DCEU: A World of Second Chances

By Jakob Johns | Misfit Media Columnist

The DCEU (DC Extended Universe) appears to be aware that it has hit the bottom of the barrel, but watch out – they found Polka-Dot Man down there, and he’s going out swingin’.

Once upon a time, DC reigned supreme on the silver screen with the Christopher Reeves Superman films, and later, the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. Of course, “reigned” is a fitting term since no king is perfect – for every Superman there was a Catwoman. But, it was better than what Marvel was working with. Aside from the Sam Raimi Spiderman trilogy, they had nearly nothing.

For the past decade and a half, however, Marvel has taken the cinematic throne and… you know the rest. Meanwhile, the DC Cinematic Universe (or the slimmer DCEU) has served as no more than the Wish.com variant of the MCU. In 2016, a year many considered the worst at the time (a sickly funny fact nowadays), the DCEU hit one of its hardest lows with Suicide Squad. The messiest, clumsiest, most confused superhero film ever put to the screen. Even Catwoman knew what it was, even if that meant being as visually appealing as vomit swirling around a toilet.

But I’d like to back out of the films for a moment and take a look at some of the creatives behind these things. In particular, Zach Snyder. Regardless of your opinion on the man or the movies, it’s difficult to deny that he experienced one of the painful things one can go through. In 2017, Snyder was forced to step away from Justice League in order to cope with the suicide of his daughter, Autumn. Very justifiably, Snyder prioritised his family and his own health over the satisfaction of rabid fans.

The project was picked up and completed by Joss Whedon, after which point it was released as yet another DC mess ala Suicide Squad. Both films are difficult to watch, especially in comparison to their contemporary counterparts; as you know, Justice League was taped together by two separate creatives and crammed into a short runtime by studios. Meanwhile, Suicide Squad’s original tone (which, based on the director Ayer’s previous work, was likely a dramatic one) was scribbled over in the editing process in order to make it more similar to Guardians of the Galaxy. 

So far, our hitlist of disappointed creatives is as follows: Zach Snyder, David Ayer – and also James Gunn, who was recently cancelled over some stupid old tweets. Make no mistake, these tweets are extremely stupid, but they are also from 2010-2011 and, since being called out, he has apologised and nobody was hurt (contrary to those more deservedly cancelled over far more despicable actions). Whether Gunn deserves a second-chance is up to you, however I think we can agree that to deprive people of films like Guardians of the Galaxy over terrible jokes isn’t a great end to that particular saga.

Now we get to the sweet part of things, however. Two of these creatives have recently been given second chances, whether you like it or not, and those chances have paid off intensely for the creatives and their fans. Both Zach Snyder’s Justice League and The Suicide Squad are receiving high praise from most sides; the most positive reviews love it, while even the negative ones admit that they are improvements from the old garbage.

Snyder was incredibly deserving of his chance to complete his film, but it’s arguable what Gunn deserved. Whatever you believe, you’ll likely agree that it’s worked out for us in the end at least. So, now I ask you this: does Ayer deserve his second chance as well? Jared Leto as the Joker? Or is it the characters themselves more deserving, in which case Joker has already received his chance and done well with it. Whatever the case, I think the precedent the DCEU is setting is a healthy one (and is especially healthier than Marvel’s recycled methods). It’s vindicating for old creatives, and gives us fresh experiences.

I mean, I’d still prefer A24 movies got more of a chance but whatever. It's either this or Marvel Movie 30.