With the release of Birds of Prey, also known as: Birds of Prey: And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, audiences and fans alike are wondering where the cinematic universe is headed next. After Justice League was released into theaters, the films from the “DC Extended Universe” have experienced a total tonal shift from the previous Zack Synder films.
While Wonder Woman was not directed by Zack Synder but by Patty Jenkins, the film was still molded by what Zack Synder setup with Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman. I believe it is safe to say that Zack Synder’s films in the series were not all that well-received by the critics.
The first film in the series, Man of Steel, received “rotten reviews” totaling the score on the highly utilized, Rotten Tomatoes website to a 56%. Just to state the obvious, that does not mean that the film received a rating out of 100.
It simply means that 56% of critics actually liked the film. Another example of this is his second entry to the series, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, or simply, Batman v Superman, received a 28% on the aggregator site.
However, Synder’s films were well-received by fans of both Batman and Superman. His third entry in the DCEU was Justice League. Unfortunately, that did not pan out. Director Zack Synder faced family tragedy and thought it was best to step down from the project. Joss Whedon, director of Marvel’s Avengers, was hired to take Zack Synder’s place.
Yet again, Justice League faced disapproval from critics. But why do critics matter? Unfortunately, we live in a society where people do not make up their own opinions rather they listen to others and let them decide if they should watch something or not. One could be forgiven for thinking that a film such as Justice League would make at least $800 million dollars at the global box office. The film went on to make a disappointing $660 million worldwide.
That is indeed a lot of money but after taking away the ridiculously expensive budget of $300 million dollars and marketing costs, there is not much left. It was after this disappointing outcome that Warner Bros. decided that they needed to change some things up. While I thoroughly enjoyed all the films in the series, it would be ludicrous not to have some sort of change. All the bad press was affecting the way these films performed at the worldwide box office.
At that point, the only film in the DCEU that received high praise from both critics and audiences alike was in fact Wonder Woman. It is worth noting that Wonder Woman was really the only film in the series that was light-hearted in tone.
If doing something one way is successful, mimic it! That is exactly what Warner Bros. did. Aquaman was released a little over a year after Justice League and it was received fairly by audiences. Despite the tone being different from the last films, Aquaman went on to make $1.1 billion dollars.
Warner Bros. and DC followed this success with Shazam. I believe Shazam is an interesting case however. Shazam is not by any means a well known character such as Batman or Wonder Woman but the trailers seemed to have appealed to some people.
While the film did not perform outstandingly at the box office, it did receive similar ratings and scores from audiences and critics such as Wonder Woman did. Not only was the film critically praised, it also allowed the studio executives to move forward with a sequel to the film.
The next installment in the DCEU, Birds of Prey, is currently in theaters and is getting excellent praise from audiences and critics alike. I am actually very happy to see that all the post-Justice League DCEU films are doing pretty well critically and financially.
It is always exciting to see someone and something do better for themselves. Studio heads at Warner Bros. realized that their films were not doing as well they would have thought, so they took action to better things.
It is also a pleasure to see that Margot Robbie is back as Harley Quinn. Audiences got their first glimpse at Margot as Harley in Suicide Squad, which was neither well-received from critics nor movie goers. I would not be surprised if another Harley Quinn centric film is announced soon.
So what’s next for the DCEU? Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is making a return in Wonder Woman 1984. The wait is almost over because the film arrives in theaters on June 5th. The wait may be a little long but fans of the millionaire by the day, vigilante by night, can expect a Batman solo film in summer of 2021.
The film is titled, The Batman, and features Robert Pattison donning the cape and cowl of Batman. Following the announcement that Pattison would be the next Bruce Wayne, there was a bit of an uproar on social media (when isn’t there?) about his casting.
Ben Affleck, who was the previous Batman in the series, also received a ton of backlash when he was announced as the next Batman. When Affleck announced that he would be retiring the cape and cowl, fans also went into uproar because they did not want him to leave quite yet.
Fellow SXU student, Bobby Rivera, expressed his opinion about the casting. He said, “I’m not a big fan of the Twilight films that he stars or his acting in them. But I know that there’s more movies he’s been in and he has totally advanced his acting chops.”
Nursing student, Jessica Magana, said: “I started screaming when he was cast as Batman. I watched every Twilight film in theaters and I’m excited for him.”
The Batman was previously reported to have more of a “noir-esque” type of feel, so it is going to be interesting to watch how the audience reacts to this theme change in the series. Audiences can judge for themselves on June 25, 2021.
The highly anticipated, The Suicide Squad, is set to be released in August of 2021. This again will star Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and a group of famous stars such as: John Cena, Idris Elba, Viola Davis, and Pete Davidson.
What fascinates me the most about this project is that James Gunn, director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, took this gig after being fired from Marvel for past inappropriate tweets.
He recently said on Twitter that this was his favorite project he has worked on so far. We can only wait as to what James and company are cooking in the kitchen.
While the DCEU is very different than what is was when it first began with Zack Synder’s Man of Steel, fans and movie goers have seemingly (for the most part) been on board for this new take.
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