Warner Bros. boss confirms the DCEU is over as we know it, thanks to 'Wonder Woman'

It’s official, the DCEU is dead, with Warner Bros’ chief Kevin Tsujihara confirming the studio has moved away from the idea of a connected universe for its DC superhero properties – otherwise known as the DC Extended Universe.

“The universe isn’t as connected as we thought it was going to be five years ago,” Tsujihara told The LA Times. “You’re seeing much more focus on individual experiences around individual characters. That’s not to say we won’t at some point come back to that notion of a more connected universe. But it feels like that’s the right strategy for us right now.”

Read more: M. Night Shyamalan on why he rejected Marvel and DC

And who’s responsible for the death of the interconnected DCEU? Wonder Woman.

“What Patty Jenkins did on Wonder Woman illustrated to us what you could do with these characters who are not Batman and Superman. Obviously, we want to get those two in the right place, and we want strong movies around Batman and Superman. But Aquaman is a perfect example of what we can do. They’re each unique and the tone’s different in each movie.”

So, it appears that sometimes heroes don’t wear capes – Wonder Woman seems to have done more to secure the future of Warner Brothers DC movies than Batman or Superman, which is an astonishing achievement. 2017’s Justice League was intended to be the culmination of Warner Bros.’ DCEU, bringing together Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg, but that crashed and burned, changing directors halfway through and undergoing extensive reshoots, which led to an over-baked and under-proved mess of a film.

The film grossed £496 million worldwide against a break-even point of £566 million, making it the lowest overall gross of the DCEU. It’s clear a course correction was overdue.

Tsujihara continued, “The upcoming slate, with Shazam, Joker, Wonder Woman 1984 and Birds of Prey, feels like we’re on the right track. We have the right people in the right jobs working on it.”

Read more: Birds of Prey full of “fun” Easter eggs

Those ‘right people’ include Patty Jenkins returning for Wonder Woman 1984, David Sandberg heading up Shazam, Todd Phillips directing Joker, and Margot Robbie collaborating with Cathy Yan for Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), which sounds like a strong line up to us (even if we do hate that full Birds Of Prey title).

You’ll be able to see Shazam first, it’s in UK cinemas next month – landing on 5 April.