DC Finally Embraces its Role as the Anti-MCU

With plans for a DC Multiverse growing more and more expansive by the day, the DCEU has finally take on the role of a completely distinct entity from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. News recently broke of Michael Keaton being in talks to return as Batman in The Flash, which itself is being sold as a retelling of the Flashpoint comic book story. Though it isn't yet a done deal for Keaton to return to Gotham City decades after vacating the role, this is just the latest development in what has been a blizzard of chatter, rumors, and announcements that would have seemed laughable mere months ago.

All of it was arguably set in motion by Ezra Miller's surprise cameo on the CW's Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover, while May 20th brought with it the announcement of the Justice League Snyder Cut debuting on HBO Max in 2021. In the time since then, there's seemingly been little room to breath between one internet-stopping DC movie-related story and the next. However, it's the Michael Keaton news that has pushed things past the point of no return.

Simply put, the DCEU has fundamentally transformed in the last few months. Where rumors of departing actors, director drama, and shifting release dates once dominated media coverage of the franchise, DC now has the internet constantly on pins and needles, eagerly awaiting what casting rumor or story detail will trickle through the grapevine next, and all of it greatly feeding the anticipation for August's DC Fandome online event. The real change of it all is that, by selling itself as vast Multiverse with numerous parallel continuities for fans to latch onto, DC at last stands apart from Marvel.

The DCEU Tried To Catch Up To Marvel

Though the DCEU began in 2013 with Man of Steel, it truly kicked off in earnest with 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In the lead up to the movie's debut, Warner Bros. made efforts to position the DCEU as the studio's answer to the MCU. While both held the common trait of a shared universe in which numerous superheroes co-existed, Zack Snyder had a very different vision in mind of a five-movie arc with Superman's story that had begun in Man of Steel as its core, and which was to include the death and return of Superman, the death of Ben Affleck's Batman, and more.

While Man of Steel had been subject to a quite split reception, Batman v Superman's was as divisive as any superhero movie's has ever been, leading directly to Warner Bros. moving to heavily micromanage the DCEU, with Suicide Squad and later Justice League undergoing notorious reshoots and retooling in an effort to align them with Marvel's path to success. With the release of the Snyder Cut, the DCEU has effectively begun rolling back to the clock on the midstream mandates to retroactively fit the MCU formula into its own (with the Ayer Cut's release also now being a possibility.) However, even this absolutely historic development doesn't paint the full picture of where DC is headed now.

Future DC Movies Are Standalone (But Can Connect Later)

In the time since Justice League's theatrical debut, the four DC movies to have been released have occupied a somewhat nebulous place, with Aquaman, Shazam!, and Birds of Prey all being standalone movies that nevertheless do maintain varying levels of connective tissue with the films that preceded them. At the same time, Todd Phillips' Joker operated as an out-of-continuity one-off, while the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984 takes place before, and is therefore not informed by, the events of the first five DCEU films. While DC's slate of upcoming movies don't look to be directly feeding into one another, this hardly presents a continuity problem.

In fact, the standalone nature of DC's future slate offers them a great deal of freedom in the larger role they'll play in what has become DC's Multiverse. Hypothetically, the events Black Adam will likely have little direct ties with The Suicide Squad, but both being part of the DC brand allows their characters to connect at whatever time and under whatever circumstance they elect to take. Furthermore, even if one DC movie clearly positions itself as an independent entity, as Joker did and Matt Reeves' The Batman is doing, DC now operating as a Multiverse affords an entire slew of advantages that it never would have had at its disposal had the DCEU been a direct parallel to the MCU's interconnected continuity.

The Multiverse Makes The DCEU The Anti-MCU

Ezra Miller as The Flash and Michael Keaton as Batman

By even the most skeptical of readings, the DCEU is currently showering the internet with one bombshell news story after another, from the Snyder Cut's announcement and Henry Cavill's prospective return as Superman to the ongoing parade of news about The Flash (itself a complete about-face from that movie's developmental stagnation.) At the same time, the idea of Michael Keaton possibly returning as Batman, along with Ezra Miller's Crisis On Infinite Earths cameo, solidifies that DC has thrown the floodgates open on its entire big and small-screen canon. Not only that, but it also finally positions DC's film slate as a genuine counterpoint to the MCU.

With so many disparate continuities under the Multiverse umbrella, DC movies and TV shows alike are now far less tethered to the parameters of inhabiting a singular continuity. This essentially leaves filmmakers free to tell any stories they want with whichever character or set of characters they wish. At this point, Robert Pattinson's Batman doesn't cancel out or undo Ben Affleck's, or any other Caped Crusader, while Brandon Routh's Superman is just one more Man of Steel alongside Henry Cavill's and Tyler Hoechlin's. At the same time, DC's properties technically do connect with one another by co-existing in a larger Multiverse - and, in the case of Keaton's possible return as Batman in The Flash, there's nothing to stop characters from one movie or series years or decades removed from each other from crossing paths with those of a different continuity.

The level of engagement and excitement towards DC's future right now has completely captivated the attention of the superhero movie scene. All of that can be traced to the visible efforts that have been made to re-position the DCEU not as another attempt at a shared universe following the MCU's undeniable success story, but an ambitious endeavor all its own at bringing DC properties new and old under one roof with the freedom to connect or stand alone as they choose. To be sure, Marvel is also set to dip its toes into the Multiverse waters with Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, but with the new strategy it has adopted, the DCEU is not only clearly diving headfirst into it, but it has also finally shaken off the stigma of being a second-string MCU while finding a way to unify its fan base and chart its own path. Thanks to its aggressive new approach of selling its own distinctness from Marvel, DC is now truly no longer sitting in Marvel's shadow.

NEXT: The DCEU Multiverse Explained: Which Movies & Shows Are Canon