The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most successful movie franchise of all time – that is now official – and, after a number of disappointing movies in recent years (Superman Returns, Jonah Hex, Green Lantern etc), DC are desperately trying to catch up.

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy was fantastic, but that’s been and gone, so the DC Cinematic Universe has just one movie to its name – the very divisive 2013 offering Man of Steel – so they have a long way to go to match Marvel Studios and their twelve-movie franchise.

They seem to be making some pretty major mistakes already, however, and they could ruin their chances of truly competing with the MCU.

We certainly hope everything goes well for DC and their distributors Warner Brothers, but let’s take a look at some of the mistakes they’re already making with their franchise…

Rushing Its Expansion

Marvel Studios were extremely methodical with the Marvel Cinematic Universe – there were five movies before any of the key heroes met each other and formed the Avengers in the sixth – but DC are doing things very differently.

With only one movie down, no less than five major heroes and members of the Justice League (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Aquaman) will share screen time in the next one (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) and that is undoubtedly going to feel forced.

There is also a risk of poor character development, as these characters vie for screen time in a movie that will have enough going on without having to introduce and develop them all.

You can’t help but feel that it would be better to introduce some of them either in their own movies or, at the very least, in separate movies.

Lacking In Humour

DC have actually categorically stated that they are avoiding using humour in their movies in this franchise and are going to focus on darker, more serious stories.

This was fairly evident in Man of Steel – which was the exact opposite of “laugh-a-minute” – and looks set to continue in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad (although The Joker’s inclusion will surely make it certain that at least some dark humour is included).

It’s clearly DC’s attempt to distance themselves from Marvel as much as possible, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe includes a lot of humour – with the likes of Tony Stark, Peter Quill and Darcy Lewis just some examples of characters who utilise it a lot.

The problem is that these are comic book movies. By their very nature they are a little bit silly and trying to completely avoid humour (particularly with characters like Aquaman in action) could just come across as boring and farcical.

Bizarre Choices In Movies

With DC playing catch-up to Marvel, it would probably be a good idea for them to focus solely on their flagship characters and big-guns for the foreseeable future when it comes to their movies.

However, while they are indeed utilising the likes of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, they are also seemingly confident enough to have scheduled the likes of Suicide Squad, Aquaman, Shazam and Cyborg movies.

Don’t get us wrong, Suicide Squad and the others could be massive successes, but it’s by no means guaranteed for that to be the case. At such an early stage of the franchise, you’d think DC and Warner Brothers would be putting out movies that they absolutely know will attract a mainstream audience.

If Suicide Squad, for example, was to bomb, it could threaten the whole franchise and will leave DC regretting a decision that they didn’t even need to make.

Going Weird Early

Marvel Studios eased audiences into their franchise gradually when it came to the levels of weirdness, starting with the relatively grounded Iron Man and the science-based Incredible Hulk movie.

It wasn’t until the fourth movie in the franchise – 2011’s Thor – that they truly delved into the realms of fantasy, with the introduction of gods and monsters like Odin, Loki, the titular hero and Frost Giants.

DC and Warner Brothers opened with an alien superhero in Superman and are cramming their next two movies (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad) with strange and unearthly characters like Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, Killer Croc and Enchantress.

It seems very strange that characters so varied and weird would emerge in the world so rapidly and simultaneously and it would perhaps have been more sensible to remain more grounded for a little longer.

Some Risky Casting

Marvel Studios have a great habit of getting their casting right – Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Chris Pratt as Star-Lord have all been inspired, for example.

Consequently, you’d think DC would target safe options for the characters in their cinematic universe – but they really haven’t.

The castings of the likes of Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Will Smith as Deadshot have all raised eyebrows for one reason or another and DC must have been aware that would happen before they made said castings – and that’s crazy, given the risks associated with questionable castings.

Granted, some fears have been allayed by images and trailers that have been released (Affleck looks superb as Batman, for example), but it was still not the best idea to make such controversial casting decisions for such iconic roles.

What do you think? Are DC and Warner Brothers already taking some unnecessary risks? Can you think of any more? Have your say below.