In Defense of the DCEU - The End of an Era

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The DC Extended Universe is dead and in its honor, we're taking a look back at every movie a show that made it one of the most interesting cinematic experiments of the 21st century.
In this video, we're looking at Batgirl, Black Adam, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom.
Here's the Shazam/Always Sunny script. / 1645466747355447296
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Music by Epidemic Sound
00:00 Let's begin
00:33 Batgirl
02:04 Black Adam
06:28 Shazam! Fury of the Gods
10:44 The Flash
23:52 Blue Beetle
34:04 Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom
40:32 What did we learn?

[@freddyfleal]

As a Latin American (Brazilian) I was SO HAPPY to see Chapolin in the DCEU. There are two things that unite Latin America: 1) Dictatorships financed by the U.S. and 2) Chapolin Colorado

[@TheTanglyHen1026]

😂

[@Guimhj]

Yup

[@okamifang4059]

Seriously!

[@Future_Vantas]

I really like that they tied Carapax's backstory to the US intervention in Guatemala, complete with a Ronald Regan voiceover. The movie did not shy away from showing the toll of that military operation.

[@Ironcorgi2]

I actually really liked blue beetle. The script was clearly written with not a surface level understanding of central and South American history. Felt the chemistry of the family was awesome. It wasn’t perfect but it was decently put together for a recent dc movie

[@skarloey1214]

I think everyone liked Blue Beetle

[@TheNoviceOAO]

Loved it too. Wish it had more press

[@Guimhj]

Yes! It's really fun to watch

[@SilkBuckets]

WAKE UP BABE NEW NANDO JUST DROPPED

[@torsoclinic]

it's me i'm babe

[@yeweston1411]

@@torsoclinici was just bouta say he ain’t got no babes.. but ig not 😐

[@h-r-y]

No let me sleep

[@HankTheHippy710]

Babe… why is there other people calling you babe and waking up?

[@Nazoto]

🧢 we all know you're single

[@Deoxys911]

It's been so refreshing hearing someone try to be positive about these films rather than just dogpiling the way that we're used to hearing most of the time.

[@IantheDugan]

I'm so used to hate I kept waiting for "buts" "except" etc at the end of all these

[@TJUC123]

I’m one of those few positive people. I don’t tolerate everything about the universe, but I don’t criticize it nonsensically like most people.

[@jeremyrugg3015]

I like when people focus on earned positives and deserved negatives. Some of these felt more like the conclusion had been reached and so points where being made to a chosen destination than real fanfare.

[@bensneb360]

My friend and I were so excited to see The Flash because we both grew up watching Michael Keaton’s Batman, unfortunately he passed away before it came out, so that movie hit me a bit hard in the theater, so I’ll always have a soft spot for The Flash and the cathartic closure the storyline gave me.

[@NeoConnor1]

That's a moving story. Thank you for sharing, and I am sorry for your loss.

[@erezasken5744]

May his memory be a blessing

[@samkaranja5709]

The saddest loss of the DCEU is losing this JSA. We coulda be great😢

[@VictoryReviews]

Blue Beetle was genuinely great and if it released after Wonder Woman it would've been more beloved imo

[@donovangomez9489]

The director had to fight for Blue Beetle to be released in theaters. Don't give Warner Bros undeserved praise

[@NeoConnor1]

That wasn't Dee Bradley Baker. That was Diedrich Bader. Batman from 'Batman: The Brave and the Bold.'

[@dabrolives804]

He also said that Andy Muschetti directing The Brave and the Bold is just a rumor when it's actually confirmed by James Gunn and the DCU is a full reboot when its keeping somethings from the DCEU. He's wrong about a bit in this one.

[@plbenton]

If you use Google, you’ll be surprised to learn, as I was, that there is a man who looks just like Diedrich Bader going by the name Dee Bradley Baker. I can definitely see why he made the mistake.

[@RbkARI]

​@@plbentonThey're both also prolific voice actors, especially Dee Bradley Baker. I guarantee you've watched or played something DBB was in.

[@victor.maskalenka]

The teacher is Diedriech Bader (Batman the brave and the bold) not Dee Bradley Baker

[@eamonnhunter1228]

Yeah but if you put a picture of Bader next to a picture of Baker, I don't think I could ID them better than a coin flip

[@Skeletor-oj2bi]

Ah hard to believe it’s been 10 years. The DCEU truly had its highest highs and lowest lows.

[@Macapta]

I do kinda wish they gave Blue Beetle actual bug wings, like they flitter like a beetles wings.

[@Nasuto1702]

I loved blue beetle and am so happy he finally got a movie. Im so excited to see what James Gunn does with the character. BB is so underrated

[@EmrysMerlin8807]

Say what you will about the DC TV stuff, but the fact that they brought in AND named dropped Marv Wolfman, the creator of the original Crisis, was freaking awesome.

[@Lionbright]

and had him, in universe, meet Flash and Supergirl, the two characters most notably killed off in Crisis

[@Future_Vantas]

CW COIE is overall underwhelming but it had some fantastic spots. The opening monologue ripped straight from the comics, Tom Welling in a pseudo epilogue, Brandon Routh getting one more chance to play Superman and making it work, and the Marv Wolfman cameo.

[@Arcin00]

@@Future_Vantas I was so hyped for Routh as superman because I really like him as an actor but I think he was underwhelming in the actual Superman Returns, then he comes in with a fantastic performance and the best live action superman suit but then dies before really doing anything

[@bipolarewok]

The way they chose to do barry’s origin story after the fact and in a new way that didn’t include flashbacks was one of the most intelligent and creative things in the whole dceu.

[@michaelhubbard5013]

It is crazy how many thing The Flash movie did extremely well. All of the wonk in the last 1/3 is well worth seeing him vibrate through walls a couple of times.

[@somerandolad]

The hierarchy of power has definitely changed, just not in the way The Rock had hoped.

[@BlUsKrEEm]

I am still so sad about Batgirl. It's the DCEU movie I wanted to exist the most. Blue Beetle is just a perfect translation of the comics. Everything about it captured what makes Reyes great, and the casting was spot on. Love it. It gave me so much hope for the future of the universe.

[@rmsgrey]

Yeah, Batgirl, more than any other movie, is the perfect symbol of the biggest problem with the DCEU. Executives making decisions driven by a desire for short-term money at the expense of sustainable profits.

[@IcyDiamond]

Wonder Woman and the Shazam movies are now on Disney+ We now officially live in a world where the MCU and DCEU have movies on the same streaming service

[@Isaacisaperson4677]

I mean Incredible Hulk was on max for a while

[@IcyDiamond]

@@Isaacisaperson4677 Oh yeah that happened

[@randalf5256]

In my country we had marvel movies on the Warner Channel

[@WilliamLamont82]

There should be more MCU movies on HBO Max just to make it fair 😂

[@zaksharman]

How did i not know about this?

[@RaulGonzalez-zg5ov]

Xolo's blue beetle needs to be the DC spiderman, have him make universe connecting jokes. Hes a young college student and should be pretty relatable to a pretty big audience. His family was awesome but maybe outshined him a bit. But he needs more movies to catch a stride as this character

[@julianortiz5712]

8:21, it's weird how similar their names are, considering how similar they look as well, but that's actually Diedrich Bader, not Dee Bradley Baker

[@PopCulturedShwa]

Not a rumor nando, andy muschietti was announced as the director right before or after the flash came out

[@_quel10]

My favorite KZbinrs just keep dropping wrestling knowledge is warming my heart

[@milkiassamuel780]

Honestly I personally really loved Blue Beetle the most out of this line up of DCEU films and I really hope we see Xolo Mariduena returns as Jaime Reyes again in the DCU hopefully in the recently confirmed Teen Titans live action movie for the DCU. I also thought Aquaman 2 was a pretty fun time and I had a blast with it despite its problems and flaws. Pierce Brosnan was also an excellent casting for Doctor Fate in Black Adam, honestly he was one f the best parts about the movie for me and though I don't think he has much interest in doing CBM's like this I still hope we see him return to the role in the DCU

[@theravenpirate4744]

I'm really excited to see Blue Beetle with other teen heroes in the Teen Titans movie

[@kenjisparks]

It’s already been announced that BB is returning as an animated series but with the same actors voicing their characters. This will be a canon show in the DCU so BB can get another shot later at live-action.

[@rinedgecombe8165]

Guess there wasnt much to defend considering the wait for this was waaaay shorter

[@thats4thebirds]

This feels painfully generous which I suppose is the point of a defense haha

[@loonybin7835]

I know this is mostly just for me, but I would've 100% lost my mind if they had a cameo of William Zabka as Booster Gold, opposite Xolo. If he was a bit younger he'd 100% pull it off, too.

[@mckenanbundy3578]

Gosh Blue Beetle is such a delightful little movie!

[@ecnalreleam]

I have a friend named Jaime and he's dealt with people like that receptionist so often that he just goes by Jimmy sometimes.

[@EstebCM]

Still waiting 'In Defense of the Chespirito Multiverse'... Because THAT'S how you build a multiverse!

[@OMGSAMCOPSEY]

With England going through a housing crisis, ripping those houses down is an absolutely despicable piece of bureaucracy

[@thisscreensucks]

They knew they were going to be torn down in the end. They weren't homes. They were shells

[@oscarkamala]

there’s probably millions of homes vacant homes here, a couple shells for a movie isn’t gonna help anyone

[@oscarkamala]

it’s weird and wrong but there’s how many movies and shows do it

[@LiterallyCanada666]

they were sets not like actual houses

[@OMGSAMCOPSEY]

@@thisscreensucks That makes sense, honestly mightve made more financial sense to build the homes and then sell them though

[@twarnold14]

There were parts of Blue Beetle that didn’t land for me, but I am happy to hear that we will get more of this Jaime! I think my biggest thing is that it seemed like Jaime’s lesson at the end was the importance of family, but I never doubted that he already knew that lesson. Because the family was a fun and supportive presence the entire time. I hope future projects can explore what it is like to be a legacy of someone you don’t know. I think that’s a fun concept unique to Blue Beetle and can play up a theme that wasn’t focused on in this movie: using video games as inspiration for powers. Kord has a literal power glove, right? And Jaime makes the buster sword. Feels like there is room to play there, even if mostly visually.

[@theothersmith9570]

One correction: Pierce Brosnan was born to play Remington Steele. Every other Brosnan character is just an evolution.

[@seanmcneil349]

ITS HAPPENING! EVERYBODY STAY F***IN CAAALM

[@mwolsen96]

NANDO missed the chance to call the one-on-one fights in Aquaman “Wan on Wan” fights.

[@danielhenderson3753]

I thought Orm was fantastic in Lost Kingdom! I saw it a second time in theaters to try to catch more of it and was pleasantly surprised. Really fun movie.

[@Nam1138]

I've said for years that if WB wanted a JL movie they should have followed the route of the animated JL:War. The characters of the JL are so ingrained into cultural consciousness, moreso than the Avengers were pre-MCU, that origin films aren't necessary for each character. We didn't need an origin film for Han, Luke and Leia (yes, ANH is kinda Luke's origin film in itself), but seeing the characters interact told us enough about their past and their personality. The JL can do the same.

[@TheStormbringer8751]

I have been saying this for years while listening to people complain. Do you need a origin movie for Wolverine, Scott, Jean, Storm and Prof. X before we get an X-Men film? No! Do you need a Reed, then Ben, then Johnny and Sue film before a F4 movie? No! You can balance a group of people in a movie and make it work.

[@joelmole3157]

I think they should have done JL first and then do the origin movies. Trying to do origin movies for only some of the characters before jumping straight into Justice League is a case of having your cake and eating it too.

[@2nd3rd1st]

You should have called them "younger Barry" and "elderberry" for goofs

[@Future_Vantas]

Barry and Other Barry

[@SolidSpadesIsANerd]

Re: Black Adam As a Cyclone Fan. Official and Certified Maxine Hunkle Stan..... I will admit I haven't watched the movie but I still like, tear up at how RIGHT they did her costume. Like WIZARD OF OZ. YES. She's a high schooler obsessed with Wicked that's always been on purpose ❤

[@ria2335]

Your points about Black Adam! I agree! The supporting cast all did great, and the chemistry and story between Hawkman and Doctor Fate was nicely done! Overall, it's not a masterpiece, but the performances and the costumes were incredible! And the effects, outside the final villain, were pretty nicely done!

[@fubytv731]

Black Adam had interesting concepts. It's just that Dwayne Johnson can't really act, all he can do is play as himself in every movie. If the actor was better, it might've been an at least better movie.

[@JelzSmellz]

I never saw the flash, but your rundown of funny moments in the movie ALMOST makes me want to watch it. I laughed at the "vibrate through the sliding door" clip.

[@jacksvendsgaard2270]

Honestly I would say supergirl and batman are worth watching in that film. I hated both Barry’s in the film but the scene with his mom is great.

[@davemiller6055]

It's worth watching. It's actually a decent film. It has obvious signs of studio interference. Keaton is great and so is Sasha Calle as Supergirl.

[@thekiss2083]

It's really not a terrible movie. I finished it in one sitting which I had not expected to do

[@capybara2671]

Aquaman 2 should've had a final scene of mr mind showing up again saying he has finished his plan this universe is ending and teleport out with savana just screaming. Then in peacemaker S2 he randomly appears only to have peace maker or vigilante step on him do a little slip and just continue on not noticing him.

[@phrankthetank]

Not a lot of people know this, but Eclipso was supposed to be the main villain of Black Adam, but because Geoff Johns was using him in season 2 of Stargirl they had to change it. The Rock also wanted a lot more JSA members in it, for example, he wanted the original Green Lantern Adam Scott (I think that's his name) to be on the team, but again, because he and Guy Gardener were cast in Lanterns already, they couldn't use him If I had a nickel for every DCEU project that couldn't use Green Lantern because of GLC, I'd have two nickel's, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice

[@animepierat607]

I’m pretty sure someone made this comment already but I’ll say it anyway. When Jaime is in his room you can actually notice that he has manga on his shelves. So they did show his love for anime, they just said it really subtly.

[@Andr3948]

I litterally found out about you today, my First videos were the First two parts! AMAZING

[@NandovMovies]

Glad to have you around!

[@alienanimations134]

My high-school theater crew is putting on mamma mia for our spring musical and I'm playing Sam. As a nerd, I didn't know pierce brosnan played dr fate and james bond, but now that I do know, I is happ

[@StudioInkblot]

The themes of Black Adam feel like they were way more pointed in an earlier draft and got watered down

[@alexgolden8036]

One of my favorite minor details about Blue Beetle is whenever they show Jaime inside the suit it only shows his eyes behind the mask. It would’ve been so easy to copy the Iron Man style face cam but I’m so glad they made it unique and different.

[@JamesLawner]

The fact that WB was so incompetent during this era is what makes the DCEU so heartbreakingly frustrating when it could’ve been the best film franchise ever that could’ve rivalled the MCU. Say what you will about the Arrowverse, but at least it was consistent and utilized elements that the DCEU never could.

[@BlamoStramo]

Blue Beetle's action is the biggest case I can make for more Americans to watch Tokusatsu shows like Super Sentai and Kamen Rider

[@darinhaller6034]

I only saw Black Adam and The Flash in the theater and waiting till the others were on Max. The Flash by far was my favorite and the only one I bought on physical media. I didn’t hate any of these movies. I would have loved Blue Beetle if it was about 20 minutes shorter.

[@quantumsurge7250]

32:49 Fun fact: The scarab can produce clothing for Jaime in the comics, but it only mentions it can do this when he asks if there is a solution for the no clothes thing. The fabricated clothing also dissolves if he takes it off so he can't just print clothing.

[@victor.maskalenka]

DON'T FORGET THE CONJURING CINEMATIC UNIVERSE!!!!

[@larrydavis7689]

I really liked Black Adam

[@katherinealvarez9216]

I really enjoyed Blue Beetle. And I saw a mural of the character Jaime Reyes on a store wall.

[@themistypier1994]

the definitive proof that nando, in the end, kinda likes everything.

[@BlamoStramo]

It's so hard to ignore the armor bits on Flash Batman when that's most of what you're seeing

[@comicalcosmonaut959]

I am really glad we’ll see more Xolo/Jaime in the new DC universe

[@joneau261]

8:23 Diedrich Bader, aka Oswald on Drew Carey Show and Batman in Brave and Bold and Harley Quinn.

[@mattschmitt4393]

Really happy to find someone else who saw the potential in Shazam 2, and the beginning specifically.I told a couple people that I felt it started off strong but didn’t follow through well and they all disagreed and told me it was bad start to finish

[@eenfx]

Your tone and commentary are always so positive and graceful, and you’ve cultivated a great community with this channel. Thank u Nando !!

[@johndavis3999]

Another thing you could say in favor of the Flash: the final battle taking place in the middle of nowhere fixes a major problem people had with Man of Steel (ie. it took place in a major population center)

[@matthightower1570]

Tax breaks = public domain 🤯

[@fishbowel4601]

KZbin where was my notification for this 😂

[@Wol333]

The receptionist was the most unrealistic thing in the movie. No one would purposely mispronounce a name like that at work. You'd get in so much trouble with HR.

[@joeford9111]

The alien device that attached itself to Jaime and all the other superhero/alien stuff is more realistic?

[@Wol333]

@@joeford9111 Yes

[@Guimhj]

She would get trouble, but not stop doing it.

[@omeysalvi]

I loved this recap because it made me remember just how awesome the DCEU was too in spite of all its flaws.

[@leshiy_nd]

Wow, Holding Out for a Hero was also in first season of Loki. How did this song pumped up so suddenly? Did all Hollywood just collectively rewatched Shrek 2? χD

[@ghIIItrooper]

My guess? That scene got some popularity via nostalgia on TikTok.

[@HerbCoswellBornAgain]

Hope Blue Beetle is retconned into the first official DCU film. Probably won't, but still.

[@dccentral6678]

This was such a great series. Loved hearing a bit of positivity for once, even if you didn’t love all of these movies. Great work as always Nando!

[@AlienIOIandroktone]

You said Dee Bradley Baker instead of Deidrich Bader I believe. Two great VAs who've worked on multiple DC animated projects who I've never noticed the name similarities before lol

[@keltonhouse6400]

Thank you for making these videos talking about the positives aspects in these movie. I have been really hesitant on watching a lot of these later movies like The Flash, Black Adam, and Aquaman: the lost kingdom because of everyone talks about them in a bad light. Thank you for these and making me give them a chance.

[@meswoopnoseenothing]

I genuinely had a lot of fun with both Aquaman movies

[@Elsnorko]

Black Adam is one of my fav. DCEU movie

[@GiubileiFernando]

It's amazing we live in a timeline where Aquaman was so succesful for apparently no outside reason

[@kolbythurlow2422]

boys killin it with these segues

[@wsamaras2003]

Such a tremendous cap off to a tremendous trilogy of videos

[@euansmith3699]

38: 56 The Black Manta organization leather suits are straight out of "Planet of the Vampires"; a super stylish sci-fi film by Mario Bava, from 1965.

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

Surprised you didn't like Dark Flash on any level. I love that idea that he just gets riddled by Kryptonian metal over many thousands of years and looks like this nightmare creature.

[@Silver_Spectre]

These videos have been a fantastic recap on the DCEU. The best I can say about Black Adam is I love his Fortnite emote I use all the time

[@andrew4233th]

fancast the not yet casted roles in the DCU? Id love to see your picks

[@LeonardoSilva-xm8ft]

12:04 same for me! I really don't understand people who didn't like how Batman was directed in these action scenes

[@paulieboy6644]

I loved the Flash - what a great metaphor for how you can waste your life away dwelling on the past or living in fast forward. Most superhero movies feel like they are literally only about defeating the big bad, but this was perhaps the most human in its story telling ambitions

[@steelydyl]

ACTUALLY, it's diedrich bader who walks off the roof, not dee bradley baker.

[@loglorn]

This almost makes me want to watch some of these

[@anewworldcomics6587]

That Segway was fantastic man

[@corbinowens2437]

From what I’ve seen, every1 loved Lopez!

[@andalilbitqueer]

you got me to watch shazam 2 because i legitimately thought Dee Bradley Baker was in it, no offense to Deidrich Bader, but I was very disappointed.

[@Macapta]

If I ever got my hands on Blue Beetle 2, oh boy I have ideas. And people would hate them!

[@luigifan001]

Mexican here. Using the Virgen of guadalupe as a miror is flat out insulting.

[@BadPenny3]

Out of the movies talked about in this video, Blue Beetle is the only one I'll rewatch because of how much I enjoyed it. It's a shame it didn't get a big screen release, it deserved it.

[@MarvinMartinez2001]

Blue Beetle technically is now part of the new DCEU

[@nosfonader8792]

Fixing the Flash: Barry gets transported to another earth and meets another Flash, Wally West. Barry loses his connection to the Speed Force but Wally does. Barry wants to go back his earth and Wally helps him connect to the Speed Force again. Meanwhile, the Speed Force realizes someone messed with it and manifests an agent to take care of the intrusion. Savitar. Yes Savitar from the Flash show but an actual manifestation of the Speed Force. Go all Prince of Persia Warrior Within on it. Savitar hunts down Barry and finds Wally as well and they start fighting. Wally holds off Savitar while Barry uses the Speed Force to go back to his earth. Savitar survives his fight with Wally, seemingly killing Wally and hunts down Barry in his earth. Barry vs Savitar happens and Wally shows up Endgame portal scene style and helps take down Savitar. Wally congratulates Barry and calla him The Flash. Wally then goes back to his earth. After credit scene shows a portal open up and out pops Reverse Flash, hinting at Zoom as the villain for the sequel

[@BeStudioz]

The segues in this video deserve to be acknowledged!

[@koji6745]

I think thats as much positive things Ive heard about these, ever

[@Luchablay]

Shazamily. Excellent.

[@zetnom89]

The only reason Guardians 3 didnt use "Holdin out for a Hero" was because the game that came out a few years ago already used it in there trailer lol

[@GoTenDu]

I loved Shazam 2 much more than Shazam 1.

[@kinglistertv9524]

The DC characters deserve a great movie universe.

[@mojo782]

That ad read was slick af