The DC Bible

The DC Extended Universe has been inspiration from some of DC Comic's most revered works; The Dark Knight Returns, The Death of Superman, Flashpoint. These building blocks are what this universe has built upon, but perhaps the better influences for this film universe do not come from the best sellers on buyer's lists, but rather from a connective universe that already existed outside of comic books. I am of course referring to The DC Animated Universe.

Full disclaimer: I loved "Wonder Woman" and I thought "Justice League" was great, but we cannot ignore the reason Wonder Woman was such a beacon of hope was partly because of DC and Warner Bros' previous flops. And we can't forget Justice League was built off the disaster that was "Batman v. Superman". Anyone else find it weird it's "v. Superman" and not "vs. Superman"? Like, it's a court case now? Anyway despite a good solo film and a decent team-up film, Warner is preparing for the worst. Hence "Flashpoint" taking the place of a Flash solo movie. Just in case Affleck wants out, just in case those three Joker/Harley films lose directors, just in case we blame the lack of box office cash on Whedon and ditch his Batgirl film, we have Flashpoint to start over. Now, I could write an entire series of posts regarding how a DC Cinematic Universe could work (oh wait, I f%#king did!) or record a podcast about some central figures like Superman and Harley Quinn and how their films could work (oh wait, I f%#king did!), but I find it's easier to point you readers in the right direction and give you a prime example of a shared universe working.

The DC Animated Universe was probably the first time I was introduced to the DC Universe. Not the first introduction to Batman, or Superman, or The Flash, but my first encounter with the concept of them all existing in the same universe. "Batman: The Animated Series" is regarded by many as the best comic book TV show ever made, it's production, it's animation, and the loyalty and heart behind it would give inspiration to many concepts to this day. That Mark Hamill guy who voices The Joker in everything? Started there. That Harley Quinn character everyone loves and sells boat-loads of merchandise and gives all the boners? Started there. Mr. Freeze being a tragic villain who you really shouldn't laugh about. Started there. "I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman"? Started there! What can be easily called the greatest Batman film to come to theaters "The Mask of The Phantasm" was in that show's universe! The Superman cartoon that streamlined the continuity of Superman and portrayed the loyal-to-the-page Superman. The Batman Beyond cartoon that CREATED one of the coolest alternate future stories for the Dark Knight. The Static Shock show that turned a cult classic comic book series into a household name. And finally the Justice League show that brought all these characters together. The Justice League-and it's sequel show-introduced classic DC characters to children across the country. The Flash, Booster Gold, Shazam, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Etrigan The Demon, Captain Atom, The Question, and so many more. And the threats we saw like Brainiac, Darkseid, The Legion of Doom, this show made Lex Luthor a legitimate super-villain. This show did parallel universes, time travel, end of the world scenarios, The Suicide Squad, The New Gods, this show actually showed us what The Anti-Life Equation looks like!

Everything I know about DC Comics, everything I love about their world started here. And it wasn't just because of the colors and the fights and the superpowers, it was because of the characters. Something the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes advantage of is the distinctly different personalities they have. The vastly different people who have to interact with each other. That is what keeps people coming back, to see these people interact more, to see them grow more, to see where their going to go next and what will happen to them. What will happen to them. You want to know why people ever wonder about that? Because they care about these fictional people. Because the writers and actors involved make them care. I may care about what will happen to Batman, Superman, The Flash, Cyborg, Aqua-(eh, not really him), and Wonder Woman, but not as much as I cared about the Justice League on the cartoon! That was a group of characters I cared about because they had character, they had time, they bounced off each other and grew from it. And storywise, remember this: there were plot elements in Justice League Unlimited that started in the Superman cartoon. Elements started in Batman Beyond. Elements that started in time periods we never got to see. Possibly elements harkening to the Teen Titans cartoon that was never even supposed to be part of the DCAU.

There are obviously somethings that can be done in a cartoon you can't do in a movie, but as far as the characters, the writing, and the plot lines, the DCAU is practically the Bible of serialized DC storytelling. It's all there, on DVD and Netflix and Youtube. The basic guidelines to a DC universe, guys like Paul Dini and Bruce Timm are even alive to help guide these films. Well, maybe Dini more than Timm. Timm is kind of a disgusting bastard now. But with so much to work off of and all the work done for you, all Warner Bros proves to us by not using the DCAU as a reference point is show how incompetent they are, how they think they know better than these silly children's shows, and how they'd rather rely on the pompous, overly dramatic, marketable, 8th Grade literal skills of writers and directors who'd rather jerk off with a photograph of Alan Moore on camera than actually read "Watchmen".

Thanks for reading.

Children's cartoons. Yeah, because The Justice League in World War II was just another episode of "Spongebob".