The DCEU hasn’t exactly garnered an amazing reputation. Despite recent successes including Wonder Woman, Shazam!, and Aquaman, the universe is still struggling to recover after the disasters of its earlier releases. That being said, the history of DC films were also an incredibly mixed bag. For every Dark Knight, there was a Steel. Consequently, while we may miss some elements of these movies, whether it be due to nostalgia or genuinely good filmmaking, there are several things from the pre-DCEU era that still give us nightmares to this day.
Miss: Campiness Of The ’60s Batman
The 1966 Batman movie was a hysterical Batman film with liberal use of Bat-gadgets. It featured the classic scene in which Batman had to fend off a rubber shark with his Bat anti-shark spray. However, it also features something that hasn’t been featured in superhero movies for a few decades now — campy, lighthearted humor.
While this isn’t to everyone’s taste, a return to a camp superhero world may be incredibly successful on the big screen. Joker has shown that movies don’t have to be part of a cinematic universe anymore, so it could easily work on-screen in its own world.
Don’t: Random Recasts
One thing that the DCEU, like the MCU, has done well is its lack of recasts. This allows fans to establish a sense of continuity within the series. Before the DCEU, Batman had been played by three different actors and Superman had been played by two.
While this didn’t really impact the continuity in the story sense, it did take fans a while to get used to the new actor in the suit.
Miss: The Burton Batmobiles
The Tim Burton Batmobiles were some of the greatest ever designed. While the incredibly long Batmobile may not be functional in real life, it was certainly a beautiful vehicle. Lately, superhero movies have been going for function rather than design in their movies — the Nolan and the Snyder Batmobiles are examples of this.
A heavily stylized DC movie would be incredible to watch. It would help create memorable Batmobiles that can actually stand up to the Burton era vehicles.
Don’t: Lack Of Supernatural
While the original Batman movies (the first two anyway) and the Nolan trilogy were incredible films, they did lean into a sense of realism. Burton opted for a sense of stylized realism, whereas Nolan attempted to make a gritty, realistic film. The artistic choices these directors made also prevented their movies from exploring the more fantastical elements of the Batman character.
While the DCEU hasn’t explored the supernatural as well as it could, the ability is still there for them to return to the magical side of the DC Universe. With Batman in particular, this allows for an exploration of the Lazarus Pits and the return of Jason Todd.
Miss: The Reliability Of Nolan
Despite the fact that many believe The Dark Knight Rises to be the worst film in the Dark Knight trilogy, few would suggest that it was a bad movie. Everyone headed into the cinema knowing that the film was going to be solid, even if it wasn’t necessarily as good as The Dark Knight.
This kind of reliability is heavily needed in the DCEU at the minute. While the last few films have been great, we still walk into the theater worried about the quality of the film.
Don’t: No Overlapping Movies
While the idea of an intricately linked universe of different movies and characters can sometimes hinder a director, it can also make the world of the movie feel larger and more real. One of the main issues with the pre-DCEU era was the lack of other superheroes in their movies.
The Batman movies, Superman movies, and even the Green Lantern movie all lived in a closed world. Fans would have loved to have seen a Superman in Burton’s Batman or a Batman in Richard Donner’s Superman world.
Miss: Christopher Reeve Magic
The magic of Superman hasn’t really been captured since Henry Cavill took over the role. This is not to say that Cavill has been terrible — he’s a fantastic Superman — the issue is simply the scripts he’s had to work with. One of the main criticisms of Man of Steel and the subsequent DCEU Superman appearances was the dark, gritty script.
This was almost certainly due to the success of the gritty Dark Knight trilogy, but Superman is not a character that should spend much time in the dark, gritty world.
Don’t: Nuclear Man
While the first two Superman movies were incredible and managed to truly make us all believe that a man could fly, the final two (starring Christopher Reeve), were far from fantastic. While Superman III was forgivable in certain respects, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was an absolute trainwreck.
Perhaps the worst part of the movie was the inclusion of Nuclear Man. Nuclear Man was created by Lex Luthor to battle Superman, but test screenings were so negative that a Nuclear Man had to be created for the film. Let’s just say he didn’t wow audiences either.
Miss: Lack Of Memorable Scores
Aside from the Wonder Woman theme, there has been a distinct lack of memorable superhero theme scores in the DCEU. The Christopher Reeve Superman had the classic John Williams theme, Burton’s Batman had the iconic Danny Elfman theme and the Birth of the Penguin from Batman Returns. Even the Dark Knight trilogy had its own iconic theme that will certainly stand the test of time.
However, for whatever reason, the DCEU has yet to make a fantastic theme. Perhaps, as the DCEU is certainly going through a period of transition, the themes will also improve.
Don’t: Bat Nipples
This one simply had to make the list. It would have been impossible to write a list about the worst aspects of pre-DCEU movies without including the horrendous Bat Nipples in Batman and Robin. The decision to include nipples on the bat suit is one of the most perplexing choices in cinematic history.
They raise far more questions than they answer and do nothing except taint the legacy of the original two Burton movies. The biggest tragedy of the ’90s Batman movies was that Batman went from a dark, brooding vigilante of the night to a vigilante in a navy blue suit with nipples on it.
