Over the past several months, there's been a bit of confusion regarding the direction of Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment's still-growing cinematic universe. From questions about The Batman's place in the DCEU to news of an out-of-continuity Joker origin movie, many fans are still trying to figure out what to make of DC's fledgling shared universe. However, for lifelong comic book fan Kevin Smith, he's just happy to see DC continuing to expand their horizons.
RELATED: Everything We Know About the DC Extended Universe
In an interview with Screen Rant, Smith was asked to share his thoughts on the idea of Warner Bros. crafting DC-based films that don't take place with same cinematic universe.
"All of ‘em are good," Smith replied. "There’s no such thing as a bad comic book movie. Even the ones that people say are quote-unquote bad are better than no comic book movies. I’m a forty-seven-year-old man, so I grew up in an era where there were no comic book movies. And then every once in awhile you’d get one, and it was like water in a desert. You’d get Batman in 1989, or Blade or something like that. So now, we live in an era where they’re like, 'hey, we’re not even gonna do an interconnected DC universe. We’re just gonna let Martin Scorsese produce a flick where Leonardo DiCaprio might play the Joker.' That’s exciting. So, to me, I’m like, the more the merrier."
However, despite his love of DC, Warner Bros. isn't the only studio on Smith's radar. The director also weighed in on how the studio is differentiating itself from its big-screen rival, Marvel Studios.
"I know they’re deviating from the Marvel template of, like, 'we’ll make a bunch of characters, and then a reunion movie. Buncha characters, reunion movie,'" he explained. "Instead, Warner Bros. seems to be going with, 'well, we tried that, and we’re gonna keep doing it on the side, but we’re not gonna limit ourselves. We’re gonna do a bunch of other interesting things.' They’re trying to forge their way in the superhero space. So I think it’s interesting, I’m not against that at all."
Circling back to his own personal preferences, Smith explained that while the idea of a true interconnected film universe is exciting, it's hardly the be-all end-all.
"I’m a purist, so I love when things are interconnected, as well, but I grew up in an era where there was a Batman movie, there was a Superman movie, and they didn’t really reference each other," he said. "So now we live in a world where these movies can cross over and stuff, I’m happy to get the ones that can, but if they don’t cross ‘em over that’s totally okay with me. As long as they’re good, as long as they try.
"And think about—some people get kinda crappy, like, 'come on, man, these cats, they don’t know comic books,'" he continued. "Comic books and characters have been handed to so many creators over the years. You never know what you’re gonna get in the hands of any particular person. I still get crap for making Batman pee his pants in a Batman book once, which is, you know, kind of reducing it to something it wasn’t, but still, regardless, you gotta respect the fact that a creator can come on, maybe take that character [to] a place that you’ve never seen that character be taken. And I gotta imagine, if Martin Scorsese jumps onto a Batman movie, we’re gonna see some shit. Not bad shit, the good shit that we all dream about. Goodfellas in a DC Universe movie? I’m there, take all my money."
RELATED: ‘DC Extended Universe’ Name Started As A Joke
Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment’s comic book-themed films continue on Nov. 17 with Justice League, which stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Raymond Fisher as Cyborg, Willem Dafoe as Vulko, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, Amber Heard as Mera and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.