After Shazam, the DCEU no longer needs Batman and Superman | Hollywood



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The greatest evidence of director Zack Snyder's belief that the world no longer has to rely on superheroes is evident in the DC Extended Universe he helped build. When the franchise was low – critically and commercially ravaged – she needed the Justice League to save her, but she was abandoned in a monumental way by her biggest stars, the Trinity; Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

Instead, the burden of recovering some of the lost brilliance of the series was placed on the chiseled shoulders of Jason Momoa's Aquaman, who won. Directed by James Wan, the film became the most successful film of all time on DC, swimming in front of films like Christopher Nolan, Batman's beloved movie. The gross sum of $ 1.1 billion Aquaman was perhaps that expected from Snyder in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – it was supposed to be DC's response to Marvel's Avengers – but the film could not even shell out $ 900 million worldwide, despite the publication of an incredible $ 420 million opening.

Subject followed by the famous Justice League, in which Warner Bros. spent more than $ 300 million, after removing Snyder in the middle of production and replacing it, in an almost comical gesture, with the director from Avengers, Joss Whedon. The last film could not hide that it was a shock of two very different tones. But the Justice League has been the tipping point of the DCEU. His apparent struggles between light and darkness were also a litmus test for the audience, who at the time protested vocally against the difficult situation in which their favorite characters had been placed.

Finally, it was decided that the future of the DCEU should focus more on the secondary characters (which Marvel has done since the beginning, notice). There could be several reasons for this. The most obvious is the box office. Obviously, the fans were not on board with the beloved characters series, and by the time the ship had been corrected, it was already too late. Another hypothesis could be that the stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill would be openly opaque about the reproduction of their roles as Batman and Superman. While Affleck did not have the bother of hiding his contempt for what the films had done to his reputation, Cavill apparently would have wanted an exceptional salary for future movies, without realizing that he was not the star. Superman is.

At the end of last year, Warner Bros. did not actively plan new films with Affleck or Cavill, which contrasted sharply with public opinion that director Matt Reeves was writing the first new trilogy of Batman films. The resignation of Affleck was announced a few weeks later. Batman de Reeves will be bowing out in 2021 and will feature a much younger Bruce Wayne. Cavill, meanwhile, insists that he's still Superman.

With only a sequel to Wonder Woman on the slate, in the manner of clbadic superheroes, the DCEU must again rely on outsiders to bring him back to the ground. And Warner Bros, for the first time, uses smart tactics to achieve this.

This image published by Warner Bros. shows Zachary Levi, center, and Jack Dylan Grazer, center right, in a scene from Shazam!
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Rather than spending $ 250-300 million on projects, the studio focuses on smaller films and takes small steps toward healing. Shazam's budget this week would be $ 100 million, and his break-even point, according to Forbes, will be about $ 350 million worldwide. The justice league, whose gross sum of $ 660 million in the world has not been sufficient, is not up to par.

The only other Warner Bros of the Year offer is the $ 55 million Joker Independent Film, which is expected to be released in the first season of the awards. Rumor has it that the film will launch a new DCEU affiliate called DC Dark or DC Black – not yet clear – that will consist of unrelated films made by filmmakers with a unique view of popular characters.

When it comes to television production, keep in mind that the DCEU and the MCU work like TV shows. Warner Bros. listened to what fans liked and did not like. Thus disappear the multiple films of Joker supposed to be interpreted by Jared Leto, which has been discarded in favor of the internationally acclaimed Margot Robbie. The future star (and now producer) will resume her role as Harley Quinn in the next sequel to the spin-off of the Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, which will certainly be another smaller film in the DC lineup. It seems that even the bad guys from DC's A list can not take a break.

As commercial issues and the quality of the DCEU are addressed, it remains to be seen how future films will reconcile with their troubled past. How, for example, will the absence of Batfleck in Birds of Prey be corrected? Will it be embarrbading for the public if Joaquin Phoenix's Joker meets a young Bruce Wayne in the upcoming Joker movie? Where is Superman when Aquaman needs his help later, confirmed for release in 2022? And why should Wonder Woman stay in the past?

As the old Hollywood saying goes, "You're as good as your last picture". And in this respect, the series seems to be moving forward. Shazam receives good reviews and should be another box office win for the studio. But unfortunately, the new success of the DCEU is also a sign that useful mediocrity will always be favored over pure ambition.

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The author tweets @RohanNaahar .

First publication:
04-Apr-2019 08:26 IST

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