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The future of the DCEU is standalone movies: Why things probably won't change much

By

Chris Begley

·

on The future of the DCEU is standalone movies: Why things probably won't change much

Last year before Justice League came out, DC presidents Geoff Johns and Diane Nelson told Vulture that the DCEU would be focusing on standalone stories going forward. The movies wouldn't be building towards a bigger story in the way that Batman v Superman did. But the DCEU got a new boss in Walter Hamada earlier this year, and Johns and Nelson both left DC last month. So what's the current plan?

According to scooper @DanielRPK, "The future is standalone, with very few crossovers." So the plan put in place by Geoff Johns last year appears to be sticking with the new people in charge. But before fans get upset, I want to explain why things probably won't change much at all when compared to the last five years of the DCEU.

It all started in 2013 when Man of Steel hit theaters. That movie was made in 2011, before Christopher Nolan even completed his Dark Knight Trilogy, and there were no plans for the DCEU that we have today. Man of Steel was a standalone movie. Suicide Squad was a standalone movie, with just a reference to Superman's death from Batman v Superman to tie the stories together. Wonder Woman was a standalone movie, with just a reference to Bruce Wayne's letter from Batman v Superman. Aquaman will be a standalone movie, with just a mention of the events from Justice League. And Shazam and Wonder Woman 1984 will be standalone movies when they hit theaters next year.

The only movie that was really made to set up a future movie or bigger overall story was Batman v Superman. That movie had references not only to Justice League but to Justice League 2 as well, according to director Zack Snyder. It's a perfect example of why Warner Bros. shouldn't "world build" too soon. Not only could it hurt the story that you're trying to tell, but it could lead to a lot of dead ends like the "Knightmare Batman" scene did.

So going forward, we're not going to see movies like Batman v Superman. There won't be movies "about another movie", as Geoff Johns put it. We may see little cameos like the one that Henry Cavill's Superman is rumored to have in Shazam, to remind fans that these characters all exist in the same universe, but we're not going to be building to a bigger story or team-up movie in the way that Batman v Superman did with Justice League, or the Marvel movies did with Avengers: Infinity War.

Is there potential for the future? Absolutely. If Aquaman, Shazam, The Batman, The Flash, and others connect with audiences and critics the way that Wonder Woman did last year, you can bet that Warner Bros. will want to capitalize by putting them all in a big movie together. For now, the future of the DCEU is standalone movies with little crossover.

Are you happy with this approach? Or do you wish there was a plan to build towards a bigger story like a Justice League 2? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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  1. HailStateWhoDat Avatar
    HailStateWhoDat

    Were it not for the nearly flawless Wonder Woman movie, I'd say go ahead and do the hard reboot now. I have sky-high expectations for WW1984, and I don't want that series to end any time soon.

    But I personally WANT to see universe building after solid solo outings (Marvel style).

    1. DryButSoupy Avatar
      DryButSoupy

      I'm with you on the hard reboot. And I think Wonder Woman is the best of the DC flicks. Godot is great...perfect casting. The "no man's land" scene was a teriffic sequence. The film as a whole (up until the last big fight) looked great. But I'm gonna have to disagree with the "nearly flawless" appraisal. I didn't catch it until it came out on disc, but all the praise meant my expectations were high. It didn't meet my expectations or merit the nearly unqualified, universal praise it got upon its release, imho. The climax was run of the mill cgi-big bad fare. And the dialogue on the island at the beginning was clunky and sounded like a 4th grader trying to use lofty prose.

  2. StarTheory Avatar
    StarTheory

    This is what I wanted since the beginning. Focus more on standalones with events exclusively to that character's city. Stop with the world ending bullshit and save it for Justice League when you occasionally unite them. Also experiment with different tones, there is no need to have one universal tone for every character like the MCU is doing. Create something for everyone.

    That is how you differentiate yourself from Marvel.

    1. Schuyler Finley Avatar
      Schuyler Finley

      "Stop with the world ending bullshit"
      Well that's only applicable to Batman and maybe Flash.

      1. Hunter Zolomon Avatar
        Hunter Zolomon

        You can do plenty of stories with Superman, Suicide Squad, WW and Aquaman without world ending or city ending plots.

        1. Schuyler Finley Avatar
          Schuyler Finley

          Superman deals with mostly world-ending or city ending stories, especially in his films.

          WW 2 is probably gonna have similar plots.

          Aquaman has to deal with his brother trying to act the surface world. And Mantis may want to destroy Atlantis.

          1. Hunter Zolomon Avatar
            Hunter Zolomonreplying to Schuyler Finley

            What i'm saying though is you can do plenty of plots what don't revolve around the end of the world with the characters. WW84 may actually be more personal if Cheetah is the villain, in Rebirth she's one of Diana closest friends and if they stick with that the true battle is Diana trying to save her friend.

    2. NinjaGamer13 Avatar
      NinjaGamer13

      As long as it remains congruous to the wider universe it’s a part of, some variation in tone is possible, but let’s not go willy nilly.

    3. Axxell Avatar
      Axxell

      Wait... How is it "different" from what Marvel is doing? Marvel is the one who does different tones on each movie...

  3. Joker Avatar
    Joker

    I'm okay with that. I think its probably good for them to focus on stand alones that happen to happen in the same universe. It seems like a good way to kinda go forward away from JL. I'm sure they'll do a JL2 or other team up movie in the future but I'm down for just movies that work for themselves. Honestly to set up a movie thats at least 3-4 years away is a bit too ambitious IMO for the second movie in a franchise >.> Especially when its something like the Flash time travel sequence which never pays off in that movie besides a mild reason to put the JL together, which he kinda already would have had at the end of the movie. Not to rip on Batman v Superman, I loved that movie, but I do understand why they wouldn't wanna do that moving forward.

    1. Deathstroke - O mito Avatar
      Deathstroke - O mito

      People keep saying that DC needs to build a cohesive universe just because it did not have a Batman and flash movie and they ignore that both Batman and Superman have had 7 movies and Flash has a TV series and yet they want this characters are once again presented to the public. Regardless of whether they are different or not, you just can not ignore the existence of these 7 movies and want people to forget the existence of TDK just to want each of those 7 characters to have a movie just to have LJ later, that would be very old mass.
      So far the way things were happening was pleasing and I was not lost in any moment and I'm no fan of comic more is just to please the critic that DC will have the right to set up a great story and that damn who I was enjoying it.

  4. Fréaláf Hildeson Avatar
    Fréaláf Hildeson

    That would be for the best, a loose continuity like the X-Men movies (without some sort of grand marketing plan that ruins the storytelling of every film to build up the next crossover).

    1. Seb is a Socialist Avatar
      Seb is a Socialist

      well we want better continuity than xmen lolz

      1. Fréaláf Hildeson Avatar
        Fréaláf Hildeson

        I'd rather have good movies, "continuity" between 20+ movies with (allegedly) different directors and writers is a scam to bring back fanboys to the theater by denying them any closure on the story.

        1. Seb is a Socialist Avatar
          Seb is a Socialist

          we will see

    2. NinjaGamer13 Avatar
      NinjaGamer13

      Dear Lord no. The X-Men movies’ kind of continuity is NOT what we should strive for. That’s literally a completely incoherent mess.

      1. Fréaláf Hildeson Avatar
        Fréaláf Hildeson

        They are all actual movies with a story, instead of episodes of a TV show released over 10 years without any conclusion ever. Ending all your films by teasing the next episode, now that is an actual storytelling mess.

    3. Nahuel Benvenuto Avatar
      Nahuel Benvenuto

      I love the X Men movies but the continuity precisely is what sucks and has no coherence

  5. Tj Avatar
    Tj

    Man that's a shame, I'm pretty much tired of the standalone approach. They have tried that since the first dc movie.

    I would love to see the characters in a connected universe. It would give a chance for some lesser known heros to appear.

    1. Trevor Avatar
      Trevor

      Just be happy of the standalone approach

      1. Tj Avatar
        Tj

        I don't have to be, I'll just watch batman fuck dceu

    2. Ramboman24 Avatar
      Ramboman24

      But you get tons of your world building in the Marvel movies and there's like a 1000 of them now. Really?

      Don't you think DC needs to dial it back a little bit and establish more of a solid foundation before juggling so many characters?

      1. Tj Avatar
        Tj

        6 movies in, it only took marvel 5 to do it, then it was the first avengers. You don't have to have alot of characters.

        Just establish new heros.

        1. Julian Seguin Avatar
          Julian Seguin

          Let's see. Iron Man. The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America. Yes.

          Except the thing is, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash had no time on screen prior to Justice League aside from footage that Batman gave to Diana. Thus, we had three characters who were underdeveloped and one character who was dead for half the movie. Thus the movie had to make time for world building, time that would have been better spent on crafting the main antagonists. I mean for f---- sake, we don't even get to see Darkseid!

          And THEN there was the matter of Zack Snyder's vision being ruined by executive meddling. Like it or not, he had an idea all laid out, but instead he got kicked to the curb, and WB hired Joss Whedon to try and lighten the story more than it already was. The differences between Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is painfully obvious with the forced colour that was not previously there and lack of seriousness.

          Worse still, Junkie XL, Hans Zimmer's disciple, got replaced with Danny Elfman who had no imagination and decided to stick with the classics. I'm not saying Classic songs from the Franchise are bad or anything but the score from the previous movies was better suited.

          At any rate, without the proper vision for Justice League, it did not do nearly as well as it could have. It was all right, but it was not the spectacle that it was supposed to be. This movie came out at least three years too early. At least there should have been the Aquaman movie BEFORE and maybe even the Flash movie. Then we could have had more focus on Cyborg and his father and on Superman and Batman.

          But it's too late for that (unless Snyder's cut actually exists)

          So from now on, having standalone movies is the safest approach. It gives people time to get over the crappy movies that they watched prior, and hopefully get renewed hope. Maybe a few more movies down the line, (Aquaman, Shazam, Wonder Woman 1984, The Flash, Cyborg, Man of Steel 2) and we'll be ready for Justice League 2.0.

    3. Thanasis Avatar
      Thanasis

      Ugh what the fuck? The DCEU had one standalone film. The second movies was not a standalone film. It was BvS.

      1. Human target Avatar
        Human target

        It had two standalone movies.

      2. Bob Avatar
        Bob

        And BvS was an unmitigated diaster.

        1. Thanasis Avatar
          Thanasis

          I know. But his original comment is stupid. Since he said that the DCEU has been doing standalones from the start which is complete dog shit.

      3. Tj Avatar
        Tj

        I'm talking dc as a whole since it's first movie, not the dceu. They fuck it up when they didn't build off the dark Knight.

        Now I gotta watch stand alone films goodbye dceu.

        1. Thanasis Avatar
          Thanasis

          That's straight up idiotic. DC movies have been successful in the past because they made solo films. Even if you want a cinematic connected universe, you cannot do that without first building a solid base. And the only way to do that is solo films.

          1. Tj Avatar
            Tjreplying to Thanasis

            Man please, wtf are you talking about. you are acting like they didn't try it already.

            Green lantern, superman returns, Jonah hex, Catwoman, watchmen, I could go on and on. You sound idiotic

          2. Thanasis Avatar
            Thanasisreplying to Tj

            Again, are you stupid? None of the movies you mentioned are good. If any of them was good, they'd build on it. It really isn't that fucking complicated.

          3. Lee Sharp Avatar
            Lee Sharpreplying to Thanasis

            Hey man, WATCHMEN is masterpiece ;)

          4. Thanasis Avatar
            Thanasisreplying to Lee Sharp

            Ok, Watchmen is fine. But my point still stands.

          5. Tj Avatar
            Tjreplying to Thanasis

            It's standalone right, they failed Everytime except dark knight, and that's because Nolan kept them out.

            WB just keeps fucking up and by the way I'm not stupid. Only dummies like you debate with name calling

          6. Thanasis Avatar
            Thanasisreplying to Tj

            ??? Superman, Superman 2, Batman 1989, Batman Returns, Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, V for Vendetta, Constantine. Yeah, they all fucking suck right? No one likes these movies at all.

          7. Tj Avatar
            Tjreplying to Thanasis

            Man of steel, Wonder woman shared universe with your own words laddie

          8. Tj Avatar
            Tjreplying to Thanasis

            Because they don't know what to do, idiot!!! The movies don't fail by themselves. Hamada is gonna straighten it out. A shared universe is coming

    4. Seb is a Socialist Avatar
      Seb is a Socialist

      when have they ever tried that? straight after mos was bvs which wasnt standalone.

  6. adqm1409 Avatar
    adqm1409

    I have mixed feeling about this, a part of me is happy that they are going to focus in making one good movie at the time without trying to force references, cameos and plotlines of future films but the point of having a shared universe is getting characters together, we already had a stand alone superman saga and a two stand alone batman saga, i want a GOOD Justice League Movie.

    1. Ramboman24 Avatar
      Ramboman24

      But how can you expect to have a powerful JL movie without properly establishing all these characters and laying the ground work?

      Part of the reason JL suffered is that it had to try and cram backstories in for Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman and therefore each of their backstories were rushed which didn't allow audiences to connect with those characters properly.

      I don't understand the people that are so obsessed with the logic that more heroes = better. That's the way Marvel fans act, the more characters are in the Avengers films, the harder they jizz. It's like that is what is most important to them... having a plethora of heroes in one film.

      They're all losing their minds at the idea of X-Men and Fantastic Four all being under one roof. I kind of understand the appeal of having the entire Marvel universe, but since when were stories from the comics only good when they involved every single character in the universe?

      There are plenty of amazingly written stories about individual heroes that are much more intimate than the big ensemble pieces. Good films are good films... and it's easier to make better films when you have less characters to focus on. If you want to do the big blow your load ensemble film, you should lay down a solid foundation first by properly establishing all the characters that will be featured in the ensemble film, in their own solo films first.

      1. adqm1409 Avatar
        adqm1409

        I actually agree with you in a lot of points, the JL movie suffered a lot because the foundations layed for Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg were too weak and because Steppenwolf had virtually no foundations.

        I don't believe that having a chunk of heroes crammed into one movie make it better (unless it's done in the right way like Infinity War) but you can't deny the appeal of having a movie with more than one hero, it makes the story feel greater, the stakes feel higher, the threat feel stronger.

        There are stories about individual heroes that are brilliant like All Star Superman, Batman Year One, Long bow hunters but you can't deny that some of the best stories of DC are crossover, Sinestro Corps Wars, JL: Tower of Babel, The New Frontier, Flashpoint, Kingdom Come and Crisis on Infinite Earths that is pretty much the crossover that made crossovers popular.

      2. Schuyler Finley Avatar
        Schuyler Finley

        But JL had time constraints, and it was turned from a two parter into a solo film. And as people have already said, theX-Men worked without having to establish the backstory of the heroes in their own solo films.

      3. Nahuel Benvenuto Avatar
        Nahuel Benvenuto

        wrong again

  7. Seb Avatar
    Seb

    Yeah, I don't think we're getting another JL movie. At least not for the next 5 years (if not more).

    1. ItzSilentStorm Avatar
      ItzSilentStorm

      im sure there will be another one "eventually". I dont see how WB could not see the potential for that tbh. The first one technically flopped(I think?) but it still made over 600 mil at the BO. ITs just a shame that, as you said, it probably wont be for a while because honestly this Legion of Doom thing was a great idea because its not something marvel has done yet. If DC wants to be a strong and respectable competitor, they have to start doing things differently imo. As in different from marvel. THey cant just do their own versions of similar things we have already seen anymore.

      1. OptimistPrime99 Avatar
        OptimistPrime99

        You're not wrong. But BvS and Suicide Squad were different from anything Marvel had done prior. And both ended up being PR nightmares. The DC movies aren't going to get any credit for uniqueness, if the product is poorly received.

        1. ItzSilentStorm Avatar
          ItzSilentStorm

          well sure the quality is the most important factor, but they should still strive to be unique imo. This is also for the betterment of the genre i would say

        2. Nahuel Benvenuto Avatar
          Nahuel Benvenuto

          both JL and SS were butchered at last minute to appeal to brainless mainstream casual audiences that just want superhero movies to be dumb comedies

      2. Seb Avatar
        Seb

        Yeah, the first one bombed. It lost them a lot of money.

  8. Ramboman24 Avatar
    Ramboman24

    I just rewatched Justice League for the first time since my second viewing in the theater. It was much more enjoyable now that some time has passed> I think it just suffered from being built on films that were so divisive and also from a lack of world building prior to it. No matter which way you spin it, WB fought fast to catch up to Marvel and they suffered for it.. The film kind of feels safe, and there is a lack of any truly memorable spine tingling moments...

    BUT, they made it and at least they have things somewhat turned around with Justice League. The tone is much better than BvS, the characters were much more likable, and even tho there's nothing in JL that really blew me away I kinda see it as a transitional film that is good in the sense that it steered the DCEU back in the right direction and was generally pretty entertaining.

    Backlash and low BO was expected after BvS but now Snyder is gone and they can just hire great filmmakers to make these solo films and strengthen their foundation by taking the slow approach. I see this as the best possible move going forward as I just see far too much potential in what Snyder, Johns, Jenkins and co have created here to just reboot and scrap everything. You've got perfect casting choices for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, they've had the luxury of not having any films that have been complete duds. There is no universal agreement that the DCEU is so bad, and beyond saving that it must be rebooted and I'm glad everyone involved in these films seem to be smart enough to recognize that.

    All they needed was a course correction with JL and while that film was nothing spectacular, it just served as the perfect soft reboot for the DCEU and NOW the sky is the limit as to what they can do with all these characters. If Shazam, WW84, and Aquaman all do their job in entertaining audiences there is a good chance we can eventually see them pick up where we left off with a JL 2, or even a Man of Steel 2.

    I just really hope JL wasn't the last time were going to see Ben Affleck as Batman or Henry Cavill as Superman. The two of them are perfect in their roles when I see that scene at the end of JL where Bruce buys Clark's house back from the bank it brings a tear to my eye as I could swear I'm staring at the real Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent... how all audiences around the world don't recognize how perfect they are is literally beyond me. I'll just write it off as the fact that most people have never picked up a comic.

    Next thing I need to know is wtf is going on with Ben Affleck and how they're going to be handling their Batman franchise from here on out. If Matt Reeve is doing something separate with a new Batman that's a serious mistake for the DCEU imho.

    That's just gonna make everything feel disconnected. We need focused solo films yes, but we don't want these films to completely sever any and all ties with eachother…

    we all just want higher quality films with the talent cast members that we already have!

    1. NinjaGamer13 Avatar
      NinjaGamer13

      JL’s biggest problem was from Superman onward. They rushed into an uncomfortable and poorly explained resurrection thing, made Superman a walking CGI cheese man, and managed to have no stakes or gravity at all in the end fight. Other major problems included the lack of developing and exploring backgrounds and characters such as with Aquaman and Cyborg. They were in the most need of it. And you’re right, it was all rather “safe.” So safe that it didn’t even really feel like it had anything to say. It felt generic and shallow. Not to say it was not entertaining or fun, but the first ever Justice League movie should have been mind-blowing, so that’s a bit disappointing.

    2. Nahuel Benvenuto Avatar
      Nahuel Benvenuto

      Wrong, it suffered from being a bad, rushed, not well made, souless movie, and nothing else, nice try thought, but no opinion can save a bad movie from being bad. What does the previous movies has ANYTHING to do with the awful mvoie we got? Nothing, nothing at all

  9. ItzSilentStorm Avatar
    ItzSilentStorm

    just so people know, "Standalone" and "Solo" are two different things. You can have an ensemble film like Suicide Squad or Birds of Prey or, theoretically, justice league to an extent while still being "standalone" films. Solo films are movies that just feature the one character. Standalone just means it doesn't worry about all the interconnectivity and such. Cameos and references and all that

  10. guest Avatar
    guest

    "Focus on stand alones" ie: work towards nothing, treat every film from here on out as risky and play it safe with generic, twice told origin stories. People were excited about getting the DC universe, not a bunch of separate films connected by "mentioning" one another. In fact, we already had that with the Burton/Shumakerverse and Donner/Lester/Singerverse.

    This is all the internets fault for insisting Justice League and all DC movies be as dumb and childish as the CWverse, Chris Reeves Superman, and Justice League unlimited. The end result is just a Fast and Furious/Transformers movie starring DC comics characters instead of like, you know, something out of a comic book. Comics are smarter than all of these representations, it's a shame the general audience just wants Superman to "smile and wave at people", hes a really interesting character when he's allowed to be more than a flying cliche

    1. ZaQueerdo Avatar
      ZaQueerdo

      A movie as good as Justice League Unlimited would be a pretty big achievement for the DCEU. It and Batman: The Animated Series pretty much the gold standard for DC's shows.

    2. Godspeed Avatar
      Godspeed

      Did you honestly just refer to Donners Superman and the DCAU as "childish and dumb" ? The fuck is wrong with you ?

      1. MisFit 138 Avatar
        MisFit 138

        They are dumbed down from their comic book origins, made for children. While BTAS is the gold standard and is smartly written, its still largely a 'safe' cartoon. As it should be, they are for children afterall, but they are to comic books as Star Wars is to science fiction. Comics are more mature and complex and have been since around the seventies. As for Donners Superman, barf! Its great for audiences that dont read comics and dont expect anything from a movie based on the only superhero they recognize beyond Adam West's Batman, thats why it was marketed on special effects and an all-star ensemble cast. Thats why what we got was an action-void, rom-com full of hammy characters and corny dialogue that ignores any semblance of reality. Its a great love story that features nothing people love from comics, just surprisingly good for the low expections from the general audience. Its probably the first movie where somebody said "just turn your brain off and enjoy it for what is". It only gets worse in the sequels, Terrance Stamp is the only good thing in any of them.

    3. NinjaGamer13 Avatar
      NinjaGamer13

      See I agree with some things in this comment, but I also disagree with some pretty significant stuff, too... Um... I’m gonna give you an upvote and be on my way...

  11. Kerk Lastnameless Avatar
    Kerk Lastnameless

    Suicide Squad was NOT a stand alone, it was an ensemble movie.

    1. Fréaláf Hildeson Avatar
      Fréaláf Hildeson

      An ensemble movie can be a "stand alone".

      But it is true that Suicide Squad isn't exactly stand alone, it starts with references to BvS and Batman's role is (slightly) more than a cameo.

    2. Chris Avatar
      ChrisBatman News Archive

      Standalone from a story perspective. The only story element that tied it to the DCEU is when they mentioned Superman was dead.

      Justice League was an ensemble movie. Suicide Squad is always going to have multiple characters at its core. It's not some big ensemble of a bunch of standalone movie franchises coming together.

    3. ItzSilentStorm Avatar
      ItzSilentStorm

      standalone means it stands by itself without acknowledging the larger connected universe. It can be standalone while still being an ensemble piece. SUicide Squad however was not standalone. You had a batman cameo and references to superman's death. Standalone just means that the movies are their own thing.

      1. Chris Avatar
        ChrisBatman News Archive

        It can be standalone while still acknowledging the larger connected universe. Wonder Woman is a perfect example. That's a standalone movie. It's not building towards a larger DCEU movie or even a Wonder Woman sequel, but it has a little "wink" to let you know it's a part of a universe (the Bruce Wayne letter).

        1. ItzSilentStorm Avatar
          ItzSilentStorm

          eh. For me the definition of "Standalone" basically means that its entirely its own thing. Thats why i label WW as 99 percent standalone as opposed to 100 percent personally. Thats how i see it at least.

          1. Chris Avatar
            ChrisBatman News Archivereplying to ItzSilentStorm

            That's fair! The definition is definitely open to interpretation. Bottom line... we're definitely headed more towards the Wonder Woman direction than Batman v Superman.

          2. Ramboman24 Avatar
            Ramboman24replying to ItzSilentStorm

            I tend to agree more with Chris on this.

            I can see where you're coming from with WW being 99% standalone as opposed to 100%.

            That said, I think what Johns' and everyone else mean is that they're going to focus on "solo" films that are still all still within a bigger shared universe. Less crossovers, less team ups... until they can get general audiences behind these films.

            Don't expect to see films where 6-7 heroes share the spotlight, or films like BvS where its split between two heroes 50/50.

            Expect films like WW where there is one central hero.

            It was a big mistake for WB to think they could just start juggling multiple heroes so quickly. They should've had more of a plan. That way, we also probably wouldn't be left feeling like were always waiting so long for the next film in the universe because they may have actually been successful and could've greenlit more films.

            It feels like it's been forever since JL, and I'm hungry. Very jealous that Marvel fans never have to wait this long for their next chapter.

          3. ItzSilentStorm Avatar
            ItzSilentStormreplying to Ramboman24

            idk. THey seem to be pretty serious about suicide squad 2 and Birds of Prey. We will see I guess

  12. Martin Borrego Avatar
    Martin Borrego

    I'm fine either way but I enjoy movies that move the world forward. I notice when I binge rewatch the MCU films I watch the ones that move the over all plot forward. Like Winter Soldier and stuff, I don't really rewatch Thor and others in that sense. Anyway whatever DC decides I'm all for it.

    1. Ramboman24 Avatar
      Ramboman24

      That's just cause WS is better than most of the other Marvel films.

      1. Martin Borrego Avatar
        Martin Borrego

        This is true. It also moves nearly one - two thirds narrative of the MCU.

  13. Origami Rose Avatar
    Origami Rose

    Good. Let the audience get to know the characters before they start rushing into a team up movie. I dont want to watch movies like I'm watching a TV series like what Marvel is doing.

    FYI havent watched any marvel films since Black Panther. Looking forward to Aquaman.

    1. Ramboman24 Avatar
      Ramboman24

      The only Marvel film I've gone to see in theaters since Winter Soldier is Avengers Inifity War... and I honestly found it somewhat disappointing. The whole reason I went to see it was because it was supposed to be Marvel's big "gamechanger" film where they finally did something unique and risky. Characters were supposed to die, it was supposed to be emotional...

      And instead we just got more fake deaths... typical Marvel.

    2. Nahuel Benvenuto Avatar
      Nahuel Benvenuto

      If it is well made, they have no excuse. Also you missed Infinity War which is BY FAR the best mcu movie yet (which is not saying much) a movie that has flow issues and forced jokes, but it is still one of the best comic book mvoies ever made

  14. Hunter Zolomon Avatar
    Hunter Zolomon

    Yep i'm fine with this, just stick to standalone films what at most set up their own sequels and maybe have a passing mention of the larger world (think WW email to Bruce).

  15. Godspeed Avatar
    Godspeed

    there was also the Bruce Wayne cameo in Squad which set up JL

    1. NinjaGamer13 Avatar
      NinjaGamer13

      Best scene in the movie. I don’t wanna lose stuff like that in the plan for these movies moving forward...

  16. Nahuel Benvenuto Avatar
    Nahuel Benvenuto

    They have no fucking clue of what they are doing, in other words.

  17. Ksigri Avatar
    Ksigri

    I’m really ok with this! I can totally wait for 5 or so years for the next “reunion” as long as the solo stories in between are quality first and respectful to the characters. Altering the unfavorable pop culture opinion of DC’s movies will take time and many good solo movies but I truly believe we’ll get there!!! :)

  18. AquamanIsCool Avatar
    AquamanIsCool

    I like that idea. I do still want to see another Justice League movie at some point. Not before a Man of Steel 2 though.

  19. Super Gooner Avatar
    Super Gooner

    I really want to see a darkside war movie with Hans scoring it.

  20. guest Avatar
    guest

    Like how comic books are always so "stand alone" and never, EVER working towards some sort of larger story or narrative. Comics didnt stay around this long by just doing stand alone issues, in fact that almost killed the industry as well as the man of steel himself.

  21. Kyle Boreing Avatar
    Kyle Boreing

    I have been saying stand-alone was the way to go from the beginning. Let the characters develop on their own first and become established before trying to mix them together, as opposed to a sad, depressed Superman in the first two films, and a laughing, joking, and CGI-smiling Superman in the third.

  22. Bob Avatar
    Bob

    I wish BvS had never occurred. It was horrible. I watched it once, I will never see it again. Thank goodness. If there had not been BvS we would have gotten MOS2, which is the movie we deserved. Despite its poor box office performance Justice League was far better than BvS.

    1. NinjaGamer13 Avatar
      NinjaGamer13

      BvS was the sequel to MoS, first of all. Second, it was a phenomenal movie. Infinitely more complex and substantive and meaningful than JL. Give the Ultimate Edition a shot and I’ll bet you’d feel differently.

      1. Vger64 Avatar
        Vger64

        I Totally agree with you!! Well said!

  23. OptimistPrime99 Avatar
    OptimistPrime99

    Wait, what approach? A standalone movie implies that it's within it's own universe. That isn't the case for the current Wonder Woman franchise. With Man of Steel, they wanted to make sure that it did much better than Superman Returns at the box-office, before committing to anything. Some clarity on the Batman and Superman franchises, would be awesome.

    1. attentionisattention Avatar
      attentionisattention

      I think they more mean "standalone" stories. These stories exist in a shared universe, but can be consumed as one whole piece, beginning, middle, end. Instead of overtly being an episode of a movie spanning story.

      1. Ramboman24 Avatar
        Ramboman24

        Makes much more sense, considering that both Wonder Woman and Aquaman clearly exist within the JL universe.

        It's not like these films are just going to completely ignore the continuity.

  24. KnightReign Avatar
    KnightReign

    This is just another reason why DC Films needs to be separated from WB pictures. Profit motivations will always get in the way of good storytelling.

    DC writes and artists need to be given a chance to craft cinematic versions of the JL under the purview of those who are interested in telling DC stories and not the bastardized versions from "director driven" projects.

    I'm thinking with DC people behind Aquaman Shazam, WW84 and maybe Flash or the Batman movie, they could easily weave those solo movies in to a larger arc that would require the JL to form up again.

    It appears WB are taking a wait and see approach with the upcoming movies and whichever does the best that's where they'll throw there support behind. I'm hoping AT&T will take a step back and reevaluate WB and the direction they've gone with DC Films.

  25. lowdevil Avatar
    lowdevil

    Well we get some official news. Thats good. I dont mind. I think at this point, its the right decision.
    I think that WW films can definitely standalone as her world is so big. Id love to see a CGI Hercules for instance.

    Batmans world was made to be standalone and Id rather it stay that way.

    This news does confuse me though... We have a superstar in Dwayne Johnson chomping at the bit to play Adam and with this news does that get eliminated now? Having a one-off Black Adam vs a made for children Shazam does not make sense. Especially if Shazam bombs.

    I really hope that at SDCC, we get news that The Joker will get an R rating.

    1. ItzSilentStorm Avatar
      ItzSilentStorm

      well this is a rumor technically. Not official news. Its from that DanielRPK guy who leaked some stuff before

  26. Forthas Avatar
    Forthas

    This is a terrible idea by WB. The reason that Marvel has achieved the box office heights it has is because of its crossover films. It builds the brands of lesser known superheroes and villains and it connects the franchise in a more comprehensive way instead of just linear sequels. The best way for the DC universe to achieve its greatest potential is to build a franchise with the Dark Knight Trilogy and Man of Steel as the foundation. They need to ignore all of the films that came after Man of Steel. It was a mistake for the DCEU to not follow Nolan's aesthetic and build on the films the made them the best CBM studio. Not making crossover films is an admission that the people there do not know what they are doing and they should hire people that could successfully provide fans with what they want....an epic, shared DC universe based on character driven, grounded stories in the style and feel of the Dark Knight films.

  27. NinjaGamer13 Avatar
    NinjaGamer13

    What a damn shame. So Because Snyder royally fucked up and soured public opinion of the amazing DCU and characters, they are playing it safe and essentially giving up.

    FFS.

    Do a god damn reboot. DC is known for having alternate earths and crisis. Introduce the concept of alternate dimensions and the anti-monitor before Marvel does. Have heroes come from a less grim earth to make things better. Keep some actors recast others.

    It's freaking PERFECT. But no, just idiots at the top of the pyramid.

    Oh well. AT least we can finally get a decent comic-book accurate Batman movie out of it all.

    1. NinjaGamer13 Avatar
      NinjaGamer13

      I don’t think that’s what’s happening

      1. NinjaGamer13 Avatar
        NinjaGamer13

        It clearly is.

  28. Alejandro Polina Avatar
    Alejandro Polina

    I'm fine with that. It would be annoying having to watch a movie that you don't want to see for only 5 minutes that led up to another movie that you want to see.

  29. Shunsui Avatar
    Shunsui

    So basically marvel phase 1?

  30. No Avatar
    No

    Childish boring ugly movies! Let it die soon.

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