The DCEU Is Dead So Isn't It Time For A New Direction?

[Silver Nemesis]

Here's Graham Nolan's response:

[Travesty]

So why is Angel Manuel Soto allowed to promote Blue Beetle? I thought they were on strike.

And his comment on Bane....wow.

[thecolorsblend]

Soto is only credited as director of the movie. DGA is not on strike. If he had writing credit, that could be more dicey. But as it stands, I would imagine that he's in the clear since he's working in his capacity as director of the film.

[The Joker]

Dixon/Nolan >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Soto/fanfic

[The Dark Knight]

Too much personal projection is exactly it, and well done to Nolan for saying so. As he also says, that stuff was never considered at the time of Bane's creation. All modern media has to be infected with all that activist muck for some reason and it's always for the worse. The line about Batman being a fascist had already rubbed people the wrong way. To me, Bane represents a man who could have remained a victim but instead chose to empower himself. He rises above it through education and sheer determination, which is something a lot of people should seek to emulate.

[thecolorsblend]

The Critical Drinker has some remarkably positive things to say about Blue Beetle. No, it's not the greatest thing anybody has ever seen. But he was impressed by how good it actually was.

I get the idea that ten years from now, we might see articles along the lines of "Revisiting The Last Stages Of The DCEU" that basically argue that The Flash, Black Adam, Shazam 2 and Blue Beetle are all better than anybody remembers.

But I guess that's the entire problem. Those movies might be decent. I've only seen TF (and wasn't impressed). But they didn't debut in a vacuum. They come on the heels of fans getting jerked around in every possible direction, unnecessary reboots/warm reboots/retcons/whatever else not to mention a lot of deliberately squandered good will.

It's a shame.

No, I still don't plan on watching Blue Beetle. But I do like that the movie was apparently underestimated by everyone.

[thecolorsblend]

Speaking of things that could've worked, film adaptations of the Vertigo magic characters could've been interesting.

If films about Tim Hunter, the Phantom Stranger, John Constantine, etc. had been made around 2012 or 2013, they probably could've picked up more or less where the Harry Potter franchise left off. Plus, a cinematic universe featuring the Justice League Dark characters could've been viable counter-programming to the MCU.

I suppose you could throw Sandman and The Endless characters in there too for good measure.

I'm convinced that it could've been a contender. But obviously, we'll never know for sure.

[The Laughing Fish]

No, I still don't plan on watching Blue Beetle. But I do like that the movie was apparently underestimated by everyone.

Not everyone is impressed.

Meanwhile, I read that The Flash debuted on MAX with fewer streaming views than Black Adam. The brand is severely damaged, and yet, shill trades like THR writing articles asking "where have the DC fans gone?", while trying to play down the damage these incompetent and corrupt regimes at WB have done to the brand for years, and instead blame the fans for expressing their distaste online.

[The Laughing Fish]

Gunn has posted this explanation about his DCU "plans" on social media:



Gunn even went on record saying he plans to keep Xolo Madriduena as Blue Beetle, despite his movie being a third consecutive DC flop. The other actors he wants are John Cena's Peacemaker, the guy who plays Vigilante and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.

In case some of you still haven't figured it out right now, this supposed reboot is a sham. As I said elsewhere, it's not too different than what Walter Hamada had in mind when he wanted to use The Flash to change the timeline to keep the characters he wanted and remove the rest. The only big difference in Gunn's agenda is Michael Keaton is not involved and Supergirl isn't outright replacing Superman. And now we know how much Gunn hates B89, Keaton's performance and how he hijacked Superman from Cavill, this DC shake-up of his is more about ego than merit.

Even if you ignore his lies about Cavill was never hired back, Affleck wanting to direct a film and yet to address Gadot's claims she was guaranteed back as Wonder Woman, the track record surrounding Gunn's dishonesty continues to grow. He said The Flash was going to reset the timeline for his DCU, but it turned out that wasn't the case:
https://thedirect.com/article/james-gunn-the-flash-dceu-reset#:~:text=DC%20Studios%20co%2DCEO%20James,would%20stay%20after%20the%20reboot.

And then he stated Blue Beetle is the first DCU character, despite he said Creature Commandos and/or his Superman project is meant to be the beginning of his planned franchise:
https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/1297282-james-gunn-blue-beetle-is-the-first-dc-universe-character#:~:text=DC%20Studios%20Co%2DCEO%20James,is%20the%20first%20DCU%20character.

The only consistent thing he says he intends the Blue Beetle guy to continue. Otherwise, his explanations are confusing and make no sense whatsoever. He's just hijacking the brand to put money into his own pocket. If he's keeping Xolo Madriduena then he might as well keep Zachary Levi and Ezra Miller. Why not? As I already pointed out, Gunn's appointment has proven it's not about merit. It's about who you're friends with. And he's chummy with Levi and Miller, so why should he be swayed by box office failure or bad publicity? It's not like his TSS failure and red flags surrounding pedophilia had an effect on WBD to hire the creep or anything.

Before I finish this post, if you need another reminder how incompetent WBD is, they blamed Blue Beetle's low opening weekend at the domestic BO on bad weather:

https://www.gamereactor.eu/warner-blame-the-weather-for-terrible-blue-beetle-opening-1298583/

This didn't take into account that the film failed to outgross Shazam 2 internationally. With excuses like that, it's no wonder why they continue to be a badly run company.

I mean...if the Cavill debacle and dooming the 2023 slate with a farcical "reboot" announcement wasn't already enough to make people realise DC as a brand is damaged, then everything that Gunn said today should convince you. If you're still somehow convinced there is hope for DC, God help you.

[The Laughing Fish]

A few weeks ago, David Goyer looked back at the time when WB were putting everyone under pressure to create a cinematic universe, shortly after MOS came out:

"I know the pressure we were getting from Warner Bros., which was, 'We need our MCU! We need our MCU!' And I was like let's not run before we walk," Goyer said. "The other thing that was difficult at the time was there was this revolving door of executives at Warner Bros. and DC. Every 18 months someone new would come in. We were just getting whiplash. Every new person was like, 'We're going to go bigger!'"

"I remember at one point the person running Warner Bros. at the time had this release that pitched the next 20 movies over the next 10 years. But none of them had been written yet!" Goyer continued in amazement. "It was crazy how much architecture was being built on air... This is not how you build a house."

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/david-fincher-blade-meeting-man-of-steel-2-david-s-goyer-1235731062/

I'm not exactly the biggest Goyer fan, and while I don't agree with everything he says, he does make a great point with that last comment I quoted. And yet, WB has shown time and time again that they haven't learned their lesson, because that comment easily applies to this ridiculous DCU slate.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.