The cancelation of Batgirl and the announcement of Joker: Folie à Deux as a musical confirm that the DCEU's future looks bleaker than ever before. Warner Bros.'s answer to the success of the MCU was the DCEU, a large shared universe intended to unite the company's many iconic heroes in one place. The DCEU got off to a relatively shaky start, and its luck hasn't much improved since - from the very beginning, the DCEU has been considered divisive at best.
Though the franchise's first decade was turbulent, its second is already shaping up to be equally problematic. The problems of the DCEU are many: its tone is often considered to be unnecessarily gritty, although attempts at levity in films such as Shazam! and Birds of Prey have created a lack of consistency between the franchise's movies that is also somewhat confusing and tonally incoherent. Zack Snyder's exit from the DCEU during the production of Justice League has also created issues for the franchise, because his departure prompted something of a creative vacuum in which the DCEU's wider story and plans for the future have rapidly disintegrated.
Despite the Warner Bros. Discovery merger leading to attempts to right some of the franchise's worst errors, it's clear that the DCEU is still in trouble. The shocking cancelation of Batgirl - an almost-finished DCEU release - shows just how dire the situation really is. What's more, non-DCEU DC films, such as The Batman and Joker, have provided some of the most popular iterations of their respective characters, despite existing in universes independent of one another and the DCEU at large. With so many complications and drastic attempts to fix past mistakes, the future of the DCEU is looking murkier than ever.
Batgirl's Cancelation Is Bad, No Matter What The Excuses
Warner Bros.'s decision to cancel Batgirl was attributed to negative reception at test screenings and the film not feeling enough like a big, theatrical release. Though the commitment to making epic blockbusters is commendable, Warner Bros.'s stance on the near-finished film is not a good sign at all, particularly as it sets such a troubling precedent. Though Batgirl may not have been on the same level as upcoming DCEU releases Black Adam or Shazam! Fury of the Gods, that shouldn't invalidate its place within the franchise. Much like Marvel has embraced non-theatrical projects like Moon Knight and Loki to massive success, so Warner Bros.'s Batgirl excuses seem particularly narrow-minded.
A Musical Joker 2 Is Interesting, But Is This Really It?
One upcoming DC film that Warner Bros. seemingly has faith in is Joker: Folie à Deux, for which they've reportedly doubled the budget. The sequel to the award-winning 2019 film will be a musical starring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn alongside Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, and though that's an exciting prospect, it still doesn't paint an encouraging picture for DC's future. Joker exists outside the DCEU, and it doesn't seem plausible to translate the former's success to the latter, so no matter how exciting Warner Bros. can make Joker 2, the DCEU still seems doomed.
A commitment to bigger cinematic releases and copying Marvel's 10-year plan for the DCEU doesn't really address the major issues affecting the franchise. In fact, this may well make them worse by over-complicating things. Though there are exciting DC projects on the way, Warner Bros.'s treatment of the DCEU is not a good sign for its future. Joker 2 may be an excellent independent prospect, but the cancellation of Batgirl is incredibly troubling for the DCEU, and Joker: Folie à Deux is too far removed from the franchise to do anything to save it.
