Let me start out by saying I personally have no problems with comic book/superhero movies.

I don’t get obsessive over them like people who consider themselves part of a “fandom” do, but there are really good movies based on comic books out there.

That being said, I think DC and Warner Bros. need to rearrange what they’re doing with their superhero movies.

Marvel was successful in making an interlocked universe over several films because they took their time and gave most of the characters individual attention.

DC is coming off as extremely reactionary to how Marvel and other studios have done things.

For example, after “Deadpool” became the most successful R-rated movie, they immediately announced an R-rated cut of “Batman v Superman.”

After critics panned “Batman v Superman” for several reasons, including being too grim and not light hearted at all, DC announced they would be spending millions of dollars to reshoot scenes for “Suicide Squad” to make it more “goofy.”

And don’t even get me started on Jared Leto’s Joker. As soon as the first image was leaked and people made fun of it, DC announced the photo was “a tribute” before the first trailer revealed that no, that’s actually what he’s going to look like in the film.

There are a bunch of “stories” floating around in entertainment media about how the other actors are “scared” and how “intense” Leto is as the Joker.

When you have to do these kinds of PR stunts instead of letting the performance talk for itself, there’s a chance you’re doing something wrong.

It’s coming off like they can’t figure out what they want with these properties that they own so they’re looking to the successful people for ideas instead of creating their own standalone vision for their films.

Instead of doing individual superhero movies over a few years, they’re looking to mash them up all at once, which is an awful idea for many reasons.

Not the least bit being that their movies will be inaccessible to the casual viewer of films.

If you have to have tertiary knowledge outside of what the film gives you to understand what you’re seeing you’re not doing a very good job of telling a story.

“Batman v Superman” is proof of this with showing characters and powers in dream sequences/visions with no context and expecting the audience to just understand it.

Christopher Nolan understood this with his “Dark Knight” trilogy, and those are some of the best Batman/superhero movies out there.

All three standalone, and you don’t have to read the comics to keep up with the story.

Everything on the screen is actually explained and characterized so that the audience can actually understand and care about what is happening.

It’s OK to hide little Easter eggs that reference the comics in the movies.

Pretty much all the Marvel films do this, but when the references to the comics are absolutely necessary to understand the film and aren’t explained at all, you’re needlessly isolating a bunch of potential fans.

If DC wants to be able to compete with Marvel, they need to take their time, back up a little, and develop their characters.

Otherwise the Justice League movie is going to be a huge, incomprehensible mess.