The Justice League has always been some of the best the DC Extended Universe has to offer in all media formats. This is due to the potential stories that can be told. As DC has produced, I have endeavored to ingest as much as I can from movies to television, comics to video games. This leads to the concept that the DC universe as it exists in all its forms is a mess. That’s ok though, it’s a fixable mess.
In Theaters Near You
So in the movies, with Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Suicide Squad we are at Injustice Gods Among Us DEFCON five, with a side car of The Death of Superman stage. It surges with hints of The Dark Knight and more modern origin tales for our crew leads to a spliced together amalgamation that is rather slick when viewed purely yet fully informed in Batman v Superman. This is where I plug my coming line of “I stand with EJ!” shirts.
On the Boom Tube
On television with the DC series quad of The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl on the CW we are still suffering the consequences of Flashpoint. With the next in line of video game offerings we are well into the evil a scorned Superman can wreak with Injustice 2. All that’s missing is the full zombie out of Blackest Night. As the world awaits the next release for the Injustice line slated for mid-May of this year, the Justice League movie hype is just beginning to truly percolate. All the while Wonder Woman teases us with the potential of what could be waiting.
Within the toil of what will become of the DC Extended Universe after this very crucial year of media fresh from the fallout of last year, I think back to how Marvel handled a very pivotal story arc. What could’ve been a disaster as the fallout of Captain America’s The Winter Soldier hit the MCU instead became legend for how to build stories to flow together like chapters of a novel. Somehow they executed such a collaboration of movies and television that they melded into lore brilliance. Selfishly I want the same for the DCEU.
Practical Mechanics
So some quick fixes that can begin to bridge these stories are simple. Every week for months DC is missing its opportunities to refine the television canon to fill in story gaps left by movies. This was demonstrated almost effortlessly in Agents of Shield and Agent Carter when the big reveal of all that was Hydra was unveiled. The fascinating aspect about this is not in the event or even the timing. It is in the experience of creating a unifying world changing event. Create a starting point for DCEU fans to shoot from.
CW Strong
The CW has already demonstrated that they can get on board. With the creation of Flashpoint, the episodes involved created a new jump off point that enabled changes to character narratives without much explanation. Then came the Earth hopping in the 4 episode crossover event, “Heroes vs. Aliens”, back in December where they tested the potential cohesion for a comprehensive enticing symmetry. A symmetry that paid off in red hot ratings.
Video Games
Not to be ignored is none television or movie based content. This includes the use of video game storylines. There is not much in the world more engaging than playing your comic book. Specifically playing the story. Not just playing the characters but treating a simple fighting game as an interactive DC animated movie. This would give DC a decided edge on their Marvel counterparts.
The truly fascinating aspect of Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman was the melding. Within that film is an entertainment Rosetta. For someone like myself that has consumed too much of all of it, it was like watching the acid trip that lives in my mind in Picasso’s dark period. The end result is an experience that is much more fulfilling than all of what came separately. Injustice 2 ideally would supply some more movie plot points for the coming Justice League movies. Teach the fan base to prepare for DC movies by playing the games much like Marvel fans are conditioned to wait beyond credits for that final teaser scene.
The Multiverse Cometh
Lastly respect the universe build. Enjoy the chaos inherit in multiverses and infinite crises. There is no comic universe better prepared to bring itself together under one unifying event like DC. There is no team in the history of comics as ready to explode with creative manna like the Justice League. Oh, the mentioning of Crisis on Infinite Earths is just a coincidence. Cough, Trinity. Here’s to hoping DC can bring us all home.
What aspects of the DC extended universe would you alter or change?
