I'm still thinking that WB rushing their universe would've led to smaller profits compared to Marvel's, even if the DCEU had been better received. Obviously they would've been way more successful, but the reason Marvel is selling out the world right now is because they had a 10 year plan to get to where they are. They have long been a well-oiled machine and the public clearly has faith in the brand due to years and years of delivering. If that wasn't the case and Disney rushed the MCU like WB did with the DCEU, I don't think IW would be outselling TFA right now. Great JL movie would have certainly made over a billion, but if there wasn't a good build-up, I'm not sure it would've done as well as IW.
Justice League could've definitely used some more movies in its release schedule before getting to a Justice League movie, like a solo Batman and Flash movie, at the very least. Maybe a Green Lantern movie as well as a Superman sequel (Instead of Batman V Superman, and a sequel to an original Superman film far better than what Man of Steel turned out to be).
Look at Wonder Woman, though. It made $821 million. And Batman has already proven itself to be a potential billion dollar franchise. IMO, this goes to show that the DC Universe characters are worth more than their Marvel equivalents. Put them in equivalently good movies, and they'll tend to bring in more.
Here, too, is where the success of the MCU could've been to their advantage, as the popularity of the MCU has grown the superhero movie going audience. If the audience were presented with a second superhero cinematic universe, one with some of the most popular superheroes of all time in Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash, if they were given the opportunity to relive the excitement they felt when they first saw the MCU open up, and it were actually GOOD?!? The DCEU would've been setting the box office on fire a lot sooner than Marvel did at an equivalent point in its history.
Instead, we have a situation where a B-List character like Black Panther made over twice what the Justice League made in his first solo film outing, and in which Infinity War nearly made as much money in its opening weekend alone as Justice League did throughout its entire theatrical release. It's utterly horrendous how woefully WB has mishandled the DCEU.
And yes, I do continuously mock the box office totals of Justice League, but you know what? Vindication is nice. I've been sounding the warning gong since I first heard rumors about what Man of Steel was going to be like. As soon as I saw that movie, it wasn't just the case that I disliked it. I more than disliked it. I instantly recognized it for the poisoned apple which it represented. I've said that with Suicide Squad, with Batman V Superman, and with Justice League. All the reasons for Justice League's failure can be found right there in the DNA of Man of Steel. I sure wish WB had listened to fans like me, because if they had, and had put a stop to that train wreck before it ever pulled out of the station, then who knows what the DCEU would look like today? It might actually be good and successful?