The DC Extended Universe (or DCEU) hasn’t reached the same consistent heights as its competitor, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU). Created in the wake of The Avengers besting The Dark Knight Rises at the box office back in 2012, DC quickly regrouped so they could catch up with Marvel, hoping to repeat the formula that made Marvel so successful for the past few years up to that point.
Though DC didn’t so much repeat the Marvel formula but rather jumped right into things, a bit too much so to speak. After the Superman reboot Man of Steel that was helmed by Zack Snyder, DC immediately began cranking out team-up movies, all with heavy involvement from Snyder, then went back and started giving each of its heroes solo films, which was the opposite of how Marvel would carefully introduce many of its characters through solo projects and then give us a team-up film once they were established.
The results of this approach were polarizing, as both critics and fans panned many of the earlier films for being too rushed, overly complex, and lacking a sense of fun. And it seems DC has heard their fans out. While they are still introducing many characters who are seeing time on the big screen for the first time, they are moving away from the overly dark, gritty approach they employed in the earlier films, as well as employing new creative teams for many of their projects still in development, now beginning to ignore many of the earlier films that Snyder had established.
And their last few films have seen much better results, with movies such as Wonder Woman and Shazam! seeing critical acclaim, and Aquaman also getting positive critical reception (though not as highly regarded as the others). As DC’s future begins to look a bit brighter, here’s a look back at their shared universe thus far, from worst to best.
7) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
While Marvel's movies were well-known for how fun they can be, Dawn of Justice is seen as essentially the antithesis of those films. For someone to crack a smile in this movie was rare, and it never felt like anyone had any fun in the making of this project. The color palette was incredibly dark, the material was very heavy, and everyone was constantly brooding. This was polarizing to fans who at this point were enjoying a mix of comedy and tragedy in their superhero films. On top of this, Dawn of Justice was only the second movie in the DCEU, and tried introducing way too much in one film. Before this film, Superman was the only established hero in the DCEU, and this film introduced more than a handful of prominent new characters, as well as a complex plot that was meant to carry over into a sequel. The movie was two and a half hours long, and fans still walked out of the theater confused due to the many unanswered questions. It did turn out that there were many scenes that were shot and then cut from the film due to time constraints, and when the extended version was released on home media, it was seen as an improvement as it made the story feel much more coherent. Despite the original version being panned by critics, the film wasn’t outright terrible though. The action was really well done and Ben Affleck gave a standout performance as Batman, among a sea of many wooden performances. However, with the story being confusing and the tone overly-grim, this has been one movie that DC fans have not wished to revisit.
6) Suicide Squad
Released right after Dawn of Justice, this film was by far less grim than its predecessor, though still encountered its own share of problems. Directed by action aficionado David Ayer, the film definitely felt a lot more fun, with its action sequences being even better, and even having many moments of humor injected throughout. This was mostly thanks to a solid cast that included a pitch-perfect Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Will Smith as Deadshot also had some solid one-liners in this one and did add to the fun, though his casting received some backlash from fans, as it really felt like it was just Will Smith being himself, rather than the beloved DC villain. Despite the improvements over Dawn of Justice, the film did suffer from some incoherency issues in the story, mostly when it came to Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress, who served as the antagonist in the film. Also, there’s the highly polarizing Jared Leto as The Joker. Not only did The Joker add very little to the film’s overall plot, the performance and overall take on The Joker was simply not that good. Giving him more of a gangster feel, this version of the beloved villain was much more obnoxious in his delivery, never really having anything funny to say. Yet, there was more than one scene devoted to this character, and the film would lose its momentum each time he appeared, causing some severe issues in both tone and pacing. Despite this, Suicide Squad is much more serviceable than the previous DCEU entry, and has many more redeeming qualities overall.
5) Justice League
The direct sequel to Dawn of Justice, this was also viewed as a much-needed improvement over the overly dark team-up movie. Though this still shared many problems of its own. While Ben Affleck was one of the best performances of Dawn of Justice, he’s completely wooden here, which may be in part due to the fact he was losing interest in the role at this point (he has since stepped down from the role). Meanwhile, there was still the problem of the DCEU trying to cram in a bit too much at once, as this became the first prominent appearance of The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg, as well as introducing many other beloved DC supporting characters. The plot still didn’t feel overly coherent, mainly in regards to its villain Steppenwolf, who felt even less memorable than some of Marvel’s worst villains. However, there were a fair share of positives. The film was by far much more light-hearted than either Dawn of Justice or Suicide Squad, especially thanks to many of the one-liners injected by both Ezra Miller as The Flash and Jason Momoa as Aquaman. The action sequences gave off a better sense of fun, while all the performances outside of Affleck’s were much better this time around. The tone was seen as a bit inconsistent, going from fun and light-hearted to reverting back to the overly-grim nature of Dawn of Justice at times. This was due to Zack Snyder having to step down from the project towards the end of production due to the death of his daughter, and Joss Whedon coming aboard for some reshoots. Whedon’s style is drastically different from Snyder’s existential tone, with Whedon having directed the much more light-hearted Avengers movies for Marvel previously. While this team-up film doesn’t reach the same great heights as its competitor, it was still a much-needed step in the right direction for DC.
4) Man of Steel
The first film in the DCEU benefited from being a mostly standalone project. While it did contain some subtle references to DCEU existing, this was already in the process of being made before it was decided to expand the universe and mainly focused on just being a good Superman story. And for the most part, it works. While the film does have the same dark tone that plagued Dawn of Justice, it’s not felt to as great of a degree. It’s definitely way more serious than it needed to be, as it really emphasized on the tragic side of Superman’s story. However, it did have plenty to make it much more memorable than its successors. Henry Cavill did a fantastic job as Superman, and the supporting cast was great, including Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, and a commanding Michael Shannon as General Zod, who has easily been one of the best villains in the DCEU so far. The action is also superb here, and while the amount of destruction caused here has received some backlash from fans, the effects were very well done. At two hours and twenty-three minutes, this one also did feel a bit long as well, filled with some brooding Superman moments that could have easily been cut down. However, despite its issues, this is one of the more legitimately good entries into the DCEU, and with the company focusing on its many new characters and moving away from its Justice League-centric films, is one that can easily get lost in the mix.
3) Aquaman
The first film in which DC began moving away from its early roots, Aquaman benefits from strictly focusing on its own world. It does contain some references to the previous films, though for the most part isn’t intent on building a laying the groundwork for other superheroes outside of the conflict going on in Atlantis. The film does have some moments of corny dialogue and doesn’t always have the best acting - in particular, the flashback sequences involving a young Arthur are extremely painful - but for the most part, this is a lot more in line with what audiences want from a superhero movie, which is something emotional, action-packed, yet at the same time, light-hearted and knowing when to have some fun. Its villains are easily much more fleshed out than those in Dawn of Justice or Justice League, with minor villain Black Manta arguably being much more interesting than the main villain, Orm. The visual effects are also solid, with Atlantis looking spectacular. The action, like all of DC’s other movies, is very well-done, with an explosive opening scene that perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Also, despite some poor dialogue and melodramatic moments here and there, for the most part, this does not take itself too seriously whatsoever. Jason Momoa keeps the tone mostly loose, constantly cracking jokes even when the stakes feel high, and keeping the film moving at a nice, brisk pace. Aquaman feels much more like a straightforward action movie than many of DC’s other ventures, and sets the stage well for hopefully what we should expect to see in future DCEU installments.
2) Wonder Woman
While Wonder Woman already made her big screen debut in Dawn of Justice and had some solid moments, it wasn’t until her solo movie released afterwards that she truly got to shine. Once again, this film works so well due to the fact that it operates mostly within its own universe, with the only references to the overall DCEU being a framing sequence set in the present day that references Bruce Wayne. While Suicide Squad injected some more humor than Dawn of Justice did, Wonder Woman went even further down that road, and was a mostly fun experience because of that. While Wonder Woman herself isn’t known for cracking jokes the way that Aquaman or The Flash does, there are some fairly humorous exchanges, as well as plenty of moments where the film doesn’t take itself too seriously, something that the DCEU was desperately lacking up until this point. On top of that, the film boasted some impressive visuals that for once went beyond just the action sequences, with the Themyscira sequences looking fairly solid, while the sequences taking place in 1918 America do a great job capturing the look and feel of the time era. The film has a plot twist that feels like it comes a bit too out of nowhere, and winds up being just a bit too long, at two hours and twenty minutes, but for the most part, the film moves pretty quickly, with the positives vastly outweighing the negatives. DC had actually beat Marvel to releasing the first female-led superhero film, and this was the perfect first movie to put them on the right path.
1) Shazam!
If movies like Wonder Woman and Aquaman were a step in the right direction for DC, Shazam is them finally hitting their stride. This movie is the total opposite of the completely dour Dawn of Justice, and feels much more like the fun superhero experience fans have wanted from DC all this time. As many people have noticed, the film is essentially a superhero version of the movie Big, and contains a lot of the wonder that film had on a much grander scale. The film also contains some excellent performances from Zachary Levi and Jack Dylan Grazer. There’s constant jokes made through this movie, sometimes with the film going on brief tangents for some excellent humorous exchanges that get some big laughs. The film isn’t without its faults, like just about any movie, but like Wonder Woman, the faults seem really minor in the grand scheme of things, and aren’t glaringly obvious to the point that they take away from the experience. Shazam is the movie audiences have been waiting for, and is hopefully a sign of much better things to come for DC.
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