James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is one of the highest-rated DC movies, further proving DC's movie success comes from allowing its directors to achieve their own vision instead of adhering to any sort of house style or agenda. DC's biggest successes have always come from grand director visions, but with a few high-profile cases of studio encroachment in recent years, it's more clear than ever Warner Bros. should trust its talent.
Despite its history with iconic directors, DC also has a bad history of failed projects due to them not trusting their creative talent. Zack Snyder and David Ayer may be the most recent examples, but it's been a problem for decades. Richard Donner's fight saw him never finish Superman II (until the Donner Cut decades later), Tim Burton's Batman Returns sequel fell apart when the studio wanted to move away from the darker tone, Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever saw significant changes (with the Schumacher Cut campaign recently gaining traction), Kevin Smith's Superman Lives is an infamous DC debacle, J.J. Abrams' Superman Flyby also never happened, Darren Aronofsky's Batman movie never got off the ground, George Miller's Justice League Mortal and what it could have been is a DC films legend, and even Ben Affleck lost faith in the studio after his experience with Justice League, walking away from writing and directing his solo Batman movie. Not to mention other projects ruined by studio interference, such as Green Lantern.
One of the biggest narratives surrounding Gunn's The Suicide Squad was the creative freedom afforded him by WB and DC Films, but this is a lesson that has already been learned multiple times over. After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was thrashed by critics, it turned out his director's cut, the "Ultimate Edition", was way better. Last-minute changes to Ayer's Suicide Squad diverted from the original tone and story, resulting in another movie trashed by critics. Then, of course, Justice League is a well-documented story, where Zack Snyder's Justice League ended up far superior to the product originally released theatrically. Additionally, films like Joker, where Todd Phillips had to fight the studio for the movie to even get made in the first place, show the studio's best senses don't always understand what makes a good movie. Fortunately, Gunn didn't face the same kind of studio friction, resulting in The Suicide Squad becoming one of DC's best-rated films.
Ironically, the very next DC movie to come out will be Matt Reeves' The Batman, which almost didn't happen at all. First of all, it's a circumstantial product of Affleck abandoning his Batman project, but Reeves himself also temporarily walked away from the movie during negotiations, only being convinced to come back to the director's chair with promises of greater director freedom. The biggest problems with DC films in recent years have been the product of WB not trusting their talent. Fortunately, releasing the Snyder Cut, trusting Gunn to make this bonkers R-rated Suicide Squad movie, and hopefully, Matt Reeves having creative control on The Batman will all pay off creatively.
If this more recent trend from Warner Bros. continues, it spells good news for the future of DC movies. The release of Zack Snyder's Justice League is a big deal, and certainly a situation they want to avoid in the future. While they aren't doubling down on that call to also restore the rest of the Snyderverse with Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 and 3, championing director freedom for future films is the key to the DCEU's future and, as Gunn himself said, it's what separates the DCEU from the MCU.