It’s Been a Decade Since The DCEU Wowed Fans With a Trailer for A Movie That Actually Lived Up to the Hype
The DCEU was famously a mixed bag, and now that we’re in brighter days with the DCU, many superhero fans have forgotten how dire things were in the 2010s. DC’s first attempt to parody the success of the MCU was incredibly divisive, with Man of Steel not being considered bad, but controversial. Then, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice made things worse, featuring even more controversial choices and a much worse critical reception.
Both of these DCEU movies were major disappointments, as they looked fantastic during the marketing campaign. Zack Snyder’s movies often have parts that are greater than the whole, meaning that clips from his films can wind up looking a lot better than the movies they come from. This led to these two movies not living up to the hype, but luckily, the DCEU wasn’t far from getting a movie that would.
Wonder Woman’s Epic San Diego Comic-Con Trailer Was Revealed 10 Years Ago Today
Batman v Superman introduced Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, a character who was set to get her own movie in the near future. She is one of the three superheroes in DC’s trinity, and after the failure of Superman and Batman’s own movies, DC really needed to get the Wonder Woman movie right. So, on July 23, 2016, DC Studios revealed a trailer for Wonder Woman at San Diego Comic-Con, and it would end up going down as one of the highlights of the event.
The SDCC Wonder Woman trailer mostly focuses on the scenes set on Themyscira, giving an incredible first look at Diana’s home island. It shows off some of the epic fight scenes that would appear in the film, as well as highlighting the relationship between the titular superhero and World War I pilot Steve Trevor. The epic theme music that plays over the title card reveal ended the trailer with a bang, getting many fans incredibly excited for Wonder Woman‘s release on June 2, 2017.
Fans of the DCEU had been burned by great trailers before, so the incredible SDCC trailer didn’t immediately ease concerns regarding the quality of Wonder Woman. However, they would be eased a few months later when the film was released. Wonder Woman was the first DCEU movie that actually lived up to the hype, with it receiving positive reviews across the board. It fixed many of the issues that the previous DC movies had struggled with, telling a personal story that was more focused on Diana’s character than cool moments. However, that doesn’t mean that Wonder Woman was completely absent of cool moments, with many of the fight scenes in the film being some of the best that the franchise had to offer.
Wonder Woman Remains One Of The DCEU’s Few Bright Spots
Now that the DCEU is over, it is clear that Wonder Woman is still one of the highlights of the series. The cinematic universe clearly had more hits than misses, with Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Justice League, Aquaman, Birds of Prey, Black Adam, The Flash, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom all being disappointments. Even Wonder Woman‘s own sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, was a major letdown, with it being considered one of the DCEU’s worst movies. Despite this, Wonder Woman is still a fantastic film, with it easily being the best solo movie about one of the Justice League’s members.
Even when compared to the DCEU’s other good movies, Wonder Woman stands out. Shazam! and Wonder Woman often compete for the title of the best DCEU film, with the only other true DCEU film that is considered good being Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The Suicide Squad and Blue Beetle were both critical hits, but they have been so integrated into the new DCU that they can hardly be considered DCEU films.
Unfortunately, this iteration of Wonder Woman was so tied to the Snyderverse that she couldn’t be easily pulled into the DCU. The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, and Blue Beetle were all relatively self-contained storylines, meaning that they could be scrubbed of their Snyderverse connections and added to the DCU without much issue. Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, however, couldn’t receive the same treatment. However, her first DCEU film remains a diamond in the rough, acting as one of the only good films that viewers can be excited to watch when going through the DCEU catalogue.
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