A few times they were even among the best things the genre ever saw.
Friends, Bialyans, DC fans, lend me your ears.
We come not to bury the DC Extended Universe, but to praise it.
But no one who loves superhero movies can dismiss the entire ordeal.
The Avengers clash on an empty concrete airport tarmac inCaptain America: Civil War.
The fight sequences inCaptain America: The Winter Soldierhave more cuts than aTakenmovie.
The same charge cannot be leveled against any DCEU movie directed byZack Snyder.
All of these scenes lean into the grandeur of superhero movies.
Instead they embraced them, making their movies all the richer for it.
I mean, who expected to seeGreen Lanternalso-ran baddie Javelin in a film?
On the other hand, it provides a searing satire of global politics.
ButThe Suicide Squadwasnt alone in this regard.
None of these larger, real-world implications require the movie to stop and explain itself.
Instead the films work these themes into their stories about multi-colored heroes and bizarre antiheroes.
Nowhere is that more noticeable than in the treatment ofHarley Quinn, portrayed here byMargot Robbie.
But when Robbie had more control over the character, she developed the character beyond mere victimhood.
Harley became a rich agent of chaos in her own right.
ThenWonder Womanarrivesa film that makes perfect use of Gal Gadots ethereal (some might say dazed) screen presence.
In their best moments, DCEU movies treated their heroes not as individual warriors on solitary quests for justice.
Instead it grounded them in a community, giving them family and friends on whom to rely.
The MCU works best when we watch superheroes palling around.
Read any great Superman moment from the comics, and youll hear that music in your head.
But whenHans Zimmersigned on to scoreMan of Steel, he started anew, reimagining Superman for a new generation.
Those heavier and more epic tones match the world-weary Superman of Snyders film.
Instead even the worst entries show how established characters can be interpreted in a multitude of ways.
