The release and re-edit of a recent Black Adam trailer have caused some controversy, highlighting DC’s difficult Justice League position.
Some controversy has surrounded a recent Black Adam
trailer, which only highlights DC's Justice League challenge. In recent years,
the DCEU has had an identity crisis, with the franchise lacking a consistent
direction. With the fanbase split and the future of the DCEU uncertain, DC is
in a difficult position - and the Black Adam controversy proves it worse.
From
its debut, Zack Snyder was meant to helm the DCEU after it was tied to his
movie Man of Steel. His next film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, was
received poorly by critics and general audiences, causing DC to want to take a
different direction. DC brought on Joss Whedon to finish Justice League after
Zack Snyder left due to personal reasons, but instead of completing Snyder's
vision, Whedon took a wildly different course. Justice League went through
extensive reshoots and severe cuts, with Joss Whedon's Justice League being
released in 2017 to even worse reception than Batman v Superman. After an
extensive fan campaign, DC allowed Snyder to complete his vision, releasing
Zack Snyder's Justice League (a 4-hour-long director's cut) in 2021, which
audiences and critics saw as a great improvement. However, Whedon's version of
Justice League is currently considered canon to the DCEU, and with a continuing
movement to #RestoreTheSnyderverse, DC has some major choices to make in the
near future.
Black
Adam is the next film in the DCEU, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
as the titular villain-turned-hero. The film has caused controversy because
Warner Bros has removed footage of Joss Whedon's Justice League from a Black
Adam trailer that highlighted the biggest moments from the DCEU. The shot in
question was of Steppenwolf swinging his weapon into the ground, with Darkseid
being the one to do this in the Snyder Cut. Although The Rock released a
"corrected" version on Twitter, the updated trailer simply removes
the shot rather than replacing it with the Zack Snyder's Justice League
version. This choice doubles down on the fact that the Snyderverse isn't canon
to the DCEU, causing many to wonder how DC will clean up the mess they've
created.
The
DCEU Needs To Leave Joss Whedon's Justice League Behind
Although
it is currently canon, DC really needs to distance itself from Joss Whedon's
Justice League. The film's failure and the Snyder Cut's success demonstrates
that there are few fans there isn't an audience that wants to see Whedon's
vision expanded upon. The Snyder Cut is a much better version of Justice
League, and there is an audience that wants to see the Snyderverse continued.
Story-wise, the Snyder Cut and Joss Whedon's Justice League are very similar,
meaning that the DCEU wouldn't have to change all that much if they ditched the
Whedon version. Joss Whedon's Justice League is one of the worst-reviewed
superhero films of the 2010s, and keeping it canon only hinders the DCEU rather
than helping it.
Why WB Won't Make Zack Snyder's Justice League DCEU Canon
The
DCEU will probably never make Zack Snyder's Justice League canon to the DCEU -
and some of the reasons are valid. While the Snyder Cut is a stronger entry
than Whedon's version, Zack Snyder's vision has already failed DC in the past
with Batman v Superman, and they don't want to risk that happening again.
Furthermore, while the Snyderverse does have an audience, it's not certain that
the audience is big enough to support a cinematic universe. The
#RestoreTheSnyderVerse movement is loud, but it's impossible to gauge exactly
how big it truly is. The DCEU has found recent success in more independent DCEU
films like Shazam! and The Suicide Squad, and shifting directions back to their
original plan (which already failed once) in order to appease an audience of an
undetermined size simply isn't a risk Warner Bros. wants to take. While it
might be great for Zack Snyder's Justice League to become canon, it will
probably never happen.
What Will The Justice League's DCEU Future Be?
Whedon, Snyder, Or Reboot?
Justice
League's DCEU future has three options: keep the Whedon Cut canon, make the
Snyder Cut canon, or just reboot everything - and it seems like the third
option is the direction DC is headed in. With rumors that The Flash will reboot
the DCEU's continuity, DC seems to be shifting towards the DCEU being a series
of loosely connected films that aren't really building up to anything. Although
Ben Affleck will reprise his role as Batman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,
major players like Henry Cavill and Ray Fisher will probably never return to
the franchise. On top of that, there are no known Justice League sequels in
active development, meaning that the universe going through a soft reboot is
likely. It seems that the DCEU will mostly ignore the events of Justice League,
instead building up a cast of new characters that could make up a potential team
- and Black Adam's Justice Society of America may be the first step in this
direction.
This story was originally featured on screenrant.com
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