The D.C. Entertainment Universe has been a mixed bag over the last six years. Warner Brothers, fresh off the success of the Dark Knight Trilogy, were looking to keep that ball rolling when they debuted the movie Man of Steel in 2013. There was only one problem: they turned Superman from a man of tomorrow into a sad, depressed superhero. They literally tried to turn Superman into Batman, and it failed miserably.
But that is not the only thing that failed. D.C. wanted desperately to be like Marvel and have a successful movie franchise. But they did not want to go through the long journey of laying the groundwork, which is the most important part of building a movie franchise. Let’s talk about Man of Steel, for example.
While it was a successful movie to an extent at the box office, it did not achieve the success needed to guarantee that fans would come back for more. So what would I change to help improve the franchise?
I would keep Man of Steel with the same casting for Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Henry Cavill and Amy Adams did outstanding jobs in their roles and they actually got Lois Lane right, made her better in fact. I would however alter the storyline a little. We have seen General Zod done to death, and he is one of the least likable Superman characters ever.
Instead, I would work in Lex Luthor and the character John Corben, aka Metallo. I would have cast Mark Strong as Luthor and James McAvoy as Metallo. Strong looks the part and has played evil characters in the past and McAvoy was part of X-Men and also fills the role of a British man (I know he is technically Scottish) that learns to hate Superman.
The story I would create would involve Corben being involved in an accident created by Superman and Luthor goading him into helping him destroy Superman for the “Good of all humanity”. The story would end with Metallo being destroyed, with Corben being sent to prison and Superman warning Luthor to not mess with him again. I would also tease a Superman villain for a future movie, maybe cast for the character of Rudy Jones, aka the Parasite. Superman has such a great rogues’ gallery that you could logically do two movies with him before even thinking of having him mix with Batman. The director would not be Zack Snyder, but James Wan.
My second D.C. movie would take place in the same year and it would the Wonder Woman. movie. Of course, I am going to go after another member of the Trinity. Gal Gadot would still play Wonder Woman, and it would take place in the same scenario, only four years earlier. Let’s assume Warner Brothers is competent for a moment and would still cast Gadot and hire Patty Jenkins. I would keep Ares as the villain with the same casting.
So there you have it; my first two movies in the new redone D.C.E.U. would be Man of Steel and Wonder Woman. The next movies in line would be The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive and The Green Lantern Core.