With the latest news that Penguin may be in the new “The Batman” or the “Birds of Prey” movies, I needed to voice my opinion on how DC should move forward. It’s no surprise to anyone reading this that Justice League, Suicide Squad, Batman vs Superman, were not very good in comparison to the MCU movies (and I’m being nice). DC needs to up its game and do it quickly without causing or creating a train wreck full of sewage. The future of the DCEU depends on it.
The DCEU needs to begin with a setup movie, but that film needs to be complete and provide a foundation for its characters. Chris Nolan’s Batman Begins is an excellent example. The film shows Bruce Wayne’s journey to becoming Batman. For nearly three-quarters of the movie, the focus is on Bruce Wayne as Bruce Wayne. We don’t get to see “The Batman” until the remaining 30 minutes of the movie. This proves viewers don’t need a costumed fuck jammed down our throats within the first 20 minutes.
A new Batman film should be the next foundation movie. Batman is the most (or one of the most) well known DC characters and is sure to bring in movie goers. Batman is also arguably the most relatable character in the DC universe. He’s human with no super powers, just a guy running around with cool gadgets. He is richer beyond belief, which is pretty unrelatable but this is easily overlooked as there are billionaires in the real world. Anyone with the Wayne fortune could easily become or even fund a night time vigilante (they just might not be good at it).
I’m not saying we need to do an origin story again, that’s been done. DC needs to use Batman to introduce new characters and show the depth of them to stand on their own in order to spin off other movies. For instance, it would be amazing to introduce Nightwing and/or Batwoman into the series to help Batman solve a crime mystery. After all, Batman is a detective at heart.
By utilizing Nightwing, Robin and/or Batwoman, the viewers can get a Batman movie, be introduced to new characters to connect with, and ultimately give those characters their own movie and expand in those movies with more characters. This would be a great way to set up for a REAL Justice League, Birds of Prey or Teen Titans movie. If you don’t know who the women in the Birds of Prey are, then you are proving my point.
Lastly, DCEU needs to hire great people to create these movies, but those people need to be uber fans as well as possess great storytelling qualities. The company seems to just pick directors or staff that are recognizable and bankable. They are seriously considering Steven Spielberg directing one of the possible upcoming movies. I don’t know if Spielberg is a fan or not, but someone like Kevin Smith would be a better choice. Keep E.T. and T-Rex’s out of the DCEU.
I could go on and on and on about the potential script I would write for the DC Universe and the team I would bring together to start creating an ultimate cinematic DC universe, but I won’t. The main point is DC needs to start from scratch, and pretend everything after “The Dark Knight Rises” never existed. They should start with a singular character, set up for some spin off movies with lesser known characters, and through the spinoffs, bring in more well known characters (e.g. Superman).
