I don’t have the intention of enraging DC fans, but it is obvious that DCEU is failing miserably when compared against MCU- the most successful superhero film franchise, and one of the most successful movie series ever in existence.
Is DCEU without any hope of becoming as great as it’s extremely profitable rival? There is still hope. One of the best ways to increase its popularity is by making a live-action adaptation of the following great animated movies.
Batman/Superman: Public Enemies
Batman and Superman are undoubtedly the most popular heroes in DC, and what happens when you put them together in a superbly written animated movie in which they are the target of bounty-hunters? The answer – a high-octane superhero flick.
The movie revolves around Lex Luthor’s presidential reign of the US. Some residents, some of them heroes, are convinced that Luthor is a changed man, and that the country needs him for the peace and prosperity that the people deserves.
But Superman is far from convinced. He still has the intense gut feeling that Lex will always be the villain that he is. Teaming up with Batman, they got themselves entangled with a series of events that pushed them into fighting with the best that strengths and wits can deliver.
When Luthor placed a large price for the heads of the 2 heroes, it seemed like a world war for them, against a large array of villains, and also against a few heroes.
Justice League: Doom
If you can’t beat a powerful superhero team as a group, then perhaps you can beat them if you split them up, and take them down one by one. That’s what the villain Vandal Savage have in mind, when he executed his plan to destroy Superman, and all of his heroic companions
Savage’s plan got it’s initial success when he commissioned a baddie named Mirror Master to sneak inside the Batmobile, and into Batman’s secret lair. Inside, Mirror Master successfully hacked the former’s computer, acquiring the data needed to take down the Justice League, one hero at a time.
With sufficient knowledge about the group’s strengths, weaknesses, and psych profiles, Savage executed his plan which involved Bane taking on Batman, Cheetah fighting a hallucinated Wonder Woman, a former acquaintance burning down Martian Manhunter, and other devious events that brought each individual heroes to an almost total downfall.
But the effectivity of the League’s heroics still brought them victory individually, which led them to assemble once more, and defeat Vandal Savage once and for all.
Batman: Year One
The success of Batman Begins is unquestionable, and in that case, doing another take that’s similar to that story really be a bad idea. After many years of training abroad, Bruce Wayne returns to his hometown Gotham, to officially begin his crimefighting crusade.
But young Bruce still has no solid idea on how to actually begin his adventures in fighting criminals, so he resorted to several try-outs before actually becoming the Batman. He patrolled the streets as a common civilian on cheap clothing, so people would fail to recognize him for his millionaire persona.
He got into a street brawl, got shot by a cop, and almost got blown to bits inside an exploding police car while trying to escape. While back at his mansion, thought of dying instead of calling his butler so he can get some medical attention.
He thought that it’s been too long already since he’s been asking what really it is that needs to be done, to rid Gotham of the criminality that it’s suffering with. He got his answer when a bat broke his window… it finally gave him the idea of becoming the Batman.
Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths
The idea of a parallel universe is a hot plot device among movies and TV shows, and this animated superhero flick is actually one of the very first entertainment projects in comic-books that successfully exploited the idea. It got adapted as an animated film, and it is one of the very best that DC Animation has to offer.
When a hero-version of Lex Luthor visited the Earth that we come to know, he orchestrated something to get the attention of The Justice League claiming he badly needs the heroes’ help. The team was hesitant at first, thinking that it’s hard to trust Lex Luthor, even if he comes from a different, parallel Earth.
Under the leadership of the “Good Luthor,” Superman and his buddies got themselves in battle with a different version of themselves, who appear to be equally powerful, but are more brutal in achieving what needs to be done to allegedly, make the world a better place.
As the heroes battle their villainous counterparts, it was later revealed that Owlman, a wicked version of the Batman is actually planning something big, one that can end not only the Justice League altogether, but the entirety of the Universe as well.
But our Batman utilized whatever skill and resources he had, and tailed Owlman to a planet that’s believed to be the source of everything. The latter installed an extremely powerful bomb on Earth-prime, and almost became successful with his plan… had Batman not stopped him in time.
Batman: Under The Red Hood
The tandem of Batman and Robin is not only the most important in DC, but in the entirety of the comics industry as well. Any adventure that takes place that involved the 2 heroes is by default, something that should become automatically successful.
But what happens when instead of teaming up, they become enemies instead? That’s what happened with Jason Todd, the second Robin was captured by the Joker, and was intensely tortured by the latter. Having been left for dead and believed to have been buried for good, Jason was actually taken by Ra’s Al Ghul, so he can be resurrected via the latter’s Lazarus Pit.
But the new version of Jason Todd had some serious mental issues, which created the villainous version of him. He went back to Gotham, where he presented himself as the vigilante “Red Hood.” Not too long after his re-appearance, he got entangled with Batman.
They had an intense and dramatic skirmish, which made The Dark Knight question if he really did the right thing in letting the Joker live continually when he could have permanently ended the evil clown’s criminal reign long ago.
Which do you think among these animated films needs to really be adapted as a live-action movie?
