DCEU is losing the comic-live-action film fight to Marvel Studios, but “Army of the Dead” director Zack Snyder has shown that he has what they need to draw level; will Warner Bros. Pictures let him save the franchise?
Many have made the mistake of thinking that what the DCEU needs is to make ‘light’ films, think “Shazam!”, to compete with Marvel Studios. This is a mistake because it will mean fighting the competition on familiar ground. A battle that DCEU cannot win.
Fans of both franchises have since come to terms with the clear distinction that Marvel Studios is to lighthearted themes as DCEU is to grim. Despite both trying to break the stereotype with experimental releases, it still hangs over them.
Also read: “Aquaman” leads “Batman v Superman” as highest-grossing DCEU film
In the famous words of former Chess World Champion and Grandmaster Mikhail Tal, “You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” This is what the DCEU must do, they have the characters, dedicated fans, and now, they only have to let Zack Snyder do it with the #SnyderVerse.
In addition to being a master of the grim theme and wanton destruction fight scenes which we all saw in “Man of Steel” (2013), he has another weapon in his arsenal: the genuine love of fans.
This is something that Marvel has been able to wield all these years, and it is paying off tremendously. From the now-iconic ‘Avengers, assemble!’ scene in “Avengers: Endgame” to the ‘Wakanda Forever!’ slogan and gesture from “Black Panther”, the franchise is not going away anytime soon. It recently announced ten coming films between 2021 and 2023, and all of them look like must-see releases.
