Aquaman & Shazam

Just got out of Shazam.  Crazy fun movie.  Aquaman and Shazam represent this new direction for the DCEU following the Justice League fallout.  I wasn't sure what to think because I am a huge fan of the dark and extremely gritty DCEU first few movies.  I never understood the whole, 'just be like Marvel' vibe everyone had.  DC comics were at their best when they were telling dark stories.  So, hearing that they were finally going to cave and just do Marvel rip off movies with their more iconic characters bummed me out.  Especially with Marvel movies getting pretty dark with the Infinity War and Endgame movies. 

As it turns out, they aren't Marvel rip offs.  Aquaman was still pretty intense, which is good because it clearly played to Jason Momoa's strengths as an actor.  Shazam definitely plays to Zackary Levi's strength in comedy.  Both had really strong roots in the New 52, which I think is incredibly smart.  New 52 was a bit controversial at the time they came out, but as someone who's been going through them for 5 years, reading every single run for every single character, I think it's the most cohesive shared universe in comics I've ever read about. 

A lot of comic fans who were around for some of the great story lines in DC's long history; Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke, The Death of Superman, and some of the newer epic runs like Brightest Day, Flashpoint, and the video game story of Injustice were not thrilled about the 'reboot' of the universe.  But, for me, New 52 came at the right time.  I had gotten lost in the contradicting continuity and lost interest.  When I heard about the New 52, I was like, ok, let me give this a shot.  It was great.  The story telling was strong and it was cohesive.  And it didn't mess with rebooting origins.  I even got into characters like Animal Man, which I never would've given a second look prior to the New 52. 

If this is DC's new direction, I'm a lot less hesitant because of how much I've loved the New 52.  I was worried they were just going to settle for a slot as a Marvel knock-off, but it looks like they are reaching back on more pure material to tell those stories which is always smart.  Sticking closer to the source material is almost always a better decision.