credit: Justice League
Adults want to watch superheroes too. As kids, a lot of people idolized the heroes that are still around today, but as kids, it was easier to understand why things weren’t as bloody, why the violence only reached a certain peak, and why the villains were usually beaten up and placed in prison, since killing them didn’t appear to be the nice thing to do. After all, real heroes didn’t do those kinds of things. Zack Snyder kind of flipped the script on that by turning Superman into someone who would cause a tremendous amount of collateral damage, seemingly without thinking about it, as he did when General Zod threatened his mother. Batman has become much darker over the years, and even Wonder Woman has become a bit darker since she’s killed without giving it a second thought, which is far different from what many people might remember but is still practical and far more appealing since it’s most realistic. It would appear that James Gunn’s plans for the DCU might include a much more mature look at the heroes and how they operate. The future of the DCU could depend on a slightly more realistic take on the heroes and villains than before.
credit: Justice League
A more mature DCU could keep the adults happy and could still cater to younger viewers.
One has to remember that a lot of adults remember the stories from their childhood and have been waiting to see a more intense version of the stories they loved since the quick-witted but juvenile stories that many comic book movies have told over the years have grown a bit tiresome. A lot of fans want to see their heroes and villains react to life in a more realistic manner since this helps them to relate with the characters and hold them up as the examples they remember. There’s always room for a witty remark here and there, but the overall thought is that the DCU would benefit in a big way from exploring their characters in depth and sticking to what made them popular in the first place. By keeping them bound by their character types, it feels as though they might be easier for fans to enjoy and even see as examples of what heroes really are.
This wouldn’t help to compete with the MCU, but it would differentiate the DCU in a big way.
The overall need to compete with the MCU has been a constant since the competing franchise came into being, but at this moment, it’s easy to say that the DCU has a lot of ground to cover, even with James Gunn in their corner. It needs to be said that he won’t be turning the franchise around on his own since he will need to rely heavily on the directors and other individuals that will be brought in to keep the DCU moving forward. But what this current idea could do is differentiate the DCU from the MCU in a big way since it needs to be said, more than once, that in recent times, the MCUs biggest sticking point is that it is owned by Disney, which means that it’s going to be kept as family-oriented as possible, which means that it’s bound to be less bloody and more gimmicky at best, while the DCU has the chance to get bloody and show real life in all its horrible grandeur.
credit: Man of Steel
This idea could give rise to a more comics-accurate movie experience.
It could be more comics-accurate, but whether or not that will be the goal is hard to say since the DCEU has done kind of the same thing as the MCU in this regard when it comes to telling original stories. The comics have been used as the base from which each franchise has brought its best and brightest characters forward, but in terms of following the stories that have been laid out, it’s easy to take a look and state that a lot of the stories have been altered to such a degree that they can barely be equated with what’s been seen in the comics. If there is to be any increased accuracy, it would be amazing, but it would also be a little surprising.
It might not be considered a great idea right away.
Amazingly, it’s already been noted that Gunn hasn’t been the fan favorite that many thought would have been readily embraced, as some people have expressed their desire to see him fired from his current position already. But having worked with both companies, it feels easy to state that Gunn could meet with a little pushback when trying to establish the DCU as a dominant franchise once again. The first step isn’t bound to be the easiest, but it definitely needs to happen.
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