Following the successful reboot of Superman in Man of Steel, DC decided to introduce the extended universe – their answer to Marvel Cinematic Universe. The vision was set. Marvel had the likes of Captain America, Thor, and Iron man, among others teaming up to form the Avengers, DC would retaliate by bringing in the DC trinity: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to form the Justice League. Anticipation was high. Unfortunately, the execution could not match the vision.
Their first official effort came in the form of Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). It would be the first time the titular characters would face off in the live action adaptation. Wonder Woman would also be making her first ever appearance in a live action movie. This anticipation of seeing the DC trinity together for the first time in the big screen carried the movie to its initial box office success. Dawn of Justice managed to set the record for DC’s biggest domestic opening weekend grossing a whopping $166,007,347. Its worldwide Box Office opening registered $422.5M worldwide making it the sixth biggest opening at the box office (fifth if not for Star Wars: The Last Jedi) – a feat Marvel is yet to beat.
Unfortunately, this peak was immediately followed by a sharp drop in numbers. Dawn of Justice plunged 68.4% at the box office garnering just additional $52M in its second week. Considering it was the beginning of DC Extended Universe, audience’s waning interest in only their second week was not a good sign. In contrast, Marvel’s Avengers had garnered another $100M in their second week. Although, this drop did not prevent Dawn of Justice from grossing over $300M and $850 at the domestic and Worldwide Box Office respectively, considering its potential, it was a let-down.
DC’s failure with the movie was not its financial gain, but the poor reception by the critics. Rotten Tomatoes, review aggregator website, gave the movie a low 27%. Its predecessor, Man of Steel (2013) had earned the score of 55%, a whopping 28% drop in critics’ approval of the franchise. From the 375 reviews that were counted to score Dawn of Justice, it earned 102 Fresh approvals to 273 Rotten disapprovals with an average rating of 4.9 out of 10. Compare that to Marvel’s The Avengers (2012), which had a rating of 92%, it was a huge blow to the credibility of DC Extended universe.
This trend continued with DC’s following effort in Suicide Squad. Assembling the villains, rather than the heroes, DC marched into the theatres with the likes of Will Smith and Margot Robbie leading the charge, while Jared Leto’s portrayal was under scrutiny following the Oscar-winning performance by belated Heath Ledger in Christopher Nolan’s well-received, Batman adaptation, The Dark Knight. On its opening weekend at the Box office, it garnered $133,682,248, a number that dropped to mere $43,536,013 in the second. The reviews were just as abysmal, as rotten tomatoes gave it a rotten certification of mere 26% averaging a rating of 4.8 out of 10. Out of the 324 reviews that were garnered, only 85 critics gave their approvals while 239 went the other way.
DC’s salvation came in the form of Wonder Woman. Released in 2017, it broke its way into the box office garnering $103,251,471 in its opening weekend. While it did less than its predecessors in the Extended Universe, in the opening weekend, it did better than them in its second, earning 58,520,672. What made it DC’s biggest outing, however, was the critical and audience reception of the movie. Certified fresh by Rotten Tomatoes, it got a 92% approval rating with an average rating of 7.5 out of 10. Among 360 reviewers, 331 gave it a fresh rating in contrast to 29 rotten ratings. Considered the best movie of DCEU, it also became the highest rated superhero movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes. Until now, DCEU movies were financial successes but critical failures, but Wonder Woman broke the pattern deciding to be both. However, it was more than just a superhero movie. It was a staple of feminism in Hollywood and by extension the world. It made its mark by hiring a female director in Patty Jenkins to direct a superhero movie. She would be the only second female director to take on the helms of a big budget movie (over $100M). She shattered expectations and reminded the world that gender should not play a role in success by delivering one of the finest superhero movie to date whilst simultaneously being the first female director to gross over $100M at the opening weekend of the Box office. Wonder Woman also marked the first time a female-centred superhero movie made its way into the big screen. While Marvel may have announced their first female-centred movie in Captain Marvel, DC were the one to pull the trigger and Wonder Woman was the one who led the charge.
Then there was Justice League — uniting the DC trinity to the big screen again, only this time, supported by Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. No more teasing, no more allusions, no more poor security camera footage, DC were finally showcasing their alternative to Marvel’s Avengers. Riding high on the coattails of Wonder Woman’s success, Justice League was released to the theatres the same year. Unfortunately, it could neither recreate the financial nor critical success of Wonder Woman. It opened to only $93,842,239 at the weekend box office. This was a huge disappointment for the DC Extended Universe as Marvel’s first “Avengers” titled outing had garnered well over $200M at the opening weekend, whereas Age of Ultron had managed $191M. The success of Wonder Woman was a symbol of hope to the DCEU but the disappointment of Justice League made it seem like an anomaly. Registering only 40% ratings at the Rotten tomatoes (better than both Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad) Justice League, by far, was their biggest failure to date. Earning less in a month than what The Last Jedi earned in its opening weekend shows just far out of favour DCEU has fallen.
Critics may have slammed most of DCEU movies; however, there is still life in the franchise. Audiences’ reception has been more favourable than the critics. In rotten tomatoes, audience responses towards DCEU movies are generally positive with scores going upwards of 60%. Their latest endeavour, Justice League has garnered a positive audience reaction of 79% (nearly half more than the critics’). This is more than the likes of Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor and Iron Man 2 which holds a critical ratings of 80%, 77%, and 73% respectively. Even the cinema goers’ responses towards the DCEU franchise has been mostly positive garnering their movies ratings of B and above, according to CinemaScore. These differences in critics’ and audiences’ opinions have opened up a debate about the division between them. While the difference of opinion is nothing new, the critics’ positive responses towards MCU and negative responses towards DCEU have pushed the fans of the latter franchise to be more vocal about their support.
The declining Box office numbers of the DCEU franchise may suggest that their appeal may be weakening, but it has a long way to go before completely disappearing, if at all. These figures are nothing, but small hurdles, which DCEU has all the time and money to clear. Even though Justice League made less than $100M in its opening weekend, it has so far managed to gross well over $600M worldwide against the budget of $300M. This is far below their projected expectation; it is, however, still a respectable profit to generate. The franchise so far has generated a revenue of over $3.73bn from worldwide box office against a budget of $1.1bn, averaging about $747M per movie. With six more titles on the way in the next three years and more, yet to be given a date, it is only going to be generating more profits.
While it is improbable they will ever match the financial success of Marvel Cinematic Universe, they can still salvage their franchise. The opening weekend box office success may be waning for the DCEU movies, it is still profitable. Critics’ opinions can be changed with better delivery of their movies. As long as they can deliver to their core audiences, they will be able to thrive just like Transformers, and Fast and Furious franchises. With superheroes movies dominating the Hollywood industry, the name value of DC trinity and the Justice League will be enough to hoist the franchise to greater heights.
Jacksombre 