The DCEU: Superman And The Flash To The Rescue

The DCEU is now a fully matured franchise and its upcoming Justice League films will do much to solidify its reputation amongst fans, for good or for ill. Here, our Ryan Mayer looks at the impact that Superman and The Flash can have on the franchise and the tone it is offering movie goers.

The DCEU: Superman And The Flash To The Rescue

One of the major things that the new DC Extended Universe has been criticized for is how the universe and the films have been very dark and lacked hope and optimism, which had been of the main staples of the DC universe until the most recent iterations of DC Comics characters. After the launch of the New 52 for DC Comics, many of their heroes were portrayed with darker tones and became darker characters in their own right. That is until recently, when Geoff Johns the Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics and Co-Head of DC Films enacted the new DC comics event - Rebirth. This new event added what was missing in the DC universe, which was hope and optimism.

As it was originally planned by the Heads of DC Films, this new universe was to start off with a dark tone and, over the years, they would implement the hope and optimism that people were looking for. However, Johns after being promoted, took a look at what has been missing in the DC Extended Universe and decided to dive right in and begin fixing it. He arrived a bit late in the production line for Suicide Squad, but was just on time for the Wonder Woman movie. Johns has now begun his fine-tuning for all of the DC movie scripts which are still in development.

Next year, we will be getting to see the next phases of the DCEU but we will also be seeing the beginning of the Geoff Johns era, where his changes to the movie universe will become more evident. You can already get a sense of the changes that Johns has begun implementing from the Justice League teaser trailer that was released during Comic-Con San Diego (SDCC) this year. The characters seemed like they had more hope and were way more upbeat compared to the previous films in the universe. One character that stood out among the rest was The Flash. He seemed very upbeat and excited to work with Batman as a hero, and even cut Batman off in the teaser trailer to tell him he was excited to join whatever team Bruce Wayne was recruiting for.

This Flash will serve as the main upbeat member of the Justice League who is excited to be the hero that he is and will most likely be stoked when he meets the other members of the League. In the limited amount of time we have seen this Flash he has already shown that not only is he smart and skilled, but that he is excited and just wants to have some friends. Notoriously, throughout DC Comics history, The Flash has been the one to bring light into a situation and tends to be the optimist out of all his Justice League counterparts. We still know little when it comes to this Flash's personality and humour, but it will be one of the major things fans look for in the Justice League movie when it comes out next year. 

Another hero to look out far as Geoff Johns goes about making his changes in the DCEU is Superman. Now many would say that this universe's Superman is already a darker character and would question how he could possibly bring hope and optimism into this world.

In a previous article I wrote I explained how Superman is currently on his first ark in the DC Extended Universe which is the birth, death, and rebirth of Superman. With the possibility that Superman is set to return in Justice League to a world that now idolizes him for his sacrifice, as well as a group of superheroes that have come together to protect the earth due to his sacrifice, things are looking brighter and more hopeful. 

His return will begin a new era for Superman, where he is now this idol and he will no longer feel like the world hates him but instead that they love him and will cheer him on especially on his return. Geoff Johns has stated recently in the Wall Street Journal that he aims to bring hope and optimism into this movie universe, starting with Wonder Woman and and Justice League.

Those who believe in the ability of Geoff Johns have reason to be excited.

 

Ryan Mayer is a Contributor to ComiConverse. Follow him on Twitter: @RMayer94