'Batgirl' cancellation explains why DCEU is such a mess compared to MCU

Recently, Warner Bros axed the 'Batgirl' movie starring Leslie Grace in the role of DC superhero. The decision comes under the new David Zaslav-led regime of Warner Bros. Discovery, after the two companies -- WarnerMedia and Discovery -- merged. Ever since Zaslav took command, he has shown himself to be pretty ruthless, but even for him, cancelling an almost finished movie, with acclaimed directors like Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah at the helm, an undeniable popular appeal that is inherent in comic-book superheroes, and finally a cast with names like Grace, Michael Keaton, Brendan Fraser, and JK Simmons is unprecedented. The movie also highlights why DCEU (DC Extended Universe) has been lagging behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe for nearly a decade and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

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While the Marvel Cinematic Universe started with 2008's summer release of Jon Favreau's 'Iron Man', the DCEU's beginning came half a decade later in 2013 with Zack Snyder's 'Man of Steel', and it has only played catchup since then. Starring Robert Downey Jr in the role, 'Iron Man' was a runaway, and yet unexpected, hit. The superhero was not a well-known one, and frankly neither were the Avengers that came later for the general audience who were not comic book readers. But Marvel Studios, with Kevin Feige at the helm, had trust in themselves and the cast (even Robert Downey Jr, who was pretty much persona non grata back then due to his substance abuse issues run-ins with the law) and crew that paid off. 

The challenge in front of 'Iron Man' was also 'The Dark Knight', Christopher Nolan's grownup oriented 'The Dark Knight' was more of a crime thriller than a full-fledged superhero pic. But the Dark Knight trilogy, featuring Christian Bale in the role, was its own self-contained universe. And it was not until 'Man of Steel' that DC really looked into building a cinematic universe.

Starring Henry Cavill in the role of Superman, the film was a standalone film that was supposed to eventually lead to the formation of the Justice League. But the film was poorly received, and Snyder's gloomier Superman was rejected by fans. The film was a decent commercial success and received mixed critical reviews. The next two releases -- 'Batman V Superman' and 'Suicide Squad' -- were even more heavily panned by critics and disappointed at the box office as well, the former especially when it had the main three DC superheroes.

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Again, 'Batman V Superman' featured an angry Superman and an even angrier Batman taking on each other and the general mood of the film was like the writers and Snyder did not want the audience to have fun with the movie.

Then came 'Wonder Woman' in 2017, a more hopeful and sunny superhero movie starring Gal Gadot, which pleased both audiences and critics. However, whatever goodwill 'Wonder Woman' had generated evaporated with 'Justice League' later, a bastardised film with two competing visions of Snyder, who had to quit the production midway after a family tragedy, and Joss Whedon, who had directed the first two 'Avengers' movies for rival Marvel Studios, and finished the film.

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The film was a spectacular failure, grossing about $650 million on a budget of an incredible $350 million. The reason, apart from the tonal mess, was also that audiences did not know most of these characters. Only Superman and Wonder Woman had had standalone films. Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg were known only to comic book fans and those who had seen the animated series on DC's primary superhero team. In other words, DC had not earned a team-up movie yet. It was too hurried, particularly in contrast to the MCU.

'Justice League' failure prompted execs and Warner Bros to overhaul the structure of DC Films, just one of many since then. The DCEU as it existed then was scrapped. The decision was taken to not focus on a cinematic universe, but rather on smaller self-contained universes that can crossover with each other every now and then -- much like the DC Universe in comics.

After that, DC films have been more successful, with hits like 'Aquaman' and 'Shazam!', but there have been setbacks too mainly due to the regimes that keep changing and that are evermore capricious. 'Batgirl' cancellation is a case in point. The film, even if it was terrible, would easily have been dumped on HBO Max, WarnerMedia's streaming service, without a lot of money spent on marketing. But the $90 million film was outright cancelled. This may have saved money (more likely not) but will disillusion the fans even more. And talented filmmakers will not trust the studio if their projects can be cancelled after they are greenlit and even when they are almost finished. Ezra Miller-starrer crossover movie 'The Flash' is also in danger as Miller has had legal troubles due to multiple instances of violent behaviour. But perhaps it is too expensive to be cancelled.

The biggest reason DC films are a mess is there has been a lack of unifying vision throughout the DCEU history, nobody like Feige to oversee the films and the cinematic universe. And no, Zack Snyder is not it as his vision was already roundly rejected by both critics and fans. And I am saying it as somebody who loved 'Zack Snyder's Justice League'. So no, do not #RestoreTheSnyderVerse. Instead, stick with what you have got, and find somebody as passionate as Feige is about comic book movies to govern the DC adaptations.