Aquaman - What Does this Mean for the DCEU?

Aquaman - What Does this Mean for the DCEU?

**WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR AQUAMAN LIE AHEAD. READER DISCRETION ADVISED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**

It's no secret that the DCEU has had its problems in the past. All of its films, save Wonder Woman, have been divisive at best, if not maligned. But fans have been holding out hope for Aquaman to set the DCEU straight. It looks as if DC is heading in a lighter, less brooding direction with films like Aquaman and Shazam. So now that Aquaman has hit theaters, what does this mean for the DCEU at large?

Well, to be quite honest, it does basically nothing.

Let's go back a few years. DC and Warner Bros had released a film called Man of Steel starring their crown jewel, Superman, with Zack Snyder at the helm. And, yes while the film was not the most unifying among the fans, it did well enough that Warner Bros felt they had enough reason to green-light Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and subsequently Suicide Squad.

Let's fast forward to right before Wonder Woman, and things are not looking so good. Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad were maligned by both critics and most audience members.  Wonder Woman was not looking so good. Everyone thought that it would be buried under the divisive nature of the DC fandom and general audience members.

Surprise, surprise, Wonder Woman grossed more than Batman v. Superman and EASILY was the best received film critically. So now we head into Justice League, and again DC hit a bump in the road. Justice League, while not hated nearly to the extent of BvS and Suicide Squad, was not loved by everyone either. Mixed in with the drama of Joss Whedon, Zack Snyder, and Ben Affleck wanting to leave the franchise, and the film slumped to a mere 600 million dollars, less than HALF of what the film was thought to have made only a couple years ago. Everyone was looking forward to a Justice League film as much as they were for The Avengers before the DCEU took off. 

So really, at this point, Aquaman was on its own. The film was shot around the same time as Justice League was being filmed, and was being directed by a great director, James Wan, but was mostly left under warps. 

Why is this important? Because Aquaman, as it existed then and as it exists now, does not matter and will not do anything to DC. If Aquaman makes 10 bucks or a billion, I don't believe that it means anything for the DCEU because DC is hell-bent on pushing forward and not rebooting despite all of their struggles. And because Aquaman was being filmed and made around the same time as Justice League, it really doesn't have any affect on how DC will choose to move forward. I don't even think Shazam will have that much of an effect either. I believe that what happens AFTER Shazam will give us a big clue to what's going on in the offices of Warner Bros. Although, one thing that was interesting is that Aquaman only mentions the rest of the DCEU once, when Mera mentions Steppenwolf. It looks like Shazam will not connect much to the larger DCEU either. We'll have to wait and see. 

Aquaman is in theaters now