Warner Bros. and DC Films have a massive library of comic book characters at their respective disposals, and yet you could make a very strong argument that neither party has come anywhere close to maximizing the raft of superheroes, villains, cult heroes, and fan favorites as part of the interconnected DCEU.
Cohesion has always been an area in which the franchise has suffered, which is admittedly to be expected when there’s been so many creative and boardroom shuffles in the nine years since Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel launched the mythology in the first place. Even now, standalone movies are being plunged into development, with Batman and the Joker getting their own franchises that exist outside of continuity.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Wonder Woman 3 are part of the original lore, which we know because Snyder was heavily involved in casting Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot as Arthur Curry and Diana Prince, but questions linger over where Batgirl fits in, what happens after The Flash, and whether or not untethered blockbusters are the way forward.
It’s a question that’s stirred up no shortage of debate over the years, and the DCEU faithful have been back at it again over on Reddit.
Naturally, much talk of the SnyderVerse has reared its head, but trying to wrangle so many disparate threads into a satisfying whole becomes more and more difficult on paper with each new DCEU production that gets announced. Not everyone has to copy Marvel, but there’s no shame in peeking at Kevin Feige’s homework.
