The DC Extended Universe has suffered a dose of gravity.  Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice was designed to jumpstart a pantheon of film franchises, extending outward from this Big Bang of the ultimate collision of DC icons.  The vision in some ways, you might say, would bear a certain degree of similarity to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, insofar as they both involve a collection of superheroes interacting across a limitless span of interrelated movies.  But way different, the DC sympathizers insist, than the juvenile offerings of Marvel Studios.

But BvS didn’t deliver, plagued by ugly reviews, a lukewarm reception in China and a quick fade at the domestic box office.  Not a disaster, exactly, but definitely a disappointment for the DC faithful.  So how exactly should a Marvel fan react?  With a measured degree of satisfaction, but not too much.

As a starting point, let’s dispense with any pretext that Dawn of Justice has been a successful launch to the DCEU (they should know better than to include “eew” in the name).  The DC apologists point out the film has made a lot of money, over $850 million worldwide, more than Iron Man in the US, it’s a big hit.  Except Iron Man was a surprise smash, a gamble when Marvel’s best known properties were licensed to Sony and Fox.  By contrast, BvS was calculated to make a mint with minimum risk, putting the two biggest names in DC’s arsenal together and promoting the hell out of it.  Iron Man’s production budget was $140 million, compared to $250 million for Dawn of Justice.  One had a Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%, the other 28%.  Warner Brothers was swinging at the billion-plus worldwide of the Avengers films and Iron Man 3, and now faces public derision and diminished expectations.

The signs were there.  The production had the earmarks of a corporate initiative to ride a market trend, spurred by investor demands to establish a platform to match Marvel’s shared cinematic universe concept.  Like most second comers in a competitive enterprise, they were arriving late and in a rush to ascend the plateau that the rival had spent years cultivating.  Hard to beat the originator in that context, trying to cut to the chase in heavy-handed fashion.  Too much weight of expectation, when you need a mega-hit as rocket fuel for the next dozen films you’ve already announced.

The paradox, furthermore, is that while DC and Warner Brothers were conspicuously attempting to replicate the Marvel Studios model, at the same time they perceived a need to differentiate their product.  They had to simultaneously emulate and distinguish themselves from the House of Avengers.  They couldn’t just say ours is the same as theirs; they had to have some basis to say ours is better.  Marvel’s movies tend to be colorful and fun.  The natural direction for DC to go, then, was dark.

Comic book historians will recognize this as the Frank Miller influence.  Miller started out as a writer/artist auteur at Marvel, where he did a memorable run with Daredevil that underpins the current Netflix series.  He’s more famous, though, for the Dark Knight incarnation of Batman, as well as Sin City and 300.  He thus connects a couple threads of the DC cinematic scheme: Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy represents the high water mark for DC at the cineplex, and 300 was adapted for film by Zack Snyder, the designated architect of the DCEU.

Frank Miller brought a lot of darkness to comics.  His milieu was always gritty, squalid and corrupt.  Villains were pathologically cruel, heroes did what must be done, and violence was pervasive, intimate and disturbing.  For DC, the tone provided a contrast to Marvel, which has maintained the upbeat vibe of Silver Age classics from the 1960s.  In Marvel’s world, there’s drama and conflict, and heroes suffer and agonize, but it’s infused with humor, you can feel good about the characters, and the colors and storylines are bright.

DC positioned itself, then, to differentiate its movies as more mature and heavy.  But dark is not inherently engaging or deep.  Consider the self-absorbed teenage Goth, with eyeliner and black clothes.  Fans of Marvel Studios, with a premium on heart and wit, watched the unfolding public reaction to Dawn of Justice with great interest, as a referendum not only on the merits of the competing comic book worlds but on the prevailing style and tone of superhero adaptations.

A rational Marvel advocate would not wish calamity on the DCEU.  Too many lousy superhero movies could sour the box office for all.  But a consensus that BvS is overwrought and excessively grim is a satisfying confirmation that Marvel’s approach retains its charm.  The DCEU need not be an abject failure, just relegated to secondary status.

But pride goeth before a fall, so let’s not jinx ourselves.  We can wait until Captain America: Civil War is an undisputed monster hit, and then think about gloating.