The DC Extended Universe first became a thing with the release of
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016 when it became clear that
Man of Steel provided just a glimpse of a much larger universe. However, Warner Bros.' shared comic book world didn't exactly get off to the same strong start as the MCU.
There were problems from the start, and while there is still an established movie universe of sorts in place (look at how Harley Quinn will make the jump from
Suicide Squad to
Birds of Prey and then
The Suicide Squad), the likes of
Joker and
The Batman would seem to make it clear that the DCEU as we knew it is dead.
In this feature, we take a look at the fall of the DCEU and why it's now clear that what was once meant to be a rival to the MCU is instead a very different comic book universe which can still find the same level of success, albeit in a very different way and with movies completely unlike what we see on a regular basis from Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige.
So, to check out this feature in its entirety, simply hit the "View List" button down below!
Continuity No Longer Seems To Matter
Near the start of the DCEU's existence, Warner Bros. went to great lengths to tie these movies together, whether it was that
Man of Steel flashback in B
atman v Superman,
Wonder Woman's present day epilogues, or the fact that Task Force X was formed in response to Superman's death.
Now, though, continuity no longer seems to matter.
Aquaman and
Shazam! were almost entirely standalone in nature and only really referenced what had come before for the sake of it (and even then it was just in passing). There are now alternate universes where stories take place and multiple actors playing the same role in different worlds.
It's essentially going back to what superhero movies were like in the mid-2000s. Fox's
X-Men movies all tied together, but
Fantastic Four and
Daredevil took place in their own worlds!
Batman And Superman Have Just Vanished
Rumour has it that we'll find out in
Birds of Prey that Batman has been missing for the past few years. Needless to say, that's a pretty huge cop out when it comes to getting rid of Ben Affleck's Dark Knight, and we can probably expect a similarly disappointing explanation when
Supergirl is eventually released and we learn that Superman is "off planet" somewhere.
You'd think that Warner Bros. would look to recast the heroes in order to keep a sense of continuity and consistency, but the casting of Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon makes it clear that those characters and their supporting casts are done. Not explaining that beyond some throwaway mentions really doesn't seem like a good idea, but it further proves that the DCEU is no more.
We're Getting Standalone Movies
There's absolutely nothing wrong with a standalone movie like
Joker as it allows Warner Bros. to develop some very different types of stories featuring these character. However, it appears as if a lot of upcoming DC Comics adaptations will follow suit, and that means that the connectivity which holds a shared universe like the DCEU together will soon be thrown out of the window.
While the odd film will probably connect to the one before it in some way, the events of
Wonder Woman 1984, for example, are unlikely to have much of an impact in what comes next for Aquaman.
That means fans hoping that all these movies will link up and build to something bigger are going to be disappointed, while it also pretty much closes the door on cameos from other heroes. That seems like a waste of these characters in many respects, and it's a shame to think Shazam probably won't ever get to team up with the people Freddy Freeman admires so much!
Everything About The Batman
There's a very slim chance that
The Batman will be a reboot and that Robert Pattinson's Caped Crusader will one day meet the likes of Aquaman and Wonder Woman. However, that would be a real stretch for moviegoers to buy into and borderline confusing given how different these two versions of Bruce Wayne are bound to be.
Jeffrey Wright playing Commissioner Gordon also closes the door on these films being "prequels."
The Batman looks set to introduce a long list of Batman villains, but you can forget about them crossing paths with Jared Leto's Joker or any of the Birds of Prey in Gotham City. Instead, they exist in their own world and that closes the door on the types of crossovers fans of the MCU have become accustomed to.
There Are No Plans For Another Justice League Movie
Picture this: you're Warner Bros. and you have access to every single one of your characters (something Marvel Studios still doesn't have even after regaining the X-Men and Fantastic Four). But rather that bringing your most iconic superheroes together for an epic team-up, you... leave them alone in their respective franchises, and sometimes even their own worlds.
Now, it's easy to appreciate why the studio feels that way, especially after 2017's movie bombed. However, rather than even considering another
Justice League movie, it appears as if that's the last thing Warner Bros. wants right now and with even
Flashpoint becoming just another straightforward Flash adventure based on recent reports, team-ups no longer appear to be the plan.
If the DCEU was still a thing, this is exactly what the studio would be building to.
Even The TV Shows Are More Connected Than The Movies
The production of a movie is very, very different to a 22 episode television series. However, the TV division of Warner Bros. has still found a way to make the DC shows feel way more connected than what we're seeing on the big screen. With huge crossover events, cameo appearances, and more, it seems fans can get their real shared world fix on television these days.
The upcoming
Crisis event will not only bring together current TV shows, but also revisist several that have been off the air for years. Whereas many fans are upset about a non-comic accurate take on The Joker in his upcoming movie or Harley Quinn being the focus of
Birds of Prey, these small screen adventures seem to deliver fan-pleasing adventures on a consistent basis.
So, while the DC Extended Universe is done, the DC TV Universe clearly is not!
Soft Reboots Appear To Be Commonplace Now
Birds of Prey will reference Harley Quinn's relationship with The Joker and presumably put her in a position where she's once again recruited into the ranks of Task Force X by James Gunn.
So, continuity isn't completely dead in the DC Extended Universe, but it definitely feels like both of those movies are going to semi-reboot what's come before, similar to how
The Incredible Hulk softly rebooted
Hulk or the way
The Avengers then did the same to, uh,
The Incredible Hulk!
The Flash will presumably ignore most of what we saw in
Justice League to introduce a fresh take on the Scarlet Speedster, while we already saw how
Aquaman glossed over what came before.
No One Is Really In Charge
There's been a revolving door of people seemingly in charge of the DC Extended Universe, but, as of right now, its hard to say who that might be. We know it's supposed to be Walter Hamada, but he's an executive at the end of the day and not a Geoff Johns or Kevin Feige-type character who is a lifelong comic book fan with longterm plans for these characters on the big screen.
Instead, his plan is to make a series of critical and commercial hits, and, well, it's hard to fault him for that.
However, as great as it will be to have movies like
The Batman,
Joker, and
Wonder Woman 1984, it would be even greater if they all tied together and built to a finale every bit as epic as something like
Avengers: Endgame. On the one hand, awesome standalone movies are hard to fault. On the other, we know as fans that there's a world where we can have our cake and eat it too!
Hit the "View List" button for a look at the long road
The Flash's solo movie has had to the big screen!
The Flash Begins...
Phil Lord and Chris Miller were initially hired to write
The Flash in April 2015 (it ended up only being a treatment), and while there was a chance they might also direct, those hopes were dashed when they instead chose to work on
Solo: A Star Wars Story. Later that year, Seth Grahame-Smith signed up to helm the project and he also took another pass at the screenplay.
However, the following year, he parted ways with Warner Bros. over "creative differences." We never learned what those were, but it was said that the studio would keep his script (which makes sense, especially as he has far more experience in that realm than as a director).
At this point,
The Flash was still set to be released on March 16th, 2018, and the prevailing theory was that it would adapt
Flashpoint. Either way, Rick Famuyiwa was later named the movie's new director (because he "provided a vision that would resonate with young viewers" according to the trades) and the casting process finally started to heat up...
Casting Central City
With Famuyiwa racing towards that 2018 release date, he chose Kiersey Clemons to play Iris West. The actress worked with the filmmaker on
Dope and beat the likes of Rita Ora and Lucy Boynton to the role. Variety later reported that Cyborg actor Ray Fisher would reprise his
Justice League role in The Flash, while Billy Crudup soon boarded the project as Henry Allen.
Jumping ahead for a moment, you'll no doubt be well aware that both Clemons and Crudup shot scenes for
Justice League. However, the former was completely cut, and we learned from leaked VFX images that Barry Allen was meant to meet Iris while saving her from a car crash (out of costume). Crudup, meanwhile, still appeared as Henry in Iron Heights alongside Miller's Barry.
The Rogues
Miller had nothing but good things to say about Famuyiwa during an interview at Comic-Con in 2016, and it was later confirmed that the director was putting his own stamp on the screenplay.
It was around this time that reliable sources started reporting that
The Flash's villains would be The Rogues or, more specifically, Captain Cold and his sister Golden Glider. This appeared to contradicted rumblings about a
Flashpoint adaptation and it instead seemed like that was a plotline being saved for the
Justice League sequels by Zack Snyder.
Those movies were definitely set to delve into time-travel, but we've never learned how
The Flash would have lined up with Snyder's post-apocalyptic vision of the DC Extended Universe.
More "Creative Differences"
We didn't even get to the end of 2016 before
The Flash lost another director to "creative differences."
Famuyiwa was reportedly hoping to deliver a slightly edgier take on the Fastest Man Alive, but pushback from Warner Bros. seemingly made things impossible for him; however, you can't really blame the studio, especially as the darker DC Comics movies that were released in 2016 were met with a mauling from critics (making them extremely cautious with
The Flash, it seems).
"I pitched a version of the film in line with my voice, humor, and heart," the director said.
"While it’s disappointing that we couldn’t come together creatively on the project, I remain grateful for the opportunity." As time passed, that 2018 release date looked increasingly unlikely.
Works Starts Over Again...Again!
It was back to the drawing board as 2017 began and Warner Bros. decided to task Joby Harold (
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword,
Robin Hood) with rewriting the screenplay from scratch. This meant we had to throw out everything we knew about the movie, and with
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald on the horizon, Miller's schedule was looking mighty busy.
With Clemons talking about making her debut as Iris West in
Justice League and Warner Bros. denying that Crudup had left the DC Extended Universe alongside Famuyiwa, rumors started swirling about who would next direct the project.
Back to the Future helmer Robert Zemeckis was named a favourite, while Sam Raimi and Matthew Vaughn were also said to be on the list of frontrunners. There were even claims that Lord and Miller could be asked back to work on the movie, something that got fans very excited indeed.
Flashpoint!
Those talks never led to anything significant, and as another Comic-Con rolled around, we got confirmation from Warner Bros. that the movie was set to be titled
Flashpoint. As we mentioned a little earlier, there were rumours about this being an adaptation of that storyline since day one, but it was made finally official, and it looked like the studio had a solid direction to take this solo outing in.
Aquaman and Wonder Woman were rumoured to appear, and it looked like Harold's screenplay was finished.
That may sound like good news, but as the year started winding down, we heard that Warner Bros. was waiting to see how
Justice League did before making any decisions about
Flashpoint and President Toby Emmerich explained that while they were closing in on a director, the movie's budget had made them somewhat cautious about shooting it.
More Directors Enter The Mix
Geoff Johns confirmed that Batman would be in
Flashpoint, and all the signs were pointing to that being Jeffrey Dean Morgan (reprising his role as Thomas Wayne from
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). It was all rather exciting, but there were clearly still issues behind the scenes, along with rumblings that Warner Bros. wanted to recast Clemons before her scenes leaked online.
While this was playing out, Ben Affleck's time as Batman also appeared to be winding down, but there were reports that he would show up in
Flashpoint as a "passing of the torch" of sorts.
On the plus side, the movie once again got new directors, this time in the form of
Spider-Man: Homecoming writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Reliable sources revealed that Ben Affleck was also offered the director's chair but it seems as if he wasn't really that interested.
A Whole New Story
With another rewrite in the works from the newly appointed directors, plans changed yet again and the movie lost the
Flashpoint title. Apparently, Warner Bros. was looking to cast the likes of Caitlin Snow and Heatwave, while Officer Fred Chyre would have appeared as a Keystone City cop working with Barry Allen to investigate the death of Jonathan Chambers/Johnny Quick.
Dr. Arthur Light, meanwhile, was said to be
The Flash's lead villain and it was claimed that
"the film would include some references or potential flashbacks to Barry's accident, an accident we're told that will include Eobard Thawne in an interesting way." The movie was definitely shaping up to be a solo outing rather than what almost appeared to be a spinoff
Justice League movie.
Some Crazy New Ideas
As work continued on this new version of
The Flash, a few different names were added in behind the scenes role but shooting clearly wasn't going to begin until 2019. A 2021 release date was a possibility, while Miller promised
"a f*cking crazy-dope Flash movie" in one interview.
Suddenly, things got real quiet with this DC Comics adaptation and while generic updates kept popping up regarding shooting dates, it was clear that nothing was set in stone at this point in time.
The actor would go on to tease a "Speedster Multiverse" and it definitely sounded like Daley and Goldstein had some pretty big plans. However, things then got seriously weird for
The Flash.
Competing Screenplays
Clearly unhappy with the direction
The Flash was heading in, Miller chose to team up with comic book writer Grant Morrison to write his own version of the screenplay. While
The Game Night directors were planning to deliver a lighter, comedic take on the character, Miller wanted to take things down a darker route similar to what Snyder once had planned for this shared world.
However, this same report made it clear that Warner Bros. was happy with Daley and Goldstein's vision, and while they were happy to indulge Miller, it didn't sound like they were overly keen.
At the time, we heard that the actor could end up leaving the project if Warner Bros. chose not to go with his and Morrison's screenplay and while we've heard nothing about that since then, the studio once again decided to take the Scarlet Speedster's movie in a new direction...
Another Fresh Start...And A Possible Release Window
Due to "creative differences" (again), Warner Bros. instead turned to
IT: Chapter 2 director Andy Muschietti to take the helm of the movie. The script they worked on was thrown out - along with Miller's - and
Bumblebee and
Birds of Prey scribe Christina Hodson is now said to be writing a new version.
Miller is still attached to star so he must be happy with this compromise, but with the studio starting over yet again, production now isn't expected to begin until next January. As a result, a movie originally set to be released early last year is now taking aim at a 2021 or 2022 release date. Well, hopefully!
After all, with so many creative problems surrounding
The Flash, it's hard to say whether Muschietti will stick around, and there's still a chance Miller will decide against starring in the movie.
It's been quite a saga for The Flash but things are finally starting to look up for the DC Comics movie. We hope! What do you guys think the future holds in store for the Fastest Man Alive?