The Booster Gold Movie is Key to Saving the DCEU

The DC Extended Universe is in trouble. Big trouble.

Following the failure of Justice League in 2017, Warner Bros. made massive changes to the structure of DC Films, placing the division's movie universe under new management and dropping several projects off the unofficial schedule. As a result, Aquaman, Shazam! and Wonder Woman 2 are the only films left in active production, and while Warner Bros. seems to have no clue where to go from here, some recent news about a previously in-development project seems to be a great place to start.

DCTV producer Greg Berlanti recently offered an update on the Booster Gold film he was attached to direct two years ago. According to Berlanti, Warner Bros. is still trying to figure out "how it's going to fit in their greater landscape." Of course, considering said landscape has essentially been completely flattened over the last few months, it would seem that there's no better time to green-light a Booster Gold film than right now.

A Much Needed Change in Tone

It has been discussed ad nauseam that the DC Extended Universe needs a change in style, tone and mood. Now that Zack Snyder is no longer actively involved with DC's slate of films, it allows Warner Bros. the opportunity to redefine the identity of its superhero universe. In fact, it looks like that's exactly what is happening, with Wonder Woman 2 being fast-tracked fora 2019 release alongside Shazam! The studio is looking to change audience perception, and it wants to do it quickly.

This is where Booster Gold would fit perfectly into the landscape of the DCEU, to hammer home this recent change of direction. Booster may not seem like the blockbuster name that will fix the DCEU, but the character could do the necessary legwork to "boost" confidence in the future of the troubled cinematic universe. Between the character's bumbling wannabe hero schtick, his time traveling capabilities, and a character arc on par with Iron Man or Ant-Man, he's the perfect choice to cement the redefinition of the DCEU.

As in the comics, the film would see Michael John Carter of the 25th Century steal a time machine in order to go back and become a hero on par with the Justice League. Given Michael's desire for fame and fortune, he and his robot sidekick Skeets (ready-made for any number of toys!) would struggle with the hero game as Booster tries to gain corporate sponsorships. Of course, he would eventually stumble across a problem with the timeline and be forced into service to protect the world. His character arc would transform him into a true hero without gaining the recognition he initially craved. It's a simple and fun storyline, which is exactly what Warner Bros. needs right now.

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Enough damage has been done to the DC Extended Universe at this point, and a Booster Gold film would provide the perfect opportunity to introduce a soft reboot, fixing the things that haven't worked while leaving stuff that has untouched. As the character can attest to in the comics, changing the past can be disastrous to future events. Perhaps the movie would deal with the ramifications of something happening to damage the timeline, and in the end, some things will return to normal while others will be changed.

This would allow Warner Bros. to retcon some of the events from Batman v. Superman and Justice League, while keeping Wonder Woman in continuity. It would establish the precedent for a new style and tone for future installments and introduce new beginnings for some of the characters involved. Maybe a few of them would even play a role in the film. This would also be the perfect opportunity for Warner Bros. to recast Batman, since Ben Affleck seems to want out of the DCEU at this point.

If this basic outline sounds like Flashpoint, the Flash's reported solo feature, it's because... it basically is. But allowing Booster Gold to take on that job would free the Flash up for a new story. We've already seen The Flash television show do Flashpoint, so there's really no point trying it again. Allow The Flash movie to tell an original story that hasn't been done before.

The idea of a film actively working to retool a movie universe seems a little unorthodox, but it's not unheard of, either. Fox's X-Men movie universe already did this by removing X-Men: The Last Stand from continuity following Days of Future Past. As a result, multiple timelines now exist, allowing Fox to continue its movie universe, tell side stories like Logan and Deadpool, and introduce television shows like The Gifted and Legion. Remaining slavishly tied to continuity doesn't really matter, so long as you can tell a good story.

The Decentralization of the DC Movie Universe

Perhaps one of the biggest failures of the DCEU came from the studio's insistence on bringing together DC's biggest names right from the beginning without any individual build-up. Booster Gold would go a long way toward decentralizing the shared movie universe, moving it away from the members of the Justice League and toward some of DC's lesser known superheroes. New characters would give fans fresh concepts played out before them, instead of watching Batman for the 300th time in the last five years.

Marvel Studios managed to get its movie universe off the ground with the then lesser known Iron Man character. Some people may have known who Tony Stark was prior to 2008, but he certainly wasn't the box office guarantee he's become. Booster Gold can certainly be Warner Bros' Iron Man, but really, he doesn't have to be. He just needs to be entertaining.

We have already seen James Gunn turn the Guardians of the Galaxy, a little known Marvel Comics concept, into a billion dollar franchise. Booster Gold could offer similar comedy, similar feel-good action, and similar sci-fi adventures to make it a hit. Warner Bros. just needs to realize that the initial plan for the DCEU is dead, and a new plan, led by Booster Gold, needs to take its place.