So I've seen bandied about several times that some people think MoS was a failure and it should not have led into the DCEU
A few things.
- While 55% on RT, the average rating is very similar to a good chunk of MCU films
- A look at Metacritic reveals an extremely low number of negative reviews, and a near equal amount of positive and mixed.
- Critically, MoS was the definition of divisive, a lot of which can be attributed to the decision to really go balls to the wall in the final climax and THAT moment I believe.
- Putting that aside, audience wise, MoS was not a majority hated movie by any means. It grossed a significant amount more than Superman Returns, close to double, it was also received much better by audiences. Audience scores pretty much across the board paint the picture as well received. Now that's not to say it could have done even better were it not for the divisive aspects of the picture, but it wasn't a deal killer by any means.
- The Blu-Ray of MoS was a very high seller, and outsold nearly every single Marvel movie
All this to say, while the film was not a 100% universally beloved film due to the some of the more divisive ideas in it, it was still as perfect a launchpad into the DCU as WB could have expected considering the timeline they were working under.
The issue with the current state of the universe squarely falls on WBs failure to take the right move afterwards. Putting aside personal feelings, what they should have done was follow up MoS with another movie, Batman, Flash, or MoS 2, whatever, that was just a solid stand alone super hero movie, very few DCEU teases aside from mentioning Superman now exists or something. That's all they really had to do. And then go from there.
As far as curating a popular brand that will resonate with casual audiences, BvS was a complete mistake, and so was allowing Snyder and Terrio to make it, as it's clear they 100% aimed to make an almost transgressive project in the film's original form.
Now, for me personally, BvS (Ultimate Cut specifically), is a far more interesting movie than what I previously described, so I personally don't give a shit, I'd rather have this than something cookie cutter, and honestly find it a much better thematic lead in to a shared universe (which is why those JL teasers piss me off, they aren't needed at all) but for casual audiences, there's no two ways about it, WB fucked up big time from their side of things.
