DC Extended Universe vs. Marvel Cinematic Universe

It's one of the most heated cinematic rivalries of all time: The MCU v. The DCEU. The MCU is the gold standard for blockbuster filmmaking. Its films are consistently well received by both critics and fans, and the box office numbers are off the charts. On the other hand, the DCEU, with the exception of Wonder Woman, has struggled to achieve the same level of success.

Why do the DCEU films pale in comparison to the films of the MCU? Well, there are a lot of glaring issues: They tend to lean on spectacle rather than story. They have bloated third acts and shoddy character development. And the list goes on. However, the biggest issue in the DCEU has nothing to do with the actual films, it's simply the way in which its cinematic universe was structured.

The sad thing is, all of the missteps of the DCEU could have been avoided with better planning. Batman v. Superman should have been a home run. It's the two biggest superheroes of all time meeting on screen for the first time ever. Why did it fail critically? Because nothing was developed. We didn't know Batman, we didn't know Wonder Woman, and yet, here they are teaming up with Superman, begging for the audience to be shocked and awed. And the same goes for Justice League.

This video proposes what could have been for the DCEU. To be fair, the plots will remain as unchanged as possible, and no films get booted. In my humble opinion, the DCEU films are still enjoyable. But it's just a little heartbreaking to think of the wasted potential and what could have been.