It’s no secret that the DC Extended Universe has had more than a few stumbles since its inception. Truthfully, the franchise only has one bonafide hit – Wonder Woman – and it seems the studio continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. It shows in the frosty reception that their films receive, too, with Justice League being the most recent example. Yet, when you actually sit down and look into the numbers – which, let’s face it, are all that really matters in the end – Warner Bros.’ burgeoning cinematic universe is actually more successful than the MCU.
Now, before you get out the pitchforks and come after us, allow us to explain. The DCEU currently has 5 movies under its belt – Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and the aforementioned Justice League. Combined, they’ve grossed $1,601,915,700 at the domestic box office. If you compare that to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s actually quite a bit higher, as adjusted for inflation, that franchise’s first 5 efforts only brought in $1,313,957,900.
Granted, the superhero craze is far greater today than it was back when the MCU launched, but still, the numbers don’t lie and DC fans can at least take solace in the fact that financially, the franchise is outperforming its competitor at the moment. Again, though, when it comes to the critics, it’s an entirely different story. The accumulative Rotten Tomatoes scores for the DCEU films is 241 out of a possible 500, while Marvel sits at 391 out of 500 for its first five outings.
So, while Warner Bros. may be outpacing its competition for now at the box office, those review scores will surely catch up and unless they really turn things around, fewer and fewer people are going to be heading out to theaters to see their films. And though many have already written off the franchise, we still feel as if there’s hope left. I mean, let’s be honest, many companies mess up and it’s okay to do so. After all, to err is human. To keep quiet and ignore things, though, such as Henry Cavill’s horrid CGI lip, is just blatant disrespect to the fanbase.
Justice League was evidently rushed, for whatever reasons, and every fan knows it could’ve – and should’ve – been better. We deserve so much more from Superman and co, and it’s time that WB delivers what it promised us when the DC Extended Universe was first announced. If they don’t, they’ll never be able to keep up with Marvel and continue pulling in relatively strong box office numbers.
