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Fans of Zack Snyder and his vision for the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) and the Snyderverse's Justice League can say goodbye to hopes of bringing the team and their universe back. DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran are moving ahead with plans to reboot the franchise in their image following 2023's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
DCEU has been in a very messy state since its inception in 2013. It faced several issues including studio interference in the directors' visions. This was following mixed to negative responses from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Additionally, the rushed attempt to catch up and compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) only ended up paralyzing the franchise.
The franchise now has four films left for release on its current slate prior to the reboot: Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, as well as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
DCEU getting a clean slate
Failure and death of the Snyderverse
The DCEU or the "Snyderverse" began in 2013 with the release of Man of Steel. At that point in time, Warner Bros. was in a rush to compete with Marvel, so they began planning their slate of films in haste.
Snyder originally had a five-film story arc centered around Superman which would have taken place in Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and three Justice League films.
Following a two-year gap, Batman v Superman was released and the film received a mixed to negative response from the critics. Thus, Warner Bros. who had previously trusted Zack Snyder by letting him work on his vision, interfered with his plans. They made multiple changes to the theatrical version of Justice League during pre-production and filming via script rewrites.
Warner Bros. then had reshoots to make changes to Snyder's film, with Joss Whedon stepping in as director after Snyder left production to deal with his daughter's suicide.
Around this time, David Ayer's critically panned Suicide Squad hit theaters and so did Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman, which was the only successful film of the DCEU until that point. The years 2018 and 2019 saw the release of Aquaman and Shazam! which were also commercially successful.
2017's Justice League underperformed at the box office and received largely negative reviews. Following this, dismayed fans of Zack Snyder campaigned for the release of his cut of Justice League via the hashtag #ReleasetheSnyderCut. Warner Bros. and DC ultimately gave into fan demands and released the film four years later on March 2021 in both theaters and on HBO Max.
Following the Snyder cut's success, fans again campaigned for his original vision, the Snyderverse, to be brought back via the hashtag #RestoretheSnyderVerse. However, this didn't create the change or have an impact like #ReleasetheSnyderCut as Warner Bros. and DC had no intentions of bringing Snyder's universe back.
On a side note, 2020's Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman 1984 were also not very successful commercially and critically. In 2021, Gunn's The Suicide Squad was released followed by Peacemaker's first season in 2022 with both being well-received by audiences and critics alike.
When will the reboot happen?
James Gunn has previously said that the reboot or his vision for the DCEU will begin following the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. This is intended to be Jason Momoa's final appearance as Aquaman before he is cast in another role, possibly Lobo. Momoa has also reportedly filmed a cameo as Aquaman for The Flash.
When asked by a fan on Instagram if Blue Beetle will be the start of his reboot. Gunn responded to the answer in two parts:
"Peter and I will help to guide the already filmed projects for the next year, but the new slate won’t start until after Aquaman 2."
The reboot will have to begin after The Lost Kingdom as that will be the last film to feature any sort of connection to the DCEU Snyderverse if Ben Affleck reprises his role as Batman. The reboot is not only limited to films and TV shows but also includes animated series and video games.
More Snyderverse connections are still there as Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman is reported to have a cameo in Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Affleck is set to return in Ezra Miller's The Flash. Henry Cavill had also filmed a cameo as Superman in The Flash before it was ultimately cut.
Ezra Miller was also stated to not be involved with the franchise in the future following the controversy surrounding him.
James Gunn, however, has confirmed that he met with Ben Affleck and began discussions with him on a DC project the latter could direct.
Fan reactions to the DCEU reboot
Many fans of the Snyderverse and the old DCEU took to Twitter and other platforms to share their distaste of the changes that are going around. This includes Wonder Woman 3 landing on the chopping block owing to creative differences between Patty Jenkins and James Gunn.
It also includes Black Adam 2 not moving forward thanks to the critical and commercial failure of Black Adam. To add to this, fans also feel deceived by DC at Henry Cavill's hyped up return in Black Adam only for him to be out as Superman two months later.
Snyderverse fans have also expressed dismay, sadness and frustration at losing Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Jason Momoa as Batman, Superman and Aquaman respectively. They are also sad that Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman and her future is up in the air.
They also expressed frustration at Gunn's decisions, such as rebooting Superman by focusing on a younger version and his early days as a superhero. Fans are tired of seeing this trend again and even pointed out the existence of Smallville and how that show already did that. Snyderverse fans even called for Gunn's firing via the hashtag #FireJamesGunn.
However, those who believe in James Gunn and his vision for the franchise have shown their support.
They also believe that he can uplift the currently messy DC Universe with his brand new vision.
Gunn has even acknowledged the divisive fan reactions to his plans and decisions for the DCEU franchise. Taking to Twitter, he had this to say:
What do you think of the DCEU getting rebooted? Do you support Gunn's vision or are you against it? Let us know your thoughts down below.
