The DC Cinematic Universe has made some odd moves lately. A Joker movie that has nothing to do with Jared Leto, the drama behind the next Batman solo movie, and the sudden arrival of Shazam! all point to a studio seemingly throwing everything at the wall. A new Vulture profile has revealed that the reason why is DC is ditching a shared universe, at least in a Marvel-esque sense.
The profile, which interviews several DC executives, digs into what’s happened so far and confirms some rumors. Get ready for that Joker standalone movie, as part of a wider push of movies riffing off of DC’s comics that fans are calling “Elseworlds,” as a tribute to a line of “What If” stories DC published in the ’90s and ’00s. But, the big surprise is this:
“Our intention, certainly, moving forward is using the continuity to help make sure nothing is diverging in a way that doesn’t make sense, but there’s no insistence upon an overall storyline or interconnectivity in that universe,” says [DC Entertainment president Diane] Nelson, drawing nods from the top brass around her.
Or, in other words, Aquaman won’t have to pop in on his good buddy the Flash come 2018, and you won’t have to watch them in order like a very expensive TV series to get what’s going on. He can just fight Black Manta and do his own thing. And that’s likely the way it should be.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is really at its worst every time it tries to underscore how connected the movies are. For every clever use of the idea, you’ve got Thanos taking meetings just to remind us he’s going to turn up three movies from now. Compare this to Wonder Woman, which, aside from some long-distance flirting with Batman, was a self-contained story and a box office juggernaut, or even Suicide Squad, which basically had some Batman cameos and that was it.
Instead, DC is going to let the filmmakers they choose do their own thing, which, to be fair, is really sticking with what works. DC movies have always worked better when they can stand on their own. But we wouldn’t object to just a little Batman, we’re just saying.
(via Vulture)
