By Drew Dietsch
| Published
The DC Universe is off and running under the guidance of James Gunn. With Creature Commandos and Superman, we’ve been given a barrage of Gunn’s specific riff on the DC characters and their world, but we will soon start seeing other projects where his direct presence will be less evident.
And it’s here where the DCU has its strongest opportunity to succeed, and Gunn is definitely aware of this fact. Gunn has said that he does not want there to be a “company style” to how the DCU movies are made because he doesn’t want people to get bored.
Taking A Stab At Marvel
You know that’s a sly stab at Marvel Studios. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has gone on long enough that there has been a noticeable “house style” evolve over time. That’s not by accident either as the MCU has made its bread by guaranteeing a uniformity to their projects so the audience never feels too far from home.
While I’m not here to debate the positive/negative/successes/failures of the MCU, I am here to say that DCU is off to a great start by doing things very differently from the MCU.
We’ve already seen a more “jump right in” attitude to the DCU with James Gunn’s Superman and it doesn’t seem to have turned folks off if the box office numbers are any indication. Instead of taking the MCU’s now-laborious approach to setting things up and making every single character feel like the most important person in the world, the DCU is showcasing a willingness to throw a lot of new things at viewers with little-to-no establishment.
Feeling More Like Comic Books
Frankly, that actually captures the feeling of picking up a random comic book much more than the MCU. Comics often had to do their best to continue ongoing stories while still welcoming new readers. It means flexing a different set of storytelling muscles than the meticulous table-setting approach Marvel made so successful.
In my opinion, that approach is actually more inviting. I’ll admit to being a lifelong comics reader so I might be more adept at this kind of “shut up and enjoy the ride” kind of structure, but after almost two decades of Marvel pretending every character needs to be set up in a post-credits scene that frames them as The Most Important Person, I’m way more welcoming of the DCU’s model of trusting the audience to hang around because the characters themselves are interesting and entertaining without trying to make them feel like The Most Important Person.
Add to that James Gunn’s declaration that the DCU will strive to provide very different movie experiences and it feels like the DCU is doing its best to offer an experience the MCU hasn’t provided. For as much as Marvel touts its diverse filmography, there’s no argument that they all have to enact a specific tone in order to link up with the rest of their universe. If the DCU can maintain a universal continuity while actually offering distinct films that stand on their own, they will leave the MCU in the dust. Here’s hoping.
