Making sense of the DC Extended Universe

Disclaimer: This article is going to be my very personal take on the DCEU so far. This might not be that palatable to some. But I just need to vent out this angst that I've been carrying since I saw the Justice League movie. So I don't think this is a review of the film. And hopefully you won't think that I'm defending Zack Snyder (even if it would sound like I'm a Snyder apologist), because I'm just writing this piece to get my head straight on whatever happened to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) in terms of how I took Snyder's vision when he started this whole thing. With that said. Justice League didn't work for me. I really do appreciate and I'm glad that a lot of fans and general audience seems to love this movie compared to the past DC movie outings (not including Wonder Woman) that had Snyder involved in one way or another. Sure Justice League was fun. It had humor. It had a Superman that for once in this iteration is acting like how Superman should be acting. And I'm truly happy to those who genuinely love the movie. However, Warner Brothers' attempt to give in to the formulaic demands of the general movie going audience fell flat on their face when it comes to the weekend box office numbers that they expected to match Avengers money. It was a no win situation at all the moment Snyder's name was involved in the movie. Despite trying to give in to the superhero movie standards dictated by the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) formula. Despite bringing in one billion dollars producing Avengers director Joss Whedon himself to save the movie. DCEU's attempt to go toe to toe with Marvel was just totally wrong from the inception. And that is me saying if the outright expectations of those involved that they could match Marvel's Cinematic Universe on the get go. Why? Because everyone could not wait for their own Cinematic Universe to develop. Everyone expected a lot in a fledgling Five film DC Cinematic Universe. Let me illustrate:


The Box Office Numbers

Given that DC was a late comer to the whole cinematic universe thing, they have outpaced the MCU in its initial 5 movie run while Marvel hit the One Billion mark with Avengers after a relative 5 movie build up. This with Justice League still in theaters and we still are far off from getting the final numbers. We also should omit the profit and loss in this argument for the meantime because we are not really privy to the actual costs. That being said, it is relatively unfair for Justice League to expect an Avengers like number box office number considering that there were no proper build up to each of the Justice League members in the same way that Marvel gave Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor their solo movies (I omitted Hulk because only a few could remember that the Edward Norton Hulk was actually one and the same with the MCU Mark Ruffalo Hulk). There was no audience empathy for the Justice League characters. And the very few characters like Superman and Batman, was far from being likable because both characters started on the wrong foot. Only Wonder Woman was truly loved by the viewing public. Superman and Batman were characters whose mythology in the DCEU was incomplete as of the moment. Whose mythology I believe would have come full circle if only Zack Snyder was allowed to complete his vision for the DCEU. Remember, Justice League was supposed to be a two-part movie. So to expect Justice League to achieve Avengers like money is ridiculous even if both of these teams are the premier superhero teams for both companies. So let's not use the Box office numbers when saying which film is superior. After all, we are not the Business executives who invested on these movies. I also don't want to touch on critics' opinions. Because their opinion is as good as yours and mine.


Superman Returns

Now much have been said about how flawed Snyder's vision of the beloved superhero characters. But from DCEU's initial inception, they were already playing catch up to Marvel's well executed cinematic universe. The MCU was already shifting its gears for the culmination of their cinematic universe's phase one when DC decided to enter the superhero cinematic universe game. While they were highly successful with their Chris Nolan Batman trilogy, that "Nolanverse" was a standalone trilogy that was too perfect for its own good. There was no way you could see that Batman interact with gods, immortals, and meta humans. DC had to start from scratch. And Superman was the chosen focal point for an expanding DCEU. Now Superman is not relatively an unknown cinematic figure like Iron Man was. Superman himself is dragged down by a heavy baggage full of nostalgia with the untouchable Christopher Reeve Superman mythology casting a heavy shadow over the cinematic character. Remember, DC tried to restore that Reeve Superman via the Brandon Routh starred Superman Returns. Director Bryan Singer tried to tug the heart strings of those who still love the Reeve Superman. And true enough, for a generation of critics who still love the Reeve Superman version, they gave the film favorable reviews. The movie however did not connect well with the "modern" audience. I for one generally like the movie, but I personally wanted to see more action. And that's also the sentiments of the majority of the viewing public during that time. DC could have opted to move the story forward and allow the character to progress, but they eventually pulled the plug for Singer's (and also to an extent Reeve's Superman) Superman. So what to do? Enter Zack Snyder.

Zack Snyder's Superman

Zack Snyder was a highly critcized visionary director who had previously made polarizing adaptations of classic DC comics property like Frank Miller's 300 and Alan Moore's Watchmen. To kick start the DCEU, Snyder and WB agreed to follow the tone of Christopher Nolan's highly successful Batman Dark Knight trilogy. The chosen tone was to ground Superman in realism in the same way Nolan's Batman was rooted in. And Superman, as an alien, would bring the unknown, fear, uncertainty to the world in a post 9/11 world. Instead of being given a Superman that wears bright colors and be accepted easily by humanity as a superhero from the get go, we are given a fresh take on his mythology. Unfortunately this darker tone did not sit well for many Superman fans and superhero fans in general who grew more accustomed to Marvel's way of presenting their superheroes. Which is, light, fun, humorous, and easily well loved by the end of their solo movies. But to give credit where credit is due, at least Snyder was brave enough to break the traditional mold of superheroes. After all, DC's superhero mythology (except Batman of course) is more larger than life when compared to Marvel's superheroes. Man of Steel was generally an alien invasion story, where an alien (Superman) is trying to find his way in a world that he wasn't born in. Perhaps, trying to bring in the ultimate immigrant story, Snyder was building a Superman mythology where our beloved hero is acting (or feeling) his way in a world where his place is unsure yet. I was totally sold in Snyder's vision that we can't just easily accept an alien in our world. And in the movie, Superman pretty much acts like his shoulder is heavily weighed by the dilemma of saving/resurrecting his home planet (and his entire species) or saving a world where he is alien to. So obviously, we won't be seeing the grand majestic Superman that we are accustomed to. And by the end of the movie, there emerged a Superman that was more menacing than lovable. Despite the fact that he saved the world from utter destruction and annihilation. But his story does not end there. And if you have understood his version of Superman, then you'd probably understood why Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice had to happen.

Build up to Justice League

Snyder's Superman would only bring two responses from humanity. One out of fear, and another one out of appreciation. Now I'm not saying that Batman V Superman was a movie without flaws. But there was a good narrative that Snyder intended to deliver but unfortunately was poorly executed in the theatrical version. One should watch the extended cut to fully appreciate the narrative that Snyder intended to communicate to the audiences. Batman's basic motivation was dealing justice and stopping the alien Superman from creating more destruction and damage to the world. He sees Superman as a threat. He wanted to keep this godlike alien in check. Superman on the other hand was a clueless superhero wanna be who wanted to save the world in ways that he knows. Perhaps to the point of being too naive to think he can save the world by himself. As per Snyder's iteration of this Superman, he's just a year and a half in his career as Superman. These concepts were not delivered by Snyder very well and perhaps were just too deep for audiences to consume after being spoiled by simpler superhero movies like the Marvel formula. The movie culminates with the Death of Superman. A payoff that I personally think kind of felt hollow because Superman wasn't that Super to the audiences at this point. It also didn't help that the introduction and cameos of the Justice League made the movie convoluted. Though DC fans surely got a kick seeing a couple of teases and concepts that served as a peek of a larger DCEU. Snyder pushing Superman's death imagery as hope and inspiration to Batman and Wonder Woman was a step in the right direction. Something which I personally think the pretty condensed Justice League movie ruined. A quick run down of Snyder's succeeding DCEU movies would give us Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman. Suicide Squad was the U.S. government's answer to build a meta human team (albeit by using villains) under their beck and call to be their weapon to fight against meta human threats. Their immediate answer to Superman's death. A plan that failed, which eventually gave Batman even more motivation to form his own meta human team. Wonder Woman on the other hand didn't do much in terms of pushing the DCEU forward as the movie basically happened in Wonder Woman's past. It does however tell the back story on how she eventually kept her heroic self from being involved in the world until that fateful night when she had to reveal herself to the world again by fighting alongside Batman and Superman in thwarting Doomzod (I don't wanna call it Doomsday because Snyder ruined the chance to make a more compelling Death of Superman movie adaptation by bringing in Doomsday too early in the game).

Joss Whedon's Justice League, Where did it go wrong?

So that brings us to Justice League. Whedon's Justice League. Again the movie was fun, exciting, and they got their heroes and tone right. A lot of my friends are raving about Superman finally being Superman. In fact, I totally love the fact that my son has now become a Superman fan when he used to gravitate towards Batman even if his Dad is a huge Superman fan with countless Superman collections littered all over our home. But now I just realized by writing this article, to appreciate Justice League, one would have to erase Snyder's previous works from being connected with Justice League. Because everything no longer makes any sense. Justice League is said to be a course correction. Let's just view it as a stand alone movie, a beginning of a new DCEU and forget about Snyder. Which is well and good for those who genuinely love the movie. But for someone like me who is totally invested on Snyder's vision, however flawed and incomplete it might be, JL ruined a much more interesting DCEU. A DCEU in the long haul that would have made more cinematic relevance than any Marvel movie in the past could ever do. Whedon had to stitch the movie within a limited time and resources to try to correct Snyder's Justice League. A tall order for someone who might not be totally into Snyder's vision. Snyder's DCEU world building is supposed to be rooted in a deeper and more meaningful mythology that would bring Superhero movie appreciation to a more mature level. I believe Snyder's Justice League would have redeemed his Superman in the right way possible to bring him to become the Superman that we are more familiar with. Originally intended as a two part movie, we would have seen a resurrected black suit Superman (under Steppenwolf's influence) fighting the league in Justice League Part One. Thus wonderfully connecting to Batman's Knightmare dream sequence from BVS. The Lois Lane as the key pay off would have even more meaning as revealed by Flash in Batman's dream sequence in BVS if it didn't feel so rushed like what happened in the JL movie. How could you explain the closing scenes in BVS where the dirt on Superman's casket began to float. Steppenwolf surely had a hand on it. And in the course of the movie, for sure Superman would have been redeemed and helped the League in combating Steppenwolf. And the talks about Superman being a symbol of hope, and inspiration, would have even more meaning. You see, I've been told many times too often by non-Superman fans about the ridiculousness of the idea of Superman as hope and inspiration to humanity. Inspiration for what? To choose to do good even at the face of insurmountable odds? They mockingly tell me that Superman is an immortal while we are only human. Superman can do heroic stuffs and not die unlike us mere mortals. What hope and inspiration are we talking about they tell me. But in the context of Snyder's DCEU, Superman is the symbolism of Hope and Inspiration for the Justice League to rally on. There must be a grand plan of Snyder on how to make this work. And a brighter, more heroic DCEU would have began with Superman. DC Heroes' inspiration for truth and justice. The people's hope that Superman could rally other meta humans to do good instead of turning into a life of crime. And this would have opened a floodgate of DCEU movies rooted on Superman as the anchor, inspiration, and moral compass in their respective movies. Warner's impatience ruined this opportunity to fix a darker DCEU through more meaningful means. By letting a half baked Whedon "repair" Justice League, it only ruined Snyder's DCEU movie building. We now have before us a Justice League movie that is fun, humorous, exciting, full of fan service, but has an empty soul. No one could seriously connect Whedon's Justice League to any of Snyder's past movies. It's a stand alone Justice League movie, period. Therein lies my disdain for the Justice League movie before me. Perhaps by being too "invested" on Snyder's vision, I've ruined myself from thoroughly enjoying the movie. To me the movie felt empty. Disposable as a one off fun popcorn feel good movie and then totally forget about it in the succeeding years to come. It won't be as meaningful as say Reeve's Superman movie.
               
Flashpoint Is The Key

The best thing WB could have done was to at least let Snyder finish his Superman trilogy. Flashpoint is just around the corner to clean up the mess in case Snyder continues to screw up. Flashpoint was the best "course correction" vehicle for WB to pick up/build new universes where they could probably follow the Marvel formula without ruining the Snyder DCEU's mythology. It's a clean slate where they could push a new narrative for their DCEU. They could even use the "Dark" Snyder DCEU as Flash's motivation to set things right. There's a reason why I totally love Fox's X-Men: Days of Future Past so much. That movie totally rebooted their X-Men franchise without ruining the well loved original X-Men trilogy. Not only that, but by introducing alternate timelines, they are afforded to come up with stand alone movies like Deadpool and Logan without muddling their cinematic universe. It also gave directors creative freedom to do what they want to do with other X-Men properties without sacrificing the tone of their main cinematic universe. Imagine the possibilities if Flashpoint became the rebooting vehicle for DCEU. But then the Flashpoint movie is still currently in flux. They might still go the rebooting way like how I said it, but there's a real danger that Flashpoint would be cancelled if JL's final box office tally won't satisfy WB. To move forward in this highly contentious and debatable "course correction" for DCEU, Warner Brothers should exercise more patience. During the production of Justice League, Warner was still unsure on the direction that they would want their DC properties to take. Now that they have chosen a path with this course correction via JL, it would be best for them to follow through from Justice League and not second guess themselves on what course to take. If they want to follow the Marvel Formula because they believe that this is what the audience wants, then the hell just do it. Just make sure that DCEU won't be a pale comparison to Marvel's Cinematic Universe. And they also better hope and pray that sticking to a certain formula for superhero movies won't cause the eventual implosion of the Superhero movie genre. As for Snyder, win or lose, at least the guy attempted to break the traditional superhero movie mold. And for that, I appreciate his bravery in trying to present a much mature and realistic take on the Superhero movie mythology. I'm still gonna watch Justice League for the second time around. And this time, I'm gonna be disabusing myself from Snyder's vision and treat JL as a stand alone movie. Maybe this time, with a fresh set of mindset, I would be able to appreciate Justice League more.

A Retrospective of the Justice League in Toy Form

Super Friends

1.) 1980's Kenner Super Powers
Kenner Super Powers was a toy merchandise that was derived from the success of the DC Super Friends show. This 5 inch toy line eventually had its own animated T.V. Shows called Super Friends: the Legendary Super Powers and Super Powers Show: Galactic Guardians. The toy line is expansive in terms of characters produced for the D.C. Universe. Scattered over 3 series and 34 action figures in total (not counting the play sets and the vehicles). The great thing about this toy line is that each action figure is packed with an action feature gimmick that activates a range of motions for each character. Each figures also comes with a Mini-Comic. Which further expands the characters' introduction to kids apart from the animated show tie-in. This toy line is well loved by collectors even up to this day. DC also released a couple of comic book mini-series help expand the popularity of this toy line. (I apologize however that I used a Kenner Michael Keaton Batman as a stand in for Batman. I couldn't find a decent Super Powers Batman figure at a good price. But the Keaton Bats were reused body from the Super Powers Batman)

Total Justice and JLA

2.) 1996 Kenner Total Justice/1998 Hasbro JLA 
Fresh from the success of the JLA comic book series relaunch under Grant Morrison, Kenner once again dived their fingers on releasing a new DC Universe Action Figure series since the success of Super Powers. Batman: Total Justice is a series of 5 inch Ultra-Stylized Action Figures that features the DC Heroes in great musculature sculpting detail and some wacky futuristic weapons and armors. However, this was not as well loved by collectors and fans alike when compared to the Super Powers toy line. On a personal note however, this was my favorite toy collection during that time because this happens to be the first Superman action figure that I owned. Total Justice lasted for Three Waves and 19 figures all in all before Hasbro revived the toy line two years later and re-named the line simply as JLA. JLA lasted 4 series with a total of 24 figures, 4 box sets of 5 figures, and a couple of 12 inch figures. DC also released a 3-issue limited series comic book based on this toy line which they simply called Total Justice.   

Justice League Unlimited

3.) 2003 Mattel Justice League Unlimited Fan Collection
In 2003, Mattel would capitalize on the successful Justice League animated series and released a toy line based on the show. Simply called JLU, this 5 inch toy line features five points of articulation for each figure and is a fan favorite. Though the action figure's design are cartoonish (which remained faithful to the show), this toy line rivaled the level of popularity of the Kenner Super Powers toy line for toy collectors. The appeal and success could perhaps be attributed to the wide range of characters released in this toy line. You could effectively complete the whole DC Universe if you were able to complete this toy line. You could probable see all of the characters released in these websites JL and JLU. To many new generation of DC fans, the show put John Stewart as the definitive Green Lantern for the new generation. The show lasted for 5 seasons and is one of the longest running Justice League animated TV series ever that featured recurring themes and story continuity. There was also a comic book series released based on the show.

DCUC/DC Direct JLA

DCUC/DC Direct JLI

4.) 2006 Various Mattel DCUC/1998 DC Direct Collectibles.
I decided to lump together both Mattel DCUC and DC Direct 6 inch action figure toy line because of the sheer number of toy lines produced for this line. And my DC Universe 6 inch action figure is a cherry picked mix of various DC 6 inch toy lines because my purpose was to seek out and collect as many DC Universe characters that I could. Retaining at least one version per character (except a couple of multiple characters like Superman from various toy lines). Mattel initially started their 6 inch toy line via DC Super Heroes which basically was a Superman and Batman centric toy line. The success of this highly poseable action figure (which features an average of 23 points of articulation per figure) would led them to even further the expansion of their characters via DC Universe Classics. For a comprehensive checklist you can visit DC Classics because I have lost count on the waves and characters released in this toy line. DC Direct on the other hand was a premium format highly detailed action figure toy line that features limited points of articulation but features highly detailed sculpts. I consider them as poseable statues because each figure possess unique and exclusive sculpt from the other. There are no rehash nor reuse of the action figure's body. Through the years, DC Direct would feature comic book artist centric action figures and each series or waves would be inspired from a specific comic book artist. Perhaps the best among them all is the action figure series based on Alex Ross' Justice and Kingdom Come comic book maxi series. 

The Batman Justice League

5.) 2008 Mattel The Batman Justice League
Batman's continued popularity over the years for DC would spawn a new animated series after the end of the JLU animated series. Just like JLU, which initially spawned from the Bruce Timm produced Batman: The Animated Series cartoons, The Batman animated series would introduce the Justice League on it's 5th and final season. Their appearance however were short lived and was limited to a couple of solo team up episodes with Batman as well as a final two-part episode that pitted a powerless JL team against robots bearing the stolen powers of the JL. The 5.5 inch action figures marked an improvement compared to the JLU ones as it now featured elbow and knee joints. In the photo above, I sneaked in a JLU Green Arrow because he was part of the JL team in this animated series but curiously was never given his own action figure in this toy line. You can also see the points of articulation comparison above. Though some JLU characters featured knee and elbow joints, but most JLU figures shared the points of articulation of the Green Arrow figure above. The Batman would also have its own short live comic book series to support the show.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

6.) 2008 Mattel Batman: The Brave and the Bold
The reason why The Batman animated series was ended was because Fox kids decided to come up with a new Batman animated series that would expand Batman's adventures by teaming him up with various DC characters. Batman: The Brave and the Bold was a Batman centric animated series that featured one shot episodes that would feature Batman teaming up with a DC Superhero. This mirrored the last season the The Batman animated series but the difference was the story direction of this animated series was geared more towards kids as compared to its predecessor. The show lasted for 3 seasons only. The bright spot however is that this 5.5 inch toy line would feature a good number of DC Superheroes that were featured in the show. The action figures lacked the knee articulation and had this ugly looking holes in arms and back of the figures that were supposed to be used for interchangeable weapons. Mattel would also later release re-sculpts of these figures as part of DC's New 52 relaunch. There was also a comic book series released for this show.

The New 52 Justice League

7.) 2014 DC Collectibles New 52 Justice League Box Set
The birth of the New 52 DC Universe in the DC Comics would also signal a rebirth in the DC action figures department. DC Comics re-branded their DC Direct into DC Collectibles and launched their new 7 inch action figures based on the revamped Justice League Comic Book series based on superstar artist Jim Lee's art. The new action figures marked an improved in terms of the quality of its plastic as it now featured a more softer and rubbery plastic. The problem with the old DC Direct action figures was the high breakage due to the hard plastic becoming brittle overtime. The change in the quality of its plastic would address that issue for toy collectors. DC Collectibles would also follow the DC Direct model where they base their action figures on a comic book artist's art. And the success of this new toy line can clearly be seen by DC Collectibles artist centric releases like the most notable of them all, a Bruce Timm action figure series based on the Batman: The Animated series TV show. This for sure modernized the vintage 5 inch Kenner Batman action figures released 20 years ago. Perhaps a modernized JLU action figure series based on the old JLU animated series might not be far off. If this happens, I'm sure DC toy collectors would go nuts!

Bonus:  

Jollibee Justice League

1.) Jollibee Justice League Kiddie Meal Toy
In the Philippines, the success of the JLU animated series would grant a local fast food chain its own toy merchandise that came with its kiddie meal. The Justice League Kiddie Meal toys were bigger compared to the official JLU action figures and stand around 5.5 inch. These are more in scale with The Batman and the Batman: The Brave and the Bold toy lines. Each figure comes with its own action feature gimmick that stayed true to the earlier concept of the Kenner Super Powers toy line.
These are one of my favorite JL toy collections that I have because of its rarity in the action figure world. This kiddie meal toy also had a second series that didn't include Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter.

The New 52 Action League

2.) Batman: The Brave and the Bold Action League
For toy collectors who are into cute stuffs (like Funko Pops?), Mattel was also able to release a 2 inch toy line based on the Batman: The Brave and the Bold Action League. This toy line was released to rival Marvel's Superhero Squad toy line. I included this in my feature because I think this toy line was so underrated and it is sad that it didn't start a trend/craze the way Funko Pops captured the cutesy market.

So this wraps up my Justice League toy feature. The photos I used here were old photos I found while I was trying to clean up my photo files in my computer. This gave me an idea to write a new article to help hyped up the upcoming Justice League Movie. I haven't written that much of late because I was becoming too lazy to shoot photos and write blogs. Here's hoping however that I could relight my passion to write in this blog. Hopefully I could follow it up by writing about the DC Multiverse Justice League Movie Action Figures that I recently acquired. Man I'm so hyped by the movie!