7 Ways That DC And Warner Bros. Are Screwing Up Their Cinematic Universe

You've got to hand it to Marvel Studios. The superhero movie powerhouse has its critics, but it's difficult to deny that Kevin Feige and co. run a tight ship, churning out box office hits and critical successes with the regularity and the confidence of a team that knows exactly what it wants. The MCU, despite all its faults, is the most well-oiled franchise machine in Hollywood, and Marvel Studios are an unstoppable force with a carefully-prepared plan of action, ensuring their movies are on-message, on-tone, a little bit bold and always just as the fans want them. It's a whole different world, of course, over at the DCEU. In the bid to catch up with Marvel and rapidly create a superhero universe of their own, Warner Bros. and DC have so far hit a few snags. Man of Steel underperformed financially and left critics cold, while the latest in the DC Extended Universe - Batman V Superman - has come in for a critical drubbing and has similarly drawn smaller audiences than Warner Bros. expected. The relative failure of BvS is just the latest bump in the road for the DCEU. At this point, Warner Bros. and DC seem to be making one mistake after another, and here, we'll look at seven ways in which they're screwing up their cinematic universe. 7) The Herd Mentality Rarely has a franchise pandered so hard to audiences in an attempt to increase its popularity. When Man of Steel's box office figures came in below expectations, Warner Bros. decided to scrap Man of Steel 2 and make the sequel a showdown between Superman and its most popular superhero character, Batman. Then, when the R-rated Deadpool did unexpected business for Fox, Warners suddenly announced that there was an R-rated cut of Batman V Superman on the way. Now we have Suicide Squad getting extensive (and expensive) reshoots, reportedly to add more humor, after both fans and critics made it known that they felt the levity was lacking from BvS. While Marvel Studios' MCU was a unique concept in the beginning, so far the DCEU has not led but followed, changing its original plans according to trends. The DCEU should really have the courage of its convictions to create original content, but right now it's suffering from a herd mentality. 6) Aping Marvel Of course, Warner Bros. and DC have followed no trend harder than the one set by Marvel Studios. With its shared universe of superstar comic book characters, its insistence on maintaining a consistent tone and a plan of action taking us all the way to 2020, the DCEU is nakedly not much more than a DC knock-off of the MCU. Rather than forging its own path, the DCEU is following in the footsteps of another franchise, one that just so happens to be doing exactly what Warner Bros. and DC seek to do, only much better. There are a couple of reasons why following the Marvel model so closely is such a bad idea for the DCEU. For one, Warners/DC are risking furthering superhero fatigue in moviegoers, potentially keeping customers away by appearing opportunistically on-trend. By copying what's already been done, they also run the risk of creating less original and therefore less appealing content. There were other ways for the DCEU to go, but Warner Bros. clearly weren't prepared to think outside the box on this one. 5) Lack Of Patience Marvel spent several movies turning its collection of superhero properties into a viable shared universe. It took baby steps in setting up its MCU, with a total of five movies building up to The Avengers before the team-up movie finally arrived in 2012. The DCEU, showing characteristic fidgetiness, has tried to run before it can walk, attempting to do what Marvel Studios did in two movies rather than five. After Man of Steel and Batman V Superman, the DC universe already has its own Avengers (the Justice League two-parter) on the way. The overwhelming feeling is that Warner Bros/DC are rushing it. Though Man of Steel is an admirably self-contained story, BvS packs in multiple characters apparently merely so it can pave the way for Justice League. There will be two further DCEU movies in the interim (Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman), but in the grand scheme of things they're unnecessary when Batman V Superman has already done all the work setting up the team-up movie. After just two films, we already have all the Justice League characters on their way to forming a collective, before we even get to know most of them. 4) The Oppressively Dark Tone If the MCU has a tone, it's a fairly lighthearted, family-friendly one. Marvel Studios' movies are stubbornly fun and colorful, like comic books brought to life. It's why it's so easy to forgive the franchise when its flaws are showing. The DCEU is taking a similar approach in that it appears to be going for a consistent vibe of its own. The problem is what that vibe actually is. Where the MCU is generally upbeat and entertaining, the DCEU so far seems to be wallowing in darkness. The dour, serious tone that didn't really work for Man of Steel (a grim and 'gritty' Superman movie? Really?) is even more oppressive in Batman V Superman, a film that takes itself far too seriously considering it's about two superheroes having a punch-up. Suicide Squad did appear to be heading down the same dark route, but Warner Bros./DC have opted to lighten things up with some humor. It's probably for the best: if superhero movies are supposed to be about entertainment, the DCEU so far hasn't been fulfilling its obligations. 3) Placing Trust In Zack Snyder Zack Snyder isn't a man with a proven track record of producing quality films. In fact, out of seven movies, just one of his - Dawn of the Dead - has been well-received by both critics and audiences, while 300 and Watchmen are widely recognized respectively as stylized fluff and an interesting failure. And Warner Bros. execs knew exactly what they were getting into when they hired Snyder; his last movie prior to his getting the Man of Steel gig was Sucker Punch. The question now, however, isn't why WB hired Snyder in the first place, but why the studio continues to place trust in him after he's delivered two flops in a row for them. There are hundreds of talented directors in Hollywood, many of whom are already experienced in blockbuster moviemaking. So why has Snyder gotten further directing gigs on two Justice League movies? After BvS, expectations are low, and Snyder's reputation is fast becoming toxic. Who knows how many fans will turn out for Justice League when Snyder already burned them twice. 2) Occasionally Questionable Casting If there's one thing Marvel Studios gets consistently right, it's the casting. From the leads and the supporting roles down to the cameos and bit-parts, Marvel is always bang-on with its actor choices. And in fairness, Warner Bros. also get it right most of the time for the DCEU. Many originally questioned whether Ben Affleck was the right fit for Batman, but in the end he proved to be a solid replacement for Christian Bale. Which isn't to say Warner Bros. has been right on casting 100% of the time. In fact, in some key roles, they've actually left a lot to be desired. The wooden Henry Cavill as Superman, an intensely irritating Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, a miscast Michael Shannon (and who on Earth manages to miscast Michael Shannon?) as General Zod? That's without even mentioning the under-use of Oscar nominees Amy Adams and Laurence Fishburne in both MoS and BvS. Where Marvel is almost always right on the money with its actors, it's been a mixed bag in the DCEU so far. 1) Promotional Problems A cynic's view of the MCU and the DCEU might be that the quality of the films don't even really matter. They're superhero movies - these things have inbuilt fanbases that guarantee success (though don't anybody tell that to Josh Trank). A studio just needs to get the advertising right to draw in those moviegoers not already in the know. So, if we're to take the view that it's not about what's in the superhero movie package at all, but the marketing of that package, then Warner Bros. is clearly doing something wrong. There has to be a reason why DCEU movies under-perform and MCU movies are always direct hits. And it's likely all in the promotion, or lack thereof. Whereas Marvel Studios builds anticipation for its films months in advance, you only have to look to the lackluster marketing campaign for BvS to know Warner Bros hasn't yet learnt the knack. Forget the quality of the movie: if Warner Bros/DC don't get enough people in to watch their films so they can make their money back, there's not for long going to be any justification for even building a DC universe.