Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom opened last week and, to put it bluntly, it's already the fourth DC Extended Universe failure this year. Shazam! Fury of the Gods fell well below its predecessor both critically and commercially, while The Flash was far from one of the best superhero movies ever made.
Blue Beetle, meanwhile, managed to find critical success only for no one to watch it.
Back in January, DC Studios announced its DCU slate, dubbing it "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters." For many fans, it was a sign that they needn't bother watching 2023's DCEU offerings because they soon wouldn't matter. An exciting tease for the future has become a costly mistake for Warner Bros. Discovery, and as 2023 winds down, we have more questions about James Gunn and Peter Safran's plans than ever before.
Attempted clarifications have led to increased confusion and between controversial casting decisions and convoluted, often contradictory, explanations on social media, the DCU is close to feeling as chaotically muddled as the DCEU before it.
We want this reboot to succeed and the brand has nowhere to go but up from here. However, we'd still like these questions to be answered...
5. What Is And Isn't Canon?
This is a question that's been bugging a great many fans, largely due to what often feels like conflicting statements from Gunn on social media. Blue Beetle underperformed earlier this year, but Jaime Reyes will be part of the DCU; does that mean his origin story and that big Ted Kord tease are canon?
Peacemaker will get a second season, while Amanda Waller will take centre stage in her own series after previously being featured in the Suicide Squad movies. So, how much of what we've seen from their respective DCEU adventures matters in the DCU? Did Christopher Smith meet the Justice League and, if not, did all that character development we saw in Peacemaker season 1 still happen?
DC Studios is picking and choosing elements from the DCEU to make canon, heightening confusion in the process. These are questions which have both minor and major implications depending on how much time you spend mulling them over. However, they wouldn't need to be answered if the DCU had been a true reboot.
4. When Are All Those Movies And TV Shows Coming?
Once upon a time, Warner Bros. announced an entire slate of DCEU movies. Most of them didn't happen and only a couple met their planned release dates.
With that in mind, we can't criticise DC Studios too much for not sharing release dates when "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" was unveiled nearly a year ago (in fact, the Hollywood strikes would have likely pushed most of those back, anyway). However, as we head into 2024, some clarity would be appreciated, as would release windows which offer a better idea of how - and, more importantly, when - this slate will head our way.
There have been rumblings that more movies and TV shows will be added to Chapter 1, but seeing as most of the projects we know about still don't have creative teams, it all feels eerily similar to Warner Bros.' low-key DCEU slate reveal. Does anyone really think that the Themyscira TV show is happening?
3. Will Everything Be Part Of The DCU Or Not?
Gunn recently had to clarify his previous comments that everything will fall under the DCU umbrella, suggesting he didn't quite mean it that way. We kind of think he did, only for it to become apparent in the months since that movies, TV shows, cartoons, and video games all becoming DC Studios productions isn't at all realistic.
It also doesn't make sense from a business perspective; quality video games can take up to half a decade or more to create, so what happens if Superman: Legacy bombs (we highly doubt it will) and Rocksteady is in the thick of creating a game based on that specific Man of Steel? What about those lucrative direct-to-DVD DC movies? Are those just going to be shelved for DCU productions? Hardly.
The "Elseworlds" banner will go some way in helping with this, of course, though Gunn recently revealed that Joker: Folie à Deux won't have that banner because DC Studios wasn't directly involved. The waters have been muddied and it might be wiser for the newly created production company to focus on its own content.
2. Just How Different Will The DCU And DCEU Be?
Now, in DC Studios' defence, this isn't really something they can show off until Creature Commandos and Superman: Legacy both head our way. Still, with more than a few DCEU characters making the leap to the DCU, we can't help but wonder how different - or similar - these worlds will be.
It would be childish at this stage to ignore the fact Gunn has enlisted many of his friends and family from the DCEU to join him (Viola Davis, John Cena, Sean Gunn, Nathan Fillion, and Steve Agee are among those being given new or the same roles) and that's his prerogative as DC Studios' co-CEO. However, it blurs the line and lends weight to the argument this is more of the same rather than a full-blown reboot.
Yes, we're about to meet a great many characters who never appeared in the DCU, but both visually and tonally, we don't know where this shared world is heading. There's plenty of time to find out, of course, but there are ways for DC Studios to start teasing and explaining this beyond Gunn's social media updates.
1. Is The Brand Too Damaged?
When all is said and done, it will likely be down to moviegoers and fans to answer this question. 2023 has been a disaster for the DCEU, with not a single movie grossing more than $275 million worldwide. Outside of Blue Beetle, they've failed to strike a chord with critics as well, and despite Marvel Studios' recent missteps, how do we know "superhero fatigue" isn't "DC fatigue"?
Gunn is a filmmaker and he may not want to throw his fellow creatives under the bus by openly criticising their DCEU movies. However, candidly acknowledging that they had issues which the DCU will address could help restore some faith in the brand and make it clear this reboot is delivering something new beyond what currently feels like a mission to recast major characters.
The DCEU is dead. It had its run; we don't need to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse and, morbid curiosity aside, who wants to #ReleaseTheAyerCut beyond David Ayer? It's time to move on and admitting that what came before didn't work is fine.
The DC brand is close to being damaged beyond repair and while a great Superman movie can help with that, it will by no means be a guaranteed fix even with an eighteen-month gap between Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Legacy's release. We don't want the DCU to fall at the first hurdle, but DC Studios will have its work cut out to save this franchise.
Bonus Question: Is Gal Gadot Returning s Wonder Woman Or Not?