DCEU Film Rankings

Honorable Mention: Blue Beetle

The next-to-last film released of the 16 falls in a weird spot. James Gunn has hyped Blue Beetle, the character, as an integral part of the DCU even though the film was released during the DCEU run and is not part of the DCU. It was meant to be a direct-to-streaming film that was shifted to a theatrical release. So where do THE Events OF THIS FILM fall? Are they part of the DCEU? Are they part of the DCU? Are they both or neither?

Honestly, until James Gunn and WB reveal more, we don’t really know which makes this impossible to rank. The film was made as a standalone. It doesn’t reference much else in the DCEU, so it can easily transfer over to the DCU if they want to do that. It was a perfectly fine, by the numbers, film that breaks no new ground anywhere. It’s enjoyable but unimportant and feels appropriate as an honorable mention.

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15. Wonder Woman 1984

Few sequels have had me so excited to see and so disappointed with the final product as this one. Wonder Woman was one of the best superhero films I had ever seen. I couldn’t wait to see how they continued the story. However, this is just garbage beginning to end. The filmmakers waste the talents of Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig.

The jump from World War I to the 1980s was always going to be a bit jarring, but it seemed like something the Wonder Woman character should be able to pull off. Instead, this film seems to exemplify everything wrong with 80s nostalgia aesthetic. It was all sizzle and no steak.

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14. Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice

This film misses in every conceivable way. It’s the story of Batman fighting Superman. While there have been many takes on this, it’s clear they were trying to build on the legendary comic book from Frank Miller, The Dark Knight Returns. Unfortunately, since it was the film immediately after Man of Steel, it was presented as if it were a sequel to that film. It was a bad look for Batman to get top billing over Superman in the very next film.

From there, the film missed what makes that battle so compelling. Superman is supposed to be bright and full of hope. There’s a reason a derogatory nickname for him is “Boy Scout.” This film tried to make Superman gritty. Gritty works for Batman, it doesn’t work for Superman. While some claim the director’s cut is better, that version doesn’t change the clear misses in direction from the very beginning.

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13. Suicide Squad

This film gets a lot more hate than it deserves, but it’s still not good. Whether Jared Leto’s performance as the Joker was as bad as some people say is up for debate, but the overuse of him in the marketing definitely sold a different story than was presented on screen. That certainly contributed to the backlash against both Leto and the film as a whole.

They’ve tried to relaunch several characters from this film with Margot Robbie making two further appearances as Harley Quinn. She was easily the best part of this film, but the film is just bad on almost every other level.

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12. Flash

This was just bad all the way around. Ezra Miller comes with a laundry list of problems before we even get to the film. From there, the Flashpoint storyline, which can be told wonderfully, see the Flash tv series, was just butchered as a way to shoehorn too much of DC’s past on screen work. The CGI was bad and the only enjoyable part of the old stuff montage was Nic Cage as Superman since he really wanted that role and didn’t get it.

This doesn’t mean there’s no redeeming qualities. Michael Keaton returned to the role of Batman and continued to knock it out of the park. He was great, and even the George Clooney as Bruce Wayne reference worked well. It’s just too little good when surrounded by the world of bad for this film.

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11. Birds of Prey: The Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn

Margot Robbie’s second outing as Harley Quinn proved her first appearance wasn’t a fluke and that she nailed the role. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is very forgettable. The Birds of Prey are an excellent superpowered group to focus on across films, but it was too soon in the DCEU to try to push them with their own film.

This film isn’t bad, it’s just not good. It’s very average with great moments and terrible moments. Unfortunately, none of them are so great to lift the film to new heights, and none of them are so bad to make it feel like it’s so bad, it’s good. The film, as a whole, is just there.

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10. Justice League (Theatrical Cut)

This film never had a chance. Zack Snyder exited the film during production due to a personal tragedy. Joss Whedon was brought in to take over but was met with a lot of interference from Warner Brothers. This version, dubbed "Josstice League," by fans and detractors felt incredibly watered down from the major storyline the studio seemed to be developing. Of course, rushing the big team-up film of a shared universe to theaters without doing the work of building the characters was always going to fail.

This is the film that created the irrevocable split that eventually killed the DCEU. Some fans wanted DC to return to Zack Snyder’s vision and went on a social media blitz for years to get his version released. Behind the sceneS turmoil basically led to Joss Whedon being blackballed by the industry for his actions here and further stories of mistreatment from his other works. All-in-all, they gave us a mediocre film that shouldn’t have been this bad and shouldn’t have been bad enough to kill the universe, but it was the illness that eventually led to WB pulling the plug, even if it took them years to finally do it.

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9. Black Adam

The final film as part of Walter Hamada’s reign atop the DCEU, this film was a catalyst for further backlash against the brand. There was a power struggle behind the scenes at WB over where to go with DC products on screen. The Rock was pushing to become more involved in production and continue pushing the story forward, however the failure of Black Adam essentially ensured he would lose and James Gunn would take over and reboot the universe.

Still, the film as a whole was downright average. The Rock has the emotional range of a teaspoon as an actor, so he can really only take on action roles. This backfired in the emotional scenes of the film. The mid-credits scene brought back Henry Cavill as Superman, sparking an unfulfilled promise that continues to split DC fans to this day. The film was average, the work was average and it showed everyone the remaining films would just be finishing up what was already in development, not building the world any further.

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8. Justice League (Snyder Cut)

After years of online pushes, WB finally used the pandemic restrictions to release Zack Snyder’s cut of the Justice League. Released solely on Max, the four hour film isn’t held to the same restrictions that would’ve been required for theatrical release. That allows it to provide more context for viewers who may not have seen other films, making it better as a whole than the Joss Whedon version.

The flaws against it are still striking. At four hours long, there’s no way this would’ve been what was released in theaters, so who knows what he would’ve cut to make it work for a cinematic release? Also, while the added runtime certainly made Cyborg more compelling, the Justice League scenes, as a whole, were still dismal as that plot was still bad. In the end, this was putting lotion on a turd. It smelled better but was stunk.

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7. Shazam:! Fury of the Gods

I was genuinely shocked this one came in this high. Released after the announcement of James Gunn taking over DC Studios, it was clear this was just put out there because it was almost done when the shake-up happened. The first Shazam was decent, and this was a perfectly fine sequel. However, it was always going to be forgotten due to when it was released.

This one comes across in a weird way due to the changes though. Two characters seen in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker make an appearance in a post-credits scene to recruit Shazam. While one has returned in Creature Commandos and the other is set to return IN FUTURE PROJECT, it’s clear Zachary Levi and this version of Shazam won’t be returning. Still, this film is perfectly fine in a vacuum.

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6. Man of Steel

The film that launched the entire DCEU in 2013 was quite the odd entry. Henry Cavill starred as Clark Kent/Superman and brought an aura that shined through as the superhero. Unfortunately, like with many other alter egos, Cavill wasn’t exactly great as Clark Kent. The film is decent but has some odd qualities that either hurt or help the film depending on your perspective.

The darker tone, which works well for Batman, felt out of place for Superman. It got worse in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice because they were both dark. Also, Superman killing Zod didn’t not endear me to the character. It felt like Zack Snyder missed what makes Superman special. My biggest complaint is this film felt like a movie with Superman as a character rather than a Superman film.

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5. Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom

The final film of the DCEU helped the shared universe end on a high note. The Aquaman films are much stronger than they deserve to be considering where they both fell on the release schedule. While the majority of the DCEU films are dark and brooding, the Aquaman and Shazam films feel upbeat and happy which helps all of them stand out from the rest of the universe.

There are some obvious issues that filmmakers didn’t try to fix since they knew nothing was continuing. Plus, the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp saga will always hang over any film either appears in going forward. But still, this film was far more enjoyable than it had any right to be.

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4. Shazam!

Another of the lighthearted fare from the DCEU, Shazam! seemed like an odd choice for a solo film at the time it was made. Shazam is a fun character but it got a film before Flash or Cyborg who were both featured heavily in the Justice League film. Still, DC went with a character that has a long history in the comics even if it appeared TO mostly BE forgotten by the general public.

The film wound up being a lot of fun. The camaraderie between the characters works well, and it really felt like there was a building block for future films. The real problem is the fact that Black Adam is tied closely to Shazam, yet, the Rock doesn’t appear in this film and Zachary Levi doesn’t appear in Black Adam. Reports suggest the Rock didn’t view Shazam as important enough for a rivalry, and that hurt both Shazam! films and the Black Adam film.

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3. The Suicide Squad

Despite how bad the first Suicide Squad film was, DC and Warner Brothers greenlit a second film. This one, directed by James Gunn, proved to be vastly different just by adding the indefinite article “The” to the title. Gunn brought his traditional brand of humor that comic fans first saw in the Guardians of the Galaxy film and instantly made the Suicide Squad more palatable.

Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman and Viola Davis return as Harley Quinn, Col. Flag and Amanda Waller. Every other character is new to the story. Idris Elba shines as Bloodsport. Plus, John Cena’s Peacemaker is a breakout character that got his own series and will continue to appear in the DCU. This film is what made WB executives choose Gunn over the Rock to lead the DCU.

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2. Aquaman

After the dreary, colorless mess the DCEU was becoming, this film finally made it feel better by adding some color grading to the mix. Admittedly, it’s probably too much color when compared to the other films, it feels like an expansive society rather than the same gray-hued world that started under Zack Snyder.

This film was fun with a solid story and introduced excellent new characters who were able to shine in both this film and the next. Plus, it set up its sequel villain strongly, making it mean something. The Amber Heard scandal may sully the film a bit on a rewatch, but that wasn’t an issue when it came out. There’s a reason this is the only DCEU film to cross the $1 Billion barrier.

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1. Wonder Woman

It’s a period piece set during a World War where the titular superhero fights a supernatural villain and the male lead is a character named Steve played by an actor named Chris. It’s not Captain America: The First Avenger, it’s Wonder Woman. Despite the obvious similarities to the Marvel film that launched Captain America into the MCU, Wonder Woman still provided a strong foundation to continue DCEU expansion. After the struggles of Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman: dawn of justice, this felt like a legit good film.

Gal Gadot plays the role exquisitely. Chris Pine proudly steps into the role of love interest rather than superhero and manages to deliver a powerful, yet vulnerable performance without undercutting any masculinity. The roles may have been reversed but nobody was weakened by this performance. It’s one of three DCEU films that I would say are good. The rest range from terrible to average. Few DCEU films deliver, but Wonder Woman certainly did.

Courtesy: max