Throughout 2020, the DCEU was the inverse of all the misery the past year brought with it. 2020 is a year that will not be viewed through a nostalgic lens, with a viral outbreak growing into a pandemic by March and causing incalculable damage at every level of society. Many alive today, particularly younger generations, would very likely call 2020 the worst year they've experienced in their lives.
At the same time, the DCEU did a better job than anyone or anything of making people forget just how horrendous 2020 was. Whether one was a fan of Zack Snyder's DC movies, greatly anticipating what Matt Reeves has in store with The Batman, or simply hoping against all odds that something might happen to finally jumpstart The Flash film, the DCEU offered all of that and much more throughout 2020.
To be sure, the DCEU wasn't the only big franchise to raise spirits in 2020, with The Mandalorian and Cobra Kai continuing to be huge streaming hits, along with Disney massive plenty of hype with its recent Marvel and Star Wars announcements on its recent investors call. However, the practically non-stop positivity that the DCEU injected 2020 with was not only the polar opposite of 2020's extreme negativity, it was also a stark reversal of how beset with headaches, gossip, and internal struggles the franchise was just a few years ago. In short, the DCEU has become everything that 2020 was not.
2020 Was A Miserable Year For The Film Industry (And The Entire World)
The COVID-19 pandemic made 2020 into a horrendously dreadful year for everyone on Earth. The simple act of being outdoors around other people became a health hazard, and countless aspects of daily life that are normally taken for granted were greatly impacted, right up through the holiday season. When the ball dropped on New Year's Eve 2020, just about everyone on Earth was clearly happy to leave 2020 in their rear view.
While no one was left unaffected by the pandemic, the film industry was dealt a massive blow, with movie theaters closed down for months and chains like AMC struggling to stay in business once they re-opened, 2020's release calendar having been largely shifted to either streaming options or 2021 release dates. Film and television productions were also subject to prolonged shut downs, and have had to function under strict safety precautions since being permitted to resume. With 2020 now over, it will be looked back upon for decades as an extremely bitter year that the world collectively suffered through. Yet through all of the incredible difficulties of 2020, the DCEU was an all-too-rare bright spot.
The DCEU Reversed Its Past Misfortunes In 2020
One doesn't have to go back too far to see that, not that long ago, DC movies went through quite a rough patch. As Justice League's 2017 release neared, there was a constant flood of negative rumors that the movie had been extensively reshot after Zack Snyder's departure along with Ben Affleck seeking to jump ship from the DCEU. Justice League's death in theaters only accelerated the misfortune for DCEU, with Henry Cavill's Superman future coming into question, Affleck making his DCEU departure official, and reports that Snyder's own departure had amounted to a firing. The Flash also faced persistent issues in getting off the ground, the number of directors having been attached to it soon becoming a punchline, while numerous other projects either fading away or being greatly modified from what they once were (i.e. Ben Affleck's planned Batman solo movie becoming Matt Reeves' The Batman after Affleck left.)
All of that began to change in 2020 with the announcement that the Justice League Snyder Cut would debut on HBO Max in 2021. Considering just how hard fans had pushed for that to happen, the news brought enormous joy that was only heightened by the contrast of the year the announcement took place in, with Snyder even getting the chance to do some additional filming on it. As it turned out, for as much of a bombshell as it was, the Snyder Cut was just the starting point of how much DC fans had to celebrate in 2020.
2020 Couldn't Hold The DCEU Back
While much of the entertainment world was left gridlocked by the pandemic, the DCEU simply went into overdrive. News of the Snyder Cut's release was soon followed by Henry Cavill and Warner Bros. re-entering talks for him to continue as Superman, while The Flash movie gave even its biggest doubters cause for optimism. Following Andy Muschietti boarding as director in 2019, Ezra Miller cameoed in the CW's Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover opposite Grant Gustin's Flash, Miller's Scarlet Speedster future having also become a question mark in 2019. From there, news emerged that The Flash, which will reportedly draw from the Flashpoint comics story, would bring back Michael Keaton as his version of Batman, while Ben Affleck would also officially board the film as his incarnation of the Caped Crusader. With all DC movies and TV shows now canonized as a Multiverse, the possibilities for crossovers is now endless, as well as bestowing huge creative freedom for the filmmakers involved.
The DCEU really rolled out the red carpet for August's DC FanDome, with the Snyder Cut trailer finally landing, and exciting peaks behind-the-scenes at upcoming DCEU projects like Black Adam, The Suicide Squad, and The Flash. The Batman has also gone through its own pandemic-related challenges, but none of that made a difference once its own trailer landed during DC FanDome and lit the internet up. By the end of DC FanDome, it couldn't have been more clear that the days of the DCEU being plagued by one issue after another were long gone.
To be sure, DC still faced some issues amid its 2020 glory, with Birds of Prey unfortunately underperforming in February despite being positively received. The DCEU also wasn't immune to the impact of the pandemic, having to adjust its production and release schedule as much as everybody else, with Wonder Woman 1984 arriving as a dual theatrical and HBO Max release on Christmas Day. However, the movie still became a huge streaming hit, along with being, under the circumstances, a major theatrical success, with Wonder Woman 3 already in-development.
The COVID-19 pandemic ripped the basic concept of normalcy away from the world in 2020, yet through it all, the DCEU was a consistent source of the kind of giddy excitement that had been lost. With what was an exceptionally cruel year now over and the world awaiting a return to pre-pandemic life, the DCEU isn't about to slow down, with the Snyder Cut coming up to bat in March and plenty more DC movies and shows to follow it. 2020 may have been a nightmare for the whole world, but through it all, the DCEU wasn't simply its opposite in every way - it was, as Jor-El once put it, not an 'S'.
