The DC live-action universe has had a fascinating tenure in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. Warner Bros.' shared universe began with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, and quickly attempted to catch up to the MCU by skipping origin stories and going straight to ensemble movies. While fan excitement was significant , the trio of movie that followed Man of Steel failed to meet expectations, and were critical bombs.
Since then, the DCEU has shifted away from crossover-heavy projects, instead allowing directors to have more autistic autonomy over their massive blockbusters. It's a method that worked well for both Aquaman and Shazam!, but some fans are still left wondering if the long-gestating Booster Gold movie will ever come to fruition. Zack Stentz has been tasked with writing the project, and recently offered an update on the film's script, saying:
I do not know what’s going on with it right now, honestly. And I don’t know if the DC people know what’s going on with it. Their strategy seems to change depending on how […] most recent movie did. But I can tell you that a script has been turned in that the director and producer, Greg Berlanti, has proclaimed himself to be very happy with. And it’s something that’s ready to go, but DC and Warner Bros. would need to give the green light to it. The ball is in their court.
Well, this an interesting development. It looks like the Booster Gold script has been completed and given the thumbs up from Greg Berlanti. So the movie's potential life all depends on what Warner Bros. is planning for the future of the DCEU.
Zack Stentz's comments to Revenge of the Fans are sure to elicit a mixed back of emotions from the fandom. On one hand, there's something hopeful about his update. The Booster Gold script seems to be up to par, and director/producer Greg Berlanti seems happy with the final result. So if the DCEU actually moves forward with the movie's development, at least there's a strong base to work with.
Related: Upcoming DC Movies: What's Next For The Extended Universe
But while the Marvel Cinematic Universe typically releases release scheduled that span entire years, Warner Bros. is a bit more mysterious with the DCEU. Rather than announcing projects ahead of time, the studio is letting the success of each release influence the future of the shared universe. As such, the performance of upcoming movies like Birds of Prey, Joker, and Wonder Woman 1984 may be the deciding factor for Booster Gold's potential arrival.
Considering how Shazam! resonated with audiences, Booster Gold does seem like a solid choice to follow it. Booster is also inherently comedic and quirky, with his ego and futuristic origin often being the butt of jokes. He's a hero that isn't always taken seriously by members of the Justice League, and might be an opportunity for the DCEU to break new ground and keep things fresh.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a pretty well-oiled machine at this point. Aside from the firing of James Gunn last July, Phase Three went off without a hitch, and every single installment was a box office and critical success. Meanwhile, the DC Universe is only now hitting its stride.
Man of Steel helped kickstart the DC universe, with a more gritty and realistic version of Clark Kent's comic book origin. It has of Zack Snyder's stylistic signatures, and a strong cast in Henry Cavill and Amy Adams. And although the movie was the subject of some backlash after Snyder had the title character uncharacteristically kill off the villainous Zodd, Man of Steel's success was notable enough to inspire Warner Bros. to craft their own shared universe.
When it was revealed that Zack Snyder would be expanding the DCEU with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the generations of DC fans were very excited. The two iconic comic book heroes had never shared the screen in live-action, and the additional inclusion of Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman was enough to get moviegoers giddy with anticipation.
Unfortunately, the movie ended up being quite divisive and suffering poor reviews. But it still made money, and plans for both Justice League and Suicide Squad continued on regardless. But when neither of those movies managed to get good reviews or make the adequate amount of money, Warner Bros. went back to the drawing board to plan out the future of the DCEU.
Crossovers were put on the back burner starting with James Wan's Aquaman, which wholly focused on the title character played by Jason Momoa. Rather than setting up connections to the greater DCEU, Wan spent his time building the underwater world of Atlantis and its denizens. Aquaman also pushed some boundaries of the genre, with elements of horror and comedy helping to buoy (pun intended) the movie.
It's a pivot that seems to have really resonated with the public, as Aquaman made a ton of money at the box office. And following it's success, Warner Bros. revealed that both a spinoff and sequel will be coming down the pipeline. Like Zack Stentz stated above, Warner Bros. is making its decision about DC's future based on how each new release performs.
Shazam! followed Aquaman's lead, and was another movie focused on one corner of the DC Universe. This time, it was seeing the massive franchise through the eyes of its children. Shazam! went in on comedy, and brought a childlike wonder to theaters that was noticeably missing from the grittier comic book franchises.
DC will give another go at an ensemble project with Birds Of Prey, including a variety of Gotham City femme fatales. Let's hope that the studio has figured out how to balance a larger cast, and still provide the same quality as its most recent releass.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7th, 2020. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
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