How to fix the DCEU

The DCEU has some major problems that have been constantly weighing it down, except for a few exceptions i.e. Shazam, The Suicide Squad, and Wonder Woman. However every other movie in this franchise has been a complete flop. Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Josstice League, Aquaman, Suicide Squad, and The Flash movie is setting up to be a failure with whats been happening with Ezra Miller. So, from a DC comic fanatic, how would I personally make the DCEU greater.

Fix the tone. One of the things you'll notice when watching these movies back to back is that some of them feel like they're in a completely different universe. The main films of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League are gritty and dark, meanwhile other films like Shazam, The Suicide Squad, and the Peacemaker show are light hearted and comedic. Shazam is clearly a kids movie meanwhile the Suicide Squad is mainly for adults. The tone of these movies keep changing, and this clearly is due to having multiple directors, and the fact that it seems like the other directors want to distance themselves from the Zach Snyder films, which would work if the movies they were making WEREN'T IN THE SAME UNIVERSE!!! So the biggest change is to fix the tone of this universe. While dark and gritty work for Batman, it doesn't for the rest of DC. I understand Batman is Warner Bros' hardest hitter, but to make everything Batman, doesn't work. Superman isn't dark, he's light hearted, he's kind, and he's optimistic, it's why Superman and Batman are a great duo, one is optimistic while the other is pessimistic, they balance each other and accept that in some areas the other is right. Having Superman be just as dark as Batman, doesn't work. So we need to set that tone, have Superman and the rest of the DC universe be more light hearted and optimistic. That way Batman is even more of a hard hitter with his more pessimistic movies and so he balances the rest of the Justice League out.

Make gods relatable. One of the reasons why I think Batman movies are generally more receptive to audiences, other than Batman is cool, is because Batman is human. He has no powers to speak of. Meanwhile the rest of the Justice League are literal gods. Superman can lift buildings with ease, Wonder Woman can stop a moving train without even lifting a finger. Green Lantern can make anything with the power of his own will. These aren't that relatable and it's why the MCU has been such a success. Sure Iron Man isn't your typical guy, but he's still human. So is every character in the MCU so far. Thor is a god, yes, but a god by proxy. He's not your typical god, his species Asgardians are aliens that just called themselves gods. Every character is a person through the eyes of the viewer, making it easier to connect to them. It's why people find Superman boring, because most movies don't make him relatable. So we need to bring these pillars of justice down to Earth, while still capturing the essence of what made them so special.

Stop chasing the MCU Fame. It's incredibly clear that the DCEU wants to be the MCU, but is failing at what made the MCU so popular in the first place. One of the DCEU's first failings was wanting to do an interconnected universe in the first place. The MCU hit it out of the park because we didn't even know there WAS a park. When the Incredible Hulk came out and it featured Robert Downey Jr. playing the role of Tony Stark at the end, we were mind blown cause at the time, two movies about two separate characters being set in the same universe hadn't been done before, or at the very least, to that degree of popularity. So when the MCU started telling a story of an interconnected universe, it blew our nerdy minds. If the DCEU wants to be a success, it can't JUST be an interconnected universe, it needs to be an interesting, interconnected universe, which is incredibly difficult because again, the movies have different directors. It's why Kevin Feigi is apart of every MCU project, because he has to make sure that each movie fits in the MCU.

Have each film work as it's own movie, AND as an inclusion in the universe. I'm sure you have a MCU or Godzilla/Kong movie you love to show, and always use the phrase "you don't need to be caught up to like it." That's because those movies did just that. Meanwhile the DCEU hasn't. Why is Batman fighting Superman? Because of the damage he did in Man of Steel. Why is the Suicide Squad being formed? Because in Batman v Superman, Superman died fighting Doomsday and the humans need new heroes. Why is Aquaman meeting Mera for the "first time" even though they met in Justice League, I literally have no idea. These movies don't work as their own movies AND don't work as movies in the universe. For a good interconnected universe, that interconnection needs to be an extra bit of flavor on what are already delicious meals. The reason we love the characters in the MCU and especially when they team up, is because their original movies are great, but when those character movies suck, audiences are less likely to want to see them again. Take Ben Affleck's Batman for example. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batman was so tonally stupid that it made the character not only unlikeable, but almost unrecognizable to the character we loved. So when they announced a Justice League movie, we all groaned and rolled our eyes, because guess who was back? Murderer Batman. All because his first movie wasn't successful, we weren't all too happy to see him again. Not to mention in the first release of Justice League, they BARELY touched on Batman changing, with his "weapon" being Lois Lane instead of an actual weapon. That's not character growth, that's inconsistency DISGUISED as character growth. Maybe have the entire Justice League be less trusting of Batman BECAUSE he has red on his ledger, but they can't do that because THE REST OF THE LEAGUE DO!!! Have these movies work on their own, while ALSO having them connect.

TL;DR: A consistent tone, have the heroes relatable, carve their own way instead of eating the MCU's breadcrumbs, and have the movies work on their own while being connected.

So I'll do that.