What Broke DC Movies, And How Can They Top Marvel?

Change has once again come to the DC cinematic universe, this time in the rumored loss of its premier star, Superman, or, rather, Henry Cavill.

As reported earlier this week, despite vague statements to the contrary from both Warner Bros. and his agent, Cavill appears to be out of the picture as the titular Man of Steel in DC's forthcoming slate of films. While the verdict is still out on whether the report is true, or if it's just a case of Hollywood hype, the news of the actor's potential departure is the latest development in a multi-year history of troubled productions, dissatisfied actors and disappointing box office returns.

But where did it all go wrong for DC? And could Cavill's exit actually signal a return to form for Marvel's "Distinguished Competition" at the box office?

DC's cinematic universe -- once known to fans as the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), now referred to unofficially as "Worlds of DC" -- began with 2013's Man of Steel. Despite mixed reviews and a controversial ending, which saw Superman kill General Zod, the film earned just shy of $670 million worldwide, a financial success big enough to spawn a highly anticipated on-screen universe to rival DC's major competitor, Marvel.

Unfortunately, it was born under a bad sign. By 2013, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was already in its second phase, releasing both Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World just a year after dropping its record-breaking ensemble film, The Avengers. Needless to say, fan expectation of DC was high, and it was incumbent on Warner Bros. to deliver, if not something similar, then a concept equally as compelling to Marvel's shared superhero universe. What followed, however, was a slate of critically-divisive, commercially inconsistent films that left fans clamoring for the cohesion of the MCU.

After a three-year gap -- during which, it should be noted, Marvel dropped four more MCU films, including its second Avengers movie, Age of Ultron -- Warner Bros. released Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (BVS), followed by the even more derided Suicide Squad in the same year (2016). Both films were beleaguered by controversy, be it in the contentious treatment of DC's biggest characters on-screen or even in the off-screen antics of its stars.

Perhaps more importantly, however, DC seemed incapable of capturing what made the MCU so successful. While there seemed to be a significant course-correction in 2017's Wonder Woman, DC's own ensemble film, Justice League (also released in 2017), became the DCEU's lowest grossing outing to date, signaling to some fans the beginning of an inevitable end. But could the loss DC might suffer from the departure of the actor portraying its golden god on-screen potentially be mitigated by the silver lining of an untainted -- and much-needed -- fresh start?

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Numerous fans and armchair pundits have commented that the DC cinematic universe, while immediately being put on the defensive to answer Marvel's more well-established offerings on-screen, was also weighed down by the gravity of its own ambition. To many, this was a question first of the universe's tone, established in the Zack Snyder-led vision to do something more grounded and grim; itself a reaction to the MCU's more lighthearted output. Deserved or not, Man of Steel's grim view of superheroes has cast an inescapable shadow over the DCEU from the start.

With Cavill's potential exit, as well as the incoming tide of similarly-rumored actors taking new roles -- Kit Harrington recently being whispered about taking over Batman duties from Ben Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix doing a new spin on The Joker -- DC has an incredible opportunity to take a page from its own source material and wipe the slate clean to make way for something new.

Actors like Affleck and Cavill de-facto represent the old DCEU; as such, their exit or removal could allow for other, fresher faces to come aboard to help navigate DC's flagging universe into new, more successful directions on-screen. Luckily, DC has established a framework for how this could work, thanks to its presence on television. Viewers of the popular Arrowverse have already been introduced to the idea of multiple universes -- known in the geek parlance as "multiverses" -- which would allow DC not just to swap out actors and tell new stories, but also to explore a tone more in-line with what audiences want.

While DC should not simply emulate the style of Marvel, nor should it simply inject humor into existing projects (as Joss Whedon reportedly did in Justice League), an adjustment in tone seems almost mandatory at this point. Let's not forget, too, that the MCU recently did the same thing to great success (though admittedly in the opposite direction), thanks to the events of Infinity War.

On top of more lighthearted takes with less marquee properties like Aquaman and Shazam, the recent rumor that Michael B. Jordan has been considered to take on the Superman role may indicate that DC is at least thinking of taking divergent paths. Jordan potentially stepping into the cape of a very different Superman in the form of Earth 2's Val-Zod, for example, would work perfectly in helping develop a true big screen multiverse.

At the same time, the films further afield on DC's slate naturally lend a helpful launchpad for new possibilities. The Flash movie, for example -- rumored to loosely follow the multiverse-shattering Flashpoint event -- could afford Warner Bros. the opportunity to reboot the universe using, unquestionably, DC Films' most optimistic and lighthearted hero. As such, DC could capture what has made movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok so successful, without simply copying Marvel's trailer style.

Despite the fan shakeup and furtive discussions Henry Cavill's rumored leaving have already elicited online, this could represent a bright turning point on the big screen, with DC divorcing itself of the facade that has made its universe so contentious, and instead focusing on what, or rather who could lead its films going forward as the next, true Man of Tomorrow.