10 years after Zod’s snapped neck, Martha, “some kinda Suicide Squad”, CGI moustache, rennouncing your wish, the hiearchy of power changing, and Speed Force PS1 graphics, the DC Extended Universe finally comes to a close. And it ends the same way it started - with a Rotten score.

Looking back at all this wasted potential, what would you have done differently with the DCEU, and what are your hopes for James Gunn’s DC Universe?

  • Margot Robbie
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    467 months ago

    what are your hopes for James Gunn’s DC Universe?

    1. Harley needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine.
    2. Whenever Harley is not on screen, all the other characters should be asking, “Where’s Harley?”
  • Sheridan
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    467 months ago

    I wasn’t even aware a new Aquaman movie was being released.

    • kratoz29
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      117 months ago

      This is how bad the situation is.

      Hopefully it is decent, I liked the first one.

      • @frickineh@lemmy.world
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        247 months ago

        If the trailer is any indication (and I know it isn’t always), it’s bad and the cast is really phoning it in. Jason Momoa has never been a great actor but every word he says sounds like he’s reading it from notes he wrote on his hand. Nicole Kidman is like, “things are bad” with the same tone of voice I say, “we’re out of milk.” Just really terrible.

        • @MajorHavoc@lemmy.world
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          37 months ago

          In the history of Aquaman in the media, on the “wet sidekick for the water episodes of superfriends” scale, you’re describing a solid B+, though.

  • 🐑🇸 🇭 🇪 🇪 🇵 🇱 🇪🐑
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    317 months ago

    This is the case for when franchises get milked forever. They CAN’T die on a good note. Good notes is what promotes sequels. Only when they get a low note they start discontinueing.

    It’s why most franchise stories seem to end on dissatisfactory cliffhangers

    • @jordanlund@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Sometimes it’s not even “forever”. Wonder Woman '84 was only the 2nd film and it shit the bed so hard it not only killed any future WW movie, but it tanked the Star Wars movie the director was supposed to do next.

      • @jpreston2005@lemmy.world
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        17 months ago

        I mean, the first Wonder Woman movie was garbage too so…

        But hey the Zack Snyder cut of justice league was pretty dope

        • @jordanlund@lemmy.world
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          37 months ago

          First 2/3rds of Wonder Woman was fine, but it fell apart at the end. WW 84 though, eesh. Bell to bell just trash, except Pedro Pascal who is a joy!

    • @FanciestPants@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Does Logan count as ending on a high note, or is that just waiting to be sullied by bringing Hugh Jackman back into the franchise?

  • @mlg@lemmy.world
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    227 months ago

    Looking back at all this wasted potential, what would you have done differently with the DCEU,

    1. Don’t try to cash money imitate MCU
    2. Don’t try to compete in a saturated market with a similar product
    3. Hire actual screenwriters to plan continuity and style

    and what are your hopes for James Gunn’s DC Universe?

    Don’t try and just go back to animation since DC still dominates in that format.

    Pay morbillions to make Batman Arkham Alsume remastered remastered version

  • @jordanlund@lemmy.world
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    217 months ago

    #1 thing I would have done would have been putting Bruce Timm and Paul Dini in charge and left them alone.

    “Yeah, just like the animated stuff, but live action. GO!”

    • @roofuskit@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Did you watch Batman and Harley Quinn? No thanks. As much as I love Batman TAS, Bruce Timm should not be let near new Batman stuff.

      • Aa!
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        37 months ago

        That showed us that the Animated Series was so good because the network restrictions forced him and his team to be creative. When given full control, we get… Well, this and the Killing Joke

    • @DragonTypeWyvern
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      117 months ago

      Trying to make DC a gritty Marvel is what fucked it up for them.

      The core Justice League members are endlessly optimistic and idealistic, even Batman, and that is what makes them work.

      Having Superman let a tornado kill his dad is what makes it fail.

      • @TheFonz@lemmy.world
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        87 months ago

        Eh. I think the issue is they were half assed gritty. Either go balls to the walls or don’t. None of this gritty shit peppered with smarmy one liners every five mins. Commit goddammit.

        • @darkpanda@lemmy.ca
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          47 months ago

          I would have them study Superman and Lois. It’s the best on screen Superman since Reeve, and Tyler Hoeclin is the best Superman… probably ever. Even better than Reeve. Clark is a fully realized person and not just an identity for the off hours. Take some lessons from that series and you might have something.

  • UKFilmNerd
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    197 months ago

    When the review embargo was set for 15 hours after it opened in the UK, I knew the reviews weren’t going to be favourable.

  • southsamurai
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    177 months ago

    Hopes? None. Warner Bros. has no fucking clue how to use DC characters and ideas in theaters. They may get lucky with specific movies being decent, but the best movies are not even as good as the worst of the animated movies and series. They keep throwing money and names at live action, instead of focusing on telling good stories that stay true to the essence of the characters.

    I don’t see Gunn doing any better tbh. For one, he’s going to be hamstrung by whatever Warner decides is the goal. For another, he’s going to end up limited by whatever flawed view executives have of the servers characters. And then he still may not have a grasp of what either comics fans or non comic fans need from a movie featuring DC characters.

    • @TheImpressiveX@lemmy.mlOP
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      107 months ago

      For one, he’s going to be hamstrung by whatever Warner decides is the goal.

      Gunn confirmed that DC Studios is completely seperate from Warner Bros., they will just be distributing the films.

  • @Echo5@lemmy.world
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    157 months ago

    Iirc isn’t rotten tomatoes where you want to wait for the audience score because the critics are often out of tune with the audience? Not that I’m disinclined to believe the movie’s bad though, like you said DCEU has been pretty abysmal.

    • @MajorHavoc@lemmy.world
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      67 months ago

      Yeah. Aquaman is fun. And incredibly derivative.

      Critics are still mad they’re being forced to watch “superman, but underwater”. I get that, I feel for them. But I don’t feel for them enough to actually stop giving money to movies like “superman, but underwater”.

  • @delitomatoes@lemm.ee
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    137 months ago

    I think they may go the MCU way this time and start working up with D Listers. If you can make Blue Beetle or Lobo or whatever unknowns work in a good movie, the. You get half a decade before the big hitters reappear and are anticipated.

    Just put the A team on the animated series who seem to be doing a better job

  • @beebarfbadger@lemmy.world
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    127 months ago

    Remember when Jered Lettuce morbed all over his enemies in that epic scene in Morbius, the 2022 masterpiece? Yeah, me neither, but I heard it was totally awesome. They should hone in on that, do stuff with timelines and bring him back as Morbius, the eponymous hero of the 2022 masterpiece Morbius and then have the entire cinematic universe revolve around him, since he already has awesome brand recognition and everybody likes him. Also, everything should be dark, depressing and gritty. Great idea, right?

    Right?

    Guys?

  • @MajorHavoc@lemmy.world
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    77 months ago

    Yeah. There was so much wasted potential in the DCEU.

    But I don’t consider Aquaman wasted potential at all. I’m a fan of the comic, but the source material never tried to be Black Panther, so a movie that did wouldn’t have worked anyway.

    Considering “The Aquaman” made it to 2 films, I figure Hasbro will be calling Jason Mamoa to star in a “Seaspray” movie any minute. Maybe have him cameo as Boat-guy-wity-parrot in a GI Joe movie, just for good measure.

    My hopes for James Gunns version are pretty high. PeaceMaker is so lovingly made.

    I do worry because I haven’t seen James Gunn take on the unironically uplifting side of DC yet, and it needs to be there for the DCU to work.

  • @paddirn@lemmy.world
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    67 months ago

    I’m just confused at what the continuity is now. So with Aquaman 2, that’s the last of the old stuff and now it’s being rebooted with Gunn as DC’s Kevin Feige-esque person in charge? I feel like he’s been in that roll for over a year now, yet everything that’s been released is all part of the old continuity and was going to get phased out, so what was the point of all that then? Releasing stuff for a universe that’s getting scrapped (though will likely show up in 5-10 years in some crisis on infinity earths story or something).

    • @angrystego@lemmy.world
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      87 months ago

      Movie making and planning takes a lot of time and money. It’s done in advance. You can’t just stop everything that’s been in production from releasing.

  • @TheImpressiveX@lemmy.mlOP
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    67 months ago

    The thing I would have done? Don’t hire Zack Snyder to start a cinematic universe. And also tell him to take his daughter to a mental health professional.

    My hope for the future is that they actually do a Justice League movie based on “The New Frontier”.