, brooding heroes. Also, keep Cavill away from mustache clauses in his contracts.
Other Problems with the DCEU
There are a few more problems with this universe but instead of you reading this article much longer, I decided to just put them in bullet form:
- You can keep Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. What I would do is introduce his father that is more like the comic version of the character.
- This may be a bit redundant but do this with the Joker as well. You can keep Leto around as the new clown prince of crime but make Joaquin Phoenixās version of the villain the ārealā Joker.
- Okay then, who is Letoās Joker? Well, donāt make him Jason Todd or Dick Grayson. A Red Hood story arc is a money-maker for the DCEU in the future as is a solo Nightwing movie. Instead, I would reveal Letoās Joker to be Tim Drake (AKA the third Robin).
- Put a rush on the Green Lantern film. Space cops in a tone of something like Training Day (which is what Green Lantern Corps. is rumored to be inspired from) is a box-office hit.
- One universe with a direction. No full reboot or DC Dark Universe.
Do you agree with my plan to fix the DCEU? What do you want to see fixed? Let us know in the comments and be sure to follow us here at The Nerd Stash for all of your nerdy news and needs!