So JUSTICE LEAGUE is finally out in theaters! And it's…just barely okay! I mean, I'm sure it has its detractors and defenders, but overall the film has received a generally critical "meh" from most moviegoers. Unfortunately, with the past critical disappointments of MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V SUPERMAN, and SUICIDE SQUAD (with WONDER WOMAN as an outlier), this might be the first actual financial disappointment from the DCEU (even if MAN OF STEEL and BATMAN V SUPERMAN underperformed, they were still raking in tons of cash).
Thing is, this is the first DCEU film to not make over $100 million domestically opening weekend, with most estimates having it barely making $96 million. However, those estimates were wrong, and it made less at $94 million.
Now this isn't just schadenfreude or kicking something while it's down, since it's actual going to be very interesting to see what Warner Bros. does with this data. The entire DCEU has been extremely reactionary film-to-film (MAN OF STEEL was too violent…let's have BvS make that the driving conflict between the characters. BvS was too dark…let's lighten up SUICIDE SQUAD and JUSTICE LEAGUE, etc.), so there's no telling where they're going to go. Hopefully the lesson is that going lighter and more fun is the way to move forward, and that most negative reactions to the film were due to the dark tone and murky aesthetic, while the things people responded favorably were things like the interpersonal banter and, finally, and a return to classic Superman. Because, for all its faults, JUSTICE LEAGUE did a lot of things right, so hopefully the universe can keep going in that direction from now on – box-office disappointment or not.
Meanwhile, you can see JUSTICE LEAGUE in theaters now…if you're so inclined.
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