5 reasons the DCEU should not make Flashpoint movie
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 27: Atmosphere at Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash at The Paley Center for Media on February 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images)
1. DCEU in complete disarray
Flashpoint, if not carefully handled could make the entire DCEU in complete disarray. Ret-cons cannot be easily rectified in franchises in films unlike literature or a TV series.
A clear example is the events of X–Men: Days of Future Past nullified the continuity of the X–Men, X2, X–Men: The Last Stand, X–Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine while the new timeline set within X–Men: First Class take place here. However, we are unsure if Logan is placed within this continuity and where Deadpool fits.
At this point, Warner Bros./DC Films has to work with what they got for the DCEU and push forward. Like in the example before concerning time–travel, it is similar in that plot–holes that can make a singular film not carry enough weight or lack something the entire franchise being in disorder is something this shared–universe does not need, especially this early in the franchise and that can easily happen when continuity is involved.
I have already discussed in a previous article about the different techniques film studios have employed in a shared–universe in cinema: filmmaker-driven and producer–driven and questioned whether it could destroy the film industry.
In this case, however, doing Flashpoint due to the nature of the plot, characters and themes in this storyline, this is not something the studio can produce half-baked. They cannot afford to play it safe if they insist on working on the inspiring 2011 storyline that set the course for one of the most polarizing and wide-scale relaunches of DC Comics’ publications that has then subsequently rebirthed traction in their latest titles today.
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Simply put, no matter what the studio executives or head honcho may say about their strategy, whether it be standalone or an interconnected set of films, if one film is not up to par, it is up to the next product to peak the interest of the audience to retcon that series, and if there is no improvement, then there is no bridge to cross or structure to fall back on.