It’s about time superhero movies didn’t talk about shared universes

It was more than 10 years ago that Marvel unveiled one of the superhero films that would give birth to what is now configured as a “cinematic universe”. That is, a world where all the plots take place within the same story, to sum up. The formula has since proven successful, but it’s time they thought of other ways.

James Gunn’s arrival at DC Studios confirmed that after ‘The Flash’ premieres, EUDC will have a ground-up reboot, and everything Zack Snyder, Warner and company had built up until now, will remain there, and it will not see a continuation. A movement has arisen on social networks in which all DC fans are invited to unite to fire Gunn from his position.

Of course, that hasn’t gone down too well for the company’s followers, who believe Gunn has brought bad luck to DC. One user, who represents much of the community’s opinion, posted his opinion on Twitter, saying: “The the next 4 DC movies of 2023 will be for nothing Why look at them if they are going to restart everything? James Gunn destroyed what little hype there was for those tapes.

The post caused such a stir, not because of fans who agreed, but because it caught the attention of one of their own superhero movie problems, their cinematic universes. Now every story, every character, every dialogue must connect with the future, and that with what is to come, so that the public can be fascinated by these products and, ultimately, continue consuming.

• It may interest you: Without Henry Cavill, DC Studios is in serious danger
• It may interest you: The best superhero movies you can watch on HBO Max

And many will say that this is the goal of capitalism, and yes. But Martin Scorsese had already mentioned it, what is needed is to think about these “cinematic universes” What “amusement parks”. Toys you like, and you’re already thinking about the next one, a product where if it doesn’t have a post-credit scene that ties into the Disney+ series or next summer’s movie, it doesn’t make sense.

Superhero movies need to grow up

It was during the modern era of comics, in the early eighties, that authors such as Alan Moore, Frank Miller or Neil Gaiman took the ninth art to another level. With stories like ‘Watchmen’, ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Sandman’, all of which raised the medium to another level, where it was no longer considered just entertainment for kids but as a medium to convey ideas.

And I’m not saying that it hasn’t happened before, nor that there weren’t independent stories in cinema, like “Joker”, “The Batman” or even “Logan”, I say this because it’s time to take the superhero film, to other aspirations. To those where the directors have different stories of these characters, but the studios don’t have to sell their product.

Directors such as James Mangold, Todd Phillips, Sam Raimi, Christopher Nolan or Matt Reeves have provided their visions of characters that the audience knows and have nothing to do with them. And it’s not that audiences aren’t prepared to understand that Robert Pattinson’s Batman isn’t the same as Ben Affleck’s.

Alan Moore’s Superman isn’t the same as Grant Morrison’s, but they have a lot in common and that allows for freedom, exploration, and a lot of storytelling that would never have been possible in a studio-run cinematic universe. Superhero movies need to mature.