James Gunn may be making the same mistake Zack Snyder did by converting what was meant to be a Superman solo film into a crossover.
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the second entry in the then-new DC Extended Universe, was released in theaters in 2016. But it didn’t exactly receive warm reviews for a variety of reasons. Why?
One of them was that the plot, which had a lot of potential. But it devolved into an incomprehensible muddle as a result of the contentious choice to make just the second installment of the cinematic universe- a crossover involving Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, and Doomsday.
Fans Expect a Different Approach in Superman: Legacy
Fans anticipated an alternative strategy to avoid the faults of the past when it was revealed that the DCU was being rebooted for James Gunn and that he would be overseeing the first movie in the new chapter, Superman: Legacy.
A number of recent cast announcements for the forthcoming movie, though, make it increasingly likely that Gunn will trample on the same toes. At first, it didn’t seem so awful because it had just been revealed that Lex Luthor, who hasn’t been cast yet, will feature in the movie along with Superman and Lois Lane.
However, it appears that the filmmaker sought to outdo Zack Snyder by making the first “new” DCU film a crossover rather than only the second. Even if all of the performers are excellent, this was also the case with Dawn of Justice, and making the same choice might again go horribly wrong.
For the time being, it appears that rather than a fully developed solo film about Man of Steel, we may instead witness yet another character mashup with frequent allusions to previous films and setups for new ones, which might not leave enough room for a compelling narrative.