After all this time, the official start of the DCU is within reach. Creature Commandoes is about to debut on December 5th which is the official kick off to the relaunched universe. The show is going to be filled with tons of action, humor, violence and heart. Then the first cinematic film will come to the big screens in the summer with Superman. These are just two of the first steps of the refreshed DCU. With other projects confirmed, the DCU has a clear map for fans to follow and projects fans are anticipating. But with a roster that has Superman, Batman, The Joker, Wonder Woman, John Constantine and many others, DC has to meet a lot of expectations with this rejuvenated cinematic universe. There is a lot at stake. A lot is riding on the success of the DCU. Anything that has a fandom has high expectation among the fanbase. So, what are these expectations that the DCU has to meet?
With any attempted shared cinematic universe, it will inevitably be compared to the MCU. Being in the same genre, no doubt the DCU will face those comparisons. But this is where the DCU could take a few steps from the MCU. Those movies are very similar to each other. Although each character brought in a little different flare that opened the door for some undertones, the base of each MCU movie was the same. But going off the DCU projects that have already been announced, there seems to be a lot of versatility already at play. And especially going off what Creature Commandoes has teased and what Superman is being shaped up to, the DCU has already revealed that it is willingly to play at different ends of a spectrum. Creature Commandoes with a playful, violent tone and Superman with a hopeful, family friendly angle. The DCU is willingly to use different rating systems to tell the best version of a story, something the MCU took a while to utilize. Plus, the main overarching story, whatever it is, will be told through films, animation, live action series, and video games. Again, something the MCU took a while to come around to. That is on top of the versatile characters the DCU will use. There’s science fiction, horror, spy thrillers, heroic stories, villains as heroes, old heroes, young heroes, all sharing the same stage from the start. It at least feels as if each project will be vastly different from each other. The MCU used that template for a long time. It did work for a while but got stale after some time. To give the DCU more life, versatility needs to be at the core of the universe’s existence.
For characters that have existed as long as DC’s rosters, certain ideas of how each character should be portrayed are a high priority among the fanbase. Batman has to be certain things. Superman must be certain things. Swamp Thing has to meet certain criteria. In DC’s last outing to create a shared universe, many of the characters got an overhaul. Those changes didn’t quite sit well among fans. But with James Gunn stressing the importance of Superman’s ‘boy scout’ personality, it’s believable that many of the other characters in other projects will receive that much respect. Superman has been pulled away from his boy scout, role model, beacon of hope trait for some type. In movies and games particularly, Superman has been sidelined in books to make room for Batman. But this film is feeling like the true form of Superman will finally be brought back. Since this is the first film, it has to set the tone for the rest of the universe. So, that accurate faithfulness will be present. Films tend to alter the traits of a character to perhaps make them more digestible for a larger, more main stream audience. Since, James Gunn is not going into that ‘evil Superman’ route, there’s reason to believe, he and his team will do their best to keep many of these characters as faithful to their comic book counterparts as possible. The version that fans have been following for decades and generations. A handful of the characters that will be appearing in the DCU have been brought to live action before. But for some drastic changes, either due to tone or creative constraints, those were quite different from their comic book version. Some of those iterations were unrecognizable, others were quite opposite to how their appeared in their books, more actually changed for the better. But at the end of the day, there’s too many fans that want to see the character they’ve been reading for so long to appear in live action that way. James Gunn and company are perhaps on that path already.
Due to a refreshed DC cinematic universe, this is a great opportunity for DC to reenter the conversation. For the most part, Marvel and DC seemed to be going neck and neck in everything they did in the past. When the MCU took off, it pushed Marvel well passed DC. But with all these DC projects coming out starring iconic characters, fan favorites and lesser-known characters, DC has a chance to step back into the picture. DC has a great line up of heroes and villains. Yet, have been sidelined mostly because Marvel has beaten them to the punch. Jut going off of impact and icon status, many of these DC characters should have arrived on scene well before their Marvel counterparts should have. And it’s not just Marvel’s success that has been this deepening shadow over DC. The Boys and Invincible have done their part as well. While all these superhero universes are blossoming, the one that set the table for them is falling by the wayside. Many of the movies, shows, and games that DC has put out during Marvel’s reign having just been whispers to Marvel’s booms due to the quality and quantity being so different. But when the DCU kicks off, it should at least bring attention back to DC. DC seems to just be in the conversation just on technicality but the DCU should aim to make DC so big again, where it could take the crown back from Marvel. That success will perhaps come later down the road but at first should at least get a large audience reinterested in DC. Another thing that DCU must do, make audience care for characters other than Batman. Batman is just one piece of lore, but by spreading that love around, that helps the whole universe get some love. Starting everything with Superman is a great start. The DCU has many things riding on its success. Perhaps the most important one is love for DC.
DC has a great chance to become greater than it is with the DCU’s success. Yet, certain things must be meant in order for the cinematic franchise to thrive. Since the DC brand isn’t at the quality many people want it to be, expectations not only need to be met, but exceeded. These are characters and worlds that people grew up watching and are still aware of. That type of passion from fans needs to be rewarded. With everything that has been confirmed and discussed, expectations for the DCU are starting to fall into place. These expectations should be the back of the fate of the DCU.
