Detective Comics, or DC Comics, were first published in 1937, but they were first called National Allied Publications after they were founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. DC Comics had been publishing comic books for almost twenty years, when the first official DC movie was released in 1951, and it was titled Superman and the Mole-Men.
In the decades since then, the DC movies have suffered from a lack of continuity in their quality. This trend has only gotten worse over the last few years.
And before I go any further, I’m not going to say that all DC movies are bad. There have been good ones, like Wonder Woman and The Dark Knight. I’m just saying that DC has had way more misses than hits with their movies and the only good recurring DC content can be found on their broadcast TV shows.
A big miss, for example, was The Flash movie, which was released last year. First off, this movie really should’ve been called The Flash, Supergirl, and the Three Batmans.
Long story short, Barry Allen tells his friend Batman (Ben Affleck) that he thinks he’s found a way to travel back in time. Then he tries to do so, and (shocker!) this causes lots of problems, like Barry accidentally running into his past self. Barry then has to fight one of Superman’s villains, alongside the younger version of himself, Supergirl, and Michael Keaton’s Batman (because time traveling causes the rest of the Justice League not to exist).
After the battle is over, Barry takes a look into other universes with random cameos from the past. He then goes back to his own timeline, which he thinks he has fixed. When he helps his father get out of jail, Batman stops by, and wouldn’t you know, it’s George Clooney! This basically means that everything that Barry did was all for naught.
The fight scenes in this movie are like a car crash you can’t stop watching. And the part with all the different multiverses goes by way too fast, so you can’t even take in what you are seeing.
Another big miss is last year’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The beginning of the movie is really confusing, and they just jump right into the story with no clear setup. And there are also parts of the movie where you can tell that the writers were indecisive. For example, there is a scene where Aquaman’s mother is hurt really badly, and it seems like she won’t recover. But in the next scene, she’s up and active, and it’s like the whole thing never happened.
Despite the low quality of these recent movies, the DC TV series are universally well-liked, and fans look forward to them way more than they do for the films. If it weren’t for the CW making these shows, the DCU would be in a much worse place than it already is. The best examples of this are The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl, which is my personal favorite.
One of the main reasons The Flash is so good is because of its star, Grant Gustin. He does such an amazing job in the role of Barry Allen, to the point where fans wanted him to play The Flash in the movies, instead of Ezra Miller. Also, this series just has a great storyline overall.
Arrow is another great show, because it has a darker side to it than the other DC series. This makes sense, because the Green Arrow is supposed to be a vigilante. And based on the way that Stephen Amell plays the title character, you can tell he cared about this role.
Supergirl is another terrific series, especially because of its cast and the writing. I think Melissa Benoist has been our best Supergirl yet, and she and her castmates are really well-rounded and make the show what it is. Supergirl is action-packed, funny, and emotional, and the way that the writers have stayed true to the original comics is top-tier.
In the end, although the most recent DC movies have been a huge disappointment, I still think there’s hope for the DCU, especially since James Gunn has taken over creative control of the franchise.
And as for the future, it’d be cool if we got a Green Arrow movie. Maybe sooner rather than later? What do you say, James?
