10 DCEU Trends The DCU Needs To Change

James Gunn’s new DC Universe must avoid several DCEU trends and mistakes that played against DC’s first cinematic universe. The DCEU, as in the continuity of movies and TV shows that began with 2013’s Man of Steel, comes to an end in 2023. Whether the DCEU’s final movie is The Flash or Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom remains to be seen, but the fact is that a new DC universe will begin. James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios are crafting a new franchise that will include movies, TV shows, animated releases, and video games. Superman: Legacy (2025) will be the DCU’s first theatrical movie, introducing a new Superman.

Henry Cavill will not be Superman in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. Likewise, The Brave and the Bold will see a new Batman that is not Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, Robert Pattinson, or George Clooney – despite how The Flash ended. Some DCEU characters, such as Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, will return in this new continuity. However, DC Studios’ DC Universe is by all means a reboot that will start a new DC cinematic franchise. Here are 10 DCEU trends that Gunns’s DC Universe needs to avoid.

9 The New DC Universe Needs An Overarching Plan (& Stick To It)

A successful cinematic universe needs an overarching plan, even if not every single movie and TV show is planned years ahead. Fortunately, DC Studios’ DC Universe slate reveals that this new franchise already has a plan for the future. The DC Universe’s chapter 1 is called “Gods and Monsters” and already includes multiple theatrical movies, live-action shows, and animated series. That said, laying out a plan is not enough. The new DC Universe must avoid the DCEU’s original mistake and stick to its plan. Most of the originally announced DCEU movies either did not happen or were significantly reworked, which may have played against the franchise in the long term.

8 The New DC Universe Cannot Course-Correct Every Time That A Movie Fails

Every franchise that goes on for several movies will eventually encounter some flops. Major IPs like Transformers, Star Wars, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have had a few box office disappointments, which should not always lead to major course corrections. One of the DCEU’s biggest mistakes was drastically changing its plans every time something did not work. For example, the Justice League reshoots made the Batman v Superman sequel significantly different from previous DCEU films in terms of tone. Making adjustments based on how audiences are receiving the DC movies is not a problem, but completely changing plans after a couple of films is a flawed strategy.

7 The New DC Universe Must Keep Studio Interference To A Minimum

Studio interference is part of every blockbuster, even more so when it comes to franchises based on major IPs. From Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever having to be lighter than Tim Burton’s Batman Returns to Justice League (2017) drastically changing the tones of characters like Batman and Superman, DC has a history of course correction caused by studio interference. Even though this is ultimately part of how blockbusters are made, what happened with the DCEU should not happen with the new DC Universe. The franchise that began with Man of Steel saw itself in the middle of behind-the-scenes controversies, leadership changes, and studio restructures that directly affected several of its movies.

6 The New DC Universe Cannot Sideline The Justice League Heroes

Justice League was a box office disappointment that, added to the behind-the-scenes controversies surrounding the movie, caused the DCEU to steer away from the Justice League. However, even though Justice League did not work, the DCEU should have never sidelined its most important heroes. DC Comics is more than Batman and the Justice League, but there cannot be a DC Universe without those characters. Sidelining the Justice League heroes and leaving the fates of characters like Superman and Batman uncertain is a tiresome DCEU trend that the new DC Universe cannot repeat. Interestingly, Gunn’s DC Universe slate currently doesn’t include a Justice League movie.

Related: Every Upcoming DC Movie In 2023 And Beyond

5 The New DC Universe Cannot Waste Great Castings With One-Off Appearances

One of the worst DCEU trends is introducing exciting new characters played by great actors, only for them to never show up again. For example, Birds of Prey introduced Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), yet none of them ever returned for another DCEU project. Similarly, Suicide Squad expanded the DCEU’s canon with characters like Deadshot (Will Smith), Katana (Karen Fukuhara), and Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), only for them to never show up anywhere else. The new DC Universe should value returning characters to build a sense of interconnectivity, which the DCEU never truly achieved.

4 The New DC Universe Has To Feel Like An Interconnected Franchise

The DCEU’s worst trends contributed to it never gelling like an actual shared universe. Instead, there were many “universes” within the DCEU. For example, the Zack Snyder movies were telling a specific story in what became known as the Snyderverse. The Suicide Squad was a sequel but also a soft reboot to Suicide Squad, and it tied to Peacemaker. The Peacemaker series featured the Justice League, yet it referenced characters and events that were never portrayed in other DCEU movies. Birds of Prey acknowledges Suicide Squad’s Joker but ignores Ben Affleck’s Batman or J.K. Simmons’ Gordon. This is something the new DC Universe must avoid.

3 The New DC Universe’s Interconnectivity Must Be More Than Random Cameos

Without Justice League sequels or any other type of major crossovers in its slate, the DCEU failed to feel like a shared universe in the long term. Even still, the franchise tried to keep some interconnectivity with a few cameos and namedrops, which did not work. Shazam’s headless Superman scene, the shot from Joker from behind in Birds of Prey, and the Justice League characters played by stand-in actors in Peacemaker were all disappointing cameos that showed how complicated the franchise had become. Likewise, Wonder Woman appearing in Shazam! Fury of the Gods or Barry recalling Justice League adventures that never happened on screen were part of poor world-building.

2 The New DC Universe Cannot Abandon Important Characters For Several Years

Henry Cavill’s Superman stayed away from the big screen from 2017’s Justice League to 2022’s Black Adam. Likewise, after appearing in Justice League, Ben Affleck would only return as Batman in 2023’s The Flash. Similarly, five years will have passed since the first Aquaman by the time Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hit theaters. Part of what makes a shared universe like the MCU so interesting is the possibility of revisiting these major heroes regularly. The new DC Universe is set to feature dozens of heroes, but it cannot abandon its most important characters. For example, David Corenswet’s Superman should not appear only in Superman movies.

1 The New DC Universe Must Combine Smaller Releases With The Event Films

Black Adam, Shazam 2, and Blue Beetle proved that movies based on lesser-known characters will struggle at the box office if they are not tied to an established franchise. The MCU’s Phase 2 show that, after hits like The Avengers and Iron Man 3, audiences were ready to meet characters most people had never heard of – such as the Guardians of the Galaxy. The DCEU, on the other hand, introduced new heroes like Shazam and Blue Beetle while keeping most of the Justice League heroes away from the big screen. James Gunn’s DC Universe must find a balance between major projects like Superman: Legacy and riskier releases like The Authority.