Is it far too late for the DCEU to ever be as successful and as popular as the MCU?

Yes

Not really, there’s still a chance to set things right with flash(but also a chance to make things worse)

Their brand name will never be as powerful. Anyone saying yes is either talking from a personal perspective or an objectively flawed one.

Never too late as long as they reboot and do things properly.

Eh, anything’s possible. I wouldn’t bet on it, though.

@krisbishop: If they reboot with a whole new universe then yeah, I can't see the same DCEU being as popular though. I can see The Batman universe being one they can work from.

@ghostodoofus2: Definitely. The Bat Family is an untapped gold mine for live action.

It's not too late if they reboot the universe and do it properly this time, and stop trying to do too many different things in different directions at the same time.

yes

Yes. DC’s only hope is to completely start over in a few years and hope the MCU hype has died down. Perhaps they could build off of The Batman? Regardless, the DCEU will never hit MCU heights.

They already are, in terms of wokeness. The D-SHE-U.

QFT

MCU's power has destroyed the DCEU hacks and crushed the spirits of its cast. Trust Joss Whedon!

I think that time has past. The MCU has been doing all kinds of wacky stuff recently, and the best DC can do is mimic it. DCEU would never surpass the MCU unless the MCU collossaly shits itself

Probably? Not 100% sure yet. On how the MCU is going (minus NWH) it could do well but we got GOTG 3, Thor Love and Thunder plus Multiverse of Madness so we’ll wait and see

MCU is on decline now. If DCEU will choose the right strategy, they still can move up the ladder.

They already are. Aquaman made a billion without any help from the JL (literally because the movie had bombed the year before too), Joker is more profitable than any avengers movie and he didn't even need Batman to suit up and The SnyderCut was a the most talked about movie, even above No Way Home and beat out Avengers Endgame in terms of internet trending and movie streams in China. DC is a juggernaut brand, it's just that Walter Hamada and the people running the films division aren't receptive to fans the way Kevin Fiege is so there isn't much enthusiasm to be had.

@goldeneagle: Saying "That's incorrect 🧐" to everything doesn't actually mean anything lol. Aquaman had 1 reference to JL and zero cameos but still made more than a majority of MCU films, and that's backed by the box office. Same with Joker being more profitable than any MCU film because it grossed a billion on a 55 million dollar budget. "In China" isn't an actual rebuttal either because half of Endgame's gross came from China so ZSJL beating it out in streaming numbers means it absolutely would've shattered records had it been given a theater release. You're welcome to reply but if "oh that's just wrong" is the best you can do don't expect a response

@goldeneagle: Yes Joker was arguably the most profitable CBM. The only thing preventing all the money going to WB is how many other companies were involved in production. And I think ZSJL could've easily made that with no pandemic considering it shattered streaming records in dozens of other nations including Russia, Brazil and the US and got it's insane China streaming numbers even though the film had been leaked for a while over there anyway. That's insane brand loyalty

Well the Mcu success was built around the shared universe concept, something that not even the also Disney brand Star Wars was able to replicate, and we are talking of the biggest movie brand before the Mcu.

So without its own movie studio and plans to really built a shared universe, i would not put the bar that high for DC movies, we do not even know if comic book movies will continue to be as popular as they were in the last decade.

Currently is hard to argue against the idea that the Infinity Saga was the peak of the comic book genre, maybe one day nostalgia may call moviegoers to a movie where we will see the Mcu trinity reunite again, but that could go as Star Wars last trilogy, it was just that, nostalgia not really the appeal to the new narrative.

Also after so many movies seems that marvel heroes have a better demographic range than DC heroes.

Avengers Endgame - $890M (2019)

Avengers: Infinity War - $500M (2018)

Black Panther - $476.8M (2018)

Joker - $437M (2019)

@asgaard: Don't be shy, post the budgets for all those movies too

lol. Are you sure you can't solve the puzzle here? You just have to click in the links...

@asgaard: Infinity War and Endgame both had a budget of 316 and 356 million not even including marketing and what goes to actors/theaters. Tell me, how much of that do you think Disney got to pocket compared to Joker's 55 million dollar budget?

The numbers that i posted...

Avengers Endgame - $890M (2019)

Avengers: Infinity War - $500M (2018)

Black Panther - $476.8M (2018)

Joker - $437M (2019)

Are the profit that each of these movies made, just the profit, again click in the links, and you will find Deadline's full numbers, budget, marketing, participations and all the money that the movie studio got back from movie theaters.

Considering The Flash is about to wipe DCEU Batman and DCEU Superman from the canon, I would say yes it's too late

Probably too late. The MCU was patient and made solo films establishing fundamental aspects of their universe, main characters, core plot-lines etc. And they did it in a fun, engaging way balancing drama, action and comedy. The DCEU tried to piggy-back off that success without following the formula and without hiring as competent screen writers or directors, failing to go for substance over style.

@asgaard: I see, my mistake

It’s not impossible, but I doubt it’ll ever happen.

DC made a mess of their cinematic universe to start with which has messed up the reputation of their brand in the eyes of many. This has caused much of the potential audience to loose interest, while the MCU has become well praised and increasingly popular for years.

The DCEU is going to continue on despite what anyone wants to say, but fact remains that as long WB Execs are still running the show than it will always be a mess. I mean instead of a proper trinity were getting a an all female one, and instead of getting a proper batman beyond movie were going to get a batwoman beyond one. I mean I wouldnt have mind all of those, if we just had properly ended the original trinity the right way and built up to an all female trinity and female batman beyond character.

There was never the same passion and love put ibto the DCEU compared to the MCU

Now look at them

It's not completely impossible, but it's not likely at all that the DCEU will ever catch up to the MCU.

That being said, both names have been on a bit of a decline recently.

As long as WB continues to stubbornly avoid doing proper shared universe, it will never be a successful as the MCU. People watch every movie and film because they're connected. As long as you will feel like they can skip DC movies and not miss anything that's exactly what they'll do.

Probably

Yeah, it's over for that. I'll still watch the movies, but it's a dub. DCEU Flash still solos the Avengers, and xmen Verse though.

The DCEU is (and always has been) better than the MCU.

the suicide squad was the best comic book movie of the year for me. i felt emotionally attached to every character, it was funnier than any mcu movie to date, and the story was airtight and perfectly focused. wonder woman, birds of prey, and aquaman were also very great films. the dceu makes more great movies then they do bad ones, but their bad ones are usually REALLY bad whereas the mcu’s bad films are still fully watchable (minus thor 2).

The best DCEU films for me were honestly Man of Steel and Syndercut Justice League.

@nassergrant19: To me it is man of steel/Suicide squad 2 and Aquaman.

Nice

the DCEU only villain is Warner Bros Never seen a company shoot themselves in the foot so much.

It's never too late, they just need to produce better movies.

I mean there use to be a time when message boards would ask if Marvel would ever have movies with as much pop cultural impact as Superman or Batman. There would people who would claim or assert "no" and yet...

That being said this question is a big trickier to answer, because you may have to include inflation as a factor, do you mean in a relative sense or objective sense? If the MCU has a string of flops for the next ten years, and DCEU has a string of billion dollar movies... is that what one means by as successful and popular? Or does the success on its own qualify? What if new technology or the market changes in a significant way, and movies aren't as big anymore, so movies in general don't make as much money, but... in a relative way DC movies are more successful than Marvel movies at that time... but just not as successful as Marvel was in the "past".

So depends. Late carries odd implications, tied to individuals perspectives. Prior to Spiderman's first movie, someone could ask "Is it to late for Marvel to ever have a movie as big as Superman?" then they died, and the answer was no. in 30 years Disney could own DC properties and making DC movies that are even "bigger" in nature and profit. I mean.. probably not, but thats the point.