I think that the DCEU is being held up to an impossible standard. It's being treated like it's at it's 25th film.
Nonsense. Making a fundimental good film is hardly asking for a miracle. Film studios make good films all the time. The last 3 batman films are proof of that.
Comparing to Marvel is the problem.
No it isn't. The DCEU making garbage movies and being shrouded in negative PR is the problem. Their entire business acumen is a joke. None of what you're saying was an issue when Ironman came out the same year TDK did, why? Because both were good films that were recieved well critically.
At this point Marvel had just made Iron Man 2. Let's put that in perspective. They had Iron man, Hulk, and then Iron Man 2. Regardless of how you felt about the films. That's not a huge universe.
So what? WB have owned all the DC characters for decades, they have their pick of which heroes to use. They have experience with making successful superhero movies. Marvel OTOH built their universe using B and C list characters and turned them into A-list icons by employing a modicum of good sense, a decent plan and the conviction to do right by their characters and audiences instead of making a quick buck and releasing their movies no matter what (which is admittedly the mindset of WB).
Trying to compare what Marvel were doing in 2008 to 2012 to the state of the DCEU right now doesn't offer empathy to the latter; in fact it does the opposite. The DCEU have the benefit of hindsight and they're still failing.
Now getting each hero a solo film before JL?
Superman and Batman have had plenty of films. The GA knows these guys. The JL cartoons never needed to introduce solo series for most of the roster.
Plenty of ensemble movies don't have prefilms.
Avengers essentially reintroduces the bulk of the cast.
What Marvel did with their world building was build their studio. They had to build the foundation so they could expand.
The WB's infrastructure is already built.
Now again I think the DCEU on the internet has been held up to an impossible standard.
Nope. The DCEU put themselves in a position where they didn't think things through properly. They planned poorly and are perpetually in a reactionary state. There's no conviction in what they're doing and there's no clear objective for them to work towards.
Whether it's solo films or a shared universe, the only thing audiences want more than anything are good films that entertain and showcase the characters correctly. Forget Marvel Studios for a second, look at Deadpool and now Logan! These 2 films havn't done anything special other than do what they set out to do, which was to make great movies and surprise-surprise they succeeded. What's WB/DCEU's excuse??
The Batman production is being treated like it's in development hell. Um plenty of films vet directors. Marvel has certainly done it. Thor has had three different directors. Captain America got new directors. Hulk hasn't seen a new film. Iron man got a new one for the 3rd.
The difference is Marvel don't turn the hiring of their directors into some sort of dog and pony show and then have it blow up spectacularly in their face.
With the Batman, too many sites kept using misleading titles. They took rumor as fact. They took interest as confirmation.
It's just so frustrating to see unfair reactions.
Which sites took rumour as fact? Obscure blog sites? Reputable trades? In any case, I've only seen commentary on the rumours and actual facts on the aforementioned. The only place where people are confusing conjecture with fact are amongst overzealous fanboys on forums.
In any case, the unfair reactions you speak of are largely justified reactions. The DCEU is a mess and WB are mismanaging the entire operation in a spectacularly epic fashion. They should all feel embarrassed.
