Maybe James Gunn’s DCU will finally get it right. Marvel has been in a weird spot for several years post-“Avengers: Endgame” and is still struggling to regain its throne atop Pop Culture Mountain. Box office takes have been down, the Disney+ era has been hit-or-miss, and after Jonathan Majors’ assault trial and subsequent ejection from the MCU, a shadow has been cast over the big-picture storylines going forward. There was a time when Superman and Batman had more clout than any member of the Avengers, and now could be the time for DC to reassert that heritage.
But success for Gunn is far from a guarantee. For one, cinematic universes aren’t quite what they used to be. The MCU sparked a temporary gold rush, but DC has found more success of late with standalone films like “The Batman.” Other examples, like the MonsterVerse and the Dark Universe, either died on the vine or stuck to a more traditional series model, releasing one movie every couple of years instead of sustaining multiple sub-series.
With so many spin-offs and reboots, not to mention the Arrowverse on The CW, DC has severely diluted its primary characters. As good as Gunn’s “Superman” movie may be, it doesn’t feel as much like a full restart as it does yet another addition to a tangled web. Whether or not it can finally push DC past the troubled legacy of “Justice League” remains to be seen.
