Top 10 Scenes That Ruined The DCU For Fans
#10: Post-Credits Stinger
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“Black Adam” (2022) The DCEU has always struggled to find direction. Many saw “Black Adam” as a step backward in quality and creativity, with a post-credits stinger that took a misguided step forward. With Amanda Waller concerned about the dangerous super-anti-hero Black Adam, she sends the ultimate muscle to keep him in line. Henry Cavill’s surprise cameo ostensibly declared Superman’s comeback to the franchise. Unfortunately, fans have been burnt too many times to get excited about a sequel that may never come. Sure enough, Cavill quickly announced that he had been let go from the DCEU, which plans to reboot Superman’s arc. Whether Black Adam will ever face someone’s Man of Steel, this overzealous stinger found DC once again jumping the gun. Hopefully, James Gunn will do better.
#9: Romantic Possession
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“Wonder Woman 1984” (2020) The loss of Steve Trevor in the first “Wonder Woman” was tragic. About as tragic, however, was how he returned in “1984.” Through the power of the Dreamstone, Diana conjures her lover’s spirit in the body of a total stranger. The man is then depicted as Steve, but Diana is actually passionately kissing a man who had no say. She then pulls him into a dangerous mission to save the world. With this possession being way off from Steve’s arc in the comics, it feels like a lazy way to keep the character around. Maintaining Wonder Woman’s love story also reflects the decline in this series’ feminism. Steve’s avatar may be alright in the end, but his predicament shows how ill-conceived this sequel was.
#8: All of the Super Slideshows
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Various One of the defining problems with the DCEU has been character introduction. These movies usually opt for the cheapest method for unveiling our favorite comic book heroes: montages. Really, they’re more like slideshows with how blatantly the characters pose and flex their powers. David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” even provides stylish captions. But the most shameless slideshow has to be the Lexcorp metahuman footage that Wonder Woman discovers in “Batman v Superman.” Aquaman, Cyborg, and the Flash may have their time to shine in “Justice League” and standalone spin-offs. But these DC icons deserved better introductions than a shoehorned sequel setup. With “Black Adam” also rushing the introduction of the Justice Society of America, the franchise still needs to find time to earn viewers’ investment.
#7: Wonder Woman vs. Ares
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“Wonder Woman” (2017) The DCEU practically popularized the term “villain problem.” Even the largely acclaimed "Wonder Woman" was criticized for its bland baddies. Fans were particularly disappointed in Ares, the Greek god of war supposedly responsible for World War I. British diplomat Sir Patrick is revealed to actually be Ares in a generic villain speech, before being killed off in a flashy action sequence. Viewers felt this was an uninspired climax and a frustratingly brief tenure for one of Wonder Woman's biggest nemeses. Never mind that it affirmed her problematic theory that one of the great tragedies of human history was a supervillain conspiracy. This just goes to show that even when a DC movie does most everything else right, it tends to fumble on its villains.
#6: The Death of Zod
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“Man of Steel” (2013) Zack Snyder kicked off the DCEU with a shockingly sullen take on Superman. "Man of Steel" polarized audiences with its attempts at a complicated hero arc, leading to a not-just-figurative breaking point. As the final showdown with General Zod threatens the lives of bystanders, Superman is left with no choice but to snap his opponent's neck, killing him. The Son of Krypton putting down the second-last of his kind was a bold twist, so to speak. Unfortunately, many thought this was one step too far in Superman's ethical conflict. Maybe he shouldn't be that grounded, not that his melodramatic scream was. Everyone agrees that "Man of Steel" was a creative experiment, but not everyone appreciated Zod being sacrificed with the ultimate hero’s most sacred rule.
#5: Lex Luthor’s Sweet Hijinks
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“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016) Even when surrounded by idiots, Lex Luthor is usually the imposing straight man. He should have been the perfect antagonist for Zack Snyder's self-serious "Batman v Superman." But the evil genius is depicted as such an eccentric madman that an early scene involves him intimidatingly feeding a senator a Jolly Rancher. He even mentions an awkward recipe for Granny's Peach Tea. This is called back in a scene where Luthor bombs the U.S. capitol building. That's just our introduction to a billionaire puppet master who acts more like Joker and the Riddler. The campy villainy Luthor never should have brought to an otherwise dark epic is hard to take seriously from the beginning. Did the writers even see Jesse Eisenberg's take on Mark Zuckerberg?
#4: The Invisible Mustache
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“Justice League” (2017) After director Zack Snyder left “Justice League” over a family tragedy, Joss Whedon came on to head up post-production. This infamous debacle is displayed in the finished product’s new prologue. Because Henry Cavill had grown a mustache for another role when he was called in for reshoots, Superman's clean shave had to be restored with CG. Limited editing time and an extreme close-up made the effect glaringly obvious. Superman's fuzzy lip became a massive meme, symbolizing the folly of Whedon’s “Justice League” from its very first shot. Several years later, Snyder answered the outrage with an extensive re-edit of the film, now widely considered the definitive cut. His footage may not have had facial hair to work around, but Superman's lip still haunts the DCEU.
#3: Jared Leto’s Joker
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“Suicide Squad” (2016) Zack Snyder’s isn’t the only divisive director signature in the DCEU. Urban crime auteur David Ayer had the daunting task of introducing everyone’s favorite Gotham villain in 2016’s “Suicide Squad.” A nightclub scene establishes the Joker as an unhinged gangbanger, with slicked-back hair, a silver grill, and lots of tattoos. Sure, the clown’s mythos is frequently subject to reboot. But this was considered one of the most misguided overreaches in the DCEU’s brand experimentation. It even became a blight on Jared Leto’s distinguished acting career. He got a chance at redemption with a dream sequence in “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” albeit as a more pretentious Joker. It’s still considered better than the inked-up and wiry version that the DCEU still struggles to walk back.
#2: Superman Destroys Metropolis
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“Man of Steel” (2013) The inaugural DCEU epic took a lot of risks with a revisionist Superman origin. Audiences were mixed on "Man of Steel"'s lumbering character drama, but especially polarized by its action-packed climax. The last Kryptonians do battle from Smallville to Metropolis, leaving an apocalyptic path of destruction. Superman didn't seem to think about protecting civilians. He still won a poorly timed kiss from Lois Lane after the carnage. The suggestion that everything worked out afterward was a disturbing departure from the rest of the movie's relative realism. The controversy surrounding this reckless spectacle was answered in "Batman v Superman," which focused on the complicated aftermath of this Black Zero Event. Nonetheless, such horrific collateral damage set an unsettling tone for a less idealized Superman.
#1: The Two Marthas
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“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016) It’s been said that the DCEU’s so-called Snyderverse takes itself way too seriously, and often clumsily. Even canonical coincidences are treated as sweeping opera. When "Batman v Superman" finally gets to its namesake, the showdown abruptly ends when Superman begs Batman to rescue his kidnapped mother Martha. This triggers Bruce Wayne's guilt over the murder of his own mother, also named Martha, and humanizes his enemy. This revelation is effective in theory. But contrary to Batman's philosophy, not everything makes sense if you force it to. Superman actually referring to his mom by name and the cheesy montage of Bruce's childhood trauma emphasize the cop-out. This moment may be the summation of everything wrong with the Snyderverse. It’s clearly as memorable as any DCEU misfire.
