Theories abound as to why DC Comics’ film universe has been outdone by Marvel’s slate of movies, but as Occam’s razor tells us, when faced with many possible answers, the simplest one is usually correct. In this case, the simplest explanation is that DC’s movies just aren’t as fun as Marvel’s.
Historically, DC’s films have been darker and more dour than those of its chief rival, but it seems like the publisher may be realizing that it needs to inject a bit more levity into its adaptations. Case in point: The upcoming Suicide Squad film. According to Birth Movies Death, the film is now undergoing expensive reshoots with the goal of increasing the elusive fun factor.
While the Bohemian Rhapsody-backed official trailer #2 made the movie seem like a blast, it reportedly contained just about all of the fun and levity the film had to offer and Warner Bros. felt that it wasn’t quite enough. We have to believe that the recent Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice debacle had something to do with this decision. While the film has raked in plenty of cash, it has been criticized roundly for somehow sucking all the fun out of an epic superhero battle royal.
After an initial run of troubling news and rumors, it seemed for a while that Suicide Squad had righted the ship — but it appears that things have gotten messy again. At this point, it’s just hard not to feel like this film doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. Early on, it was reported that the film was so dark that it needed an on-set therapist to help keep the actors sane. Now we’re hearing about an ex post facto attempt to make it more lighthearted? Suffice it to say that kind of contradiction doesn’t exactly bode well for the final product.
The reshoots are expected to cost Warner Bros. tens of millions and while they aren’t great news for this film in particular, this new approach may help Warner bring some light into the potential darkness of the upcoming Aquaman and Justice League films. Both will reportedly be more fun and less dark, with Aquaman director James Wan promising as much (per ScreenCrush)
There’s no word yet on whether or not these reshoots will affect the film’s projected August 5, 2016 release date, but we’ll update you if there is any news on that front.
