The spotlight is squarely on Marvel as its latest release, Ant-Man, is scoring well with critics and endearing itself to the audience. Marvel deserves to bask in the glow of this narrative set in the cinematic universe it spent years crafting.
Marvel had a plan for a central universe in which all of the stories it would tell take place together. Characters, plot points, and movies could contain ties to each other like current events.
DC was way behind as the Christopher Nolan Batman films were their own thing separate from any other DC entertainment that might come after. Man of Steel was the first step at building a coherent universe.
DC had found its Superman and this movie would lay the tracks down for a universe in attempt to rival that of Marvel.
At Comic-Con in San Diego last week, the trailer for Batman v. Superman was released and it looks like the universe building is in place. The trailer shows Henry Cavill reprising his role as Superman in the aftermath that was left from his fight with Zod in Man of Steel.
The destruction personally touched Bruce Wayne which sets up the fight scenes between the two heroes through the rest of the trailer.
Not only are these two major DC players involved but Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor are going to be introduced as well. Though they will be shoehorned into a movie that’s main selling point is Batman and Superman beating up on each other, every bit of universe development that can be fit in is helpful.
The other DC universe movie that had the trailer released at Comic-Con was Suicide Squad. The film which stars some of the world’s most notorious villains doing heroic errands for the people who imprisoned them will also breathe more life into a universe that is being hastily created.
This trailer featured a look at Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, and Jared Leto’s Joker himself. All of these villains give this universe a gritty feel and less sterile as the filmmakers try and tell their superhero stories.
Both of these upcoming films are attempts to build a centralized universe in the same way that Marvel has except at much faster pace. DC hopes to be able to compete with its rival on the big screen without as much planning.
Whatever the case, DC superhero movies are finally coming with a much different tone to set them apart from their Marvel counterparts. It is truly a golden age for superhero films, so sit back and just enjoy the ride.
