The themes
The darkness of the DCEU comes from its themes and not from the visual style of any Zack Snyder movie – we guess we will see that beginning with Wonder Woman.
The biggest flaw of the DC characters is considered to be that they have no flaw whatsoever. The DCEU has changed that. Superman is constantly struggling to fit in, being constantly reminded that he is not human. His own superpowers are the ones that work against him. In a way, he is an orphan who cannot fit in.
Batman is even more flawed – if Batman v Superman said something about him, then that something is that he is deeply scarred as a character. Until this year, we haven’t seen him so deeply marked by the death of his parents – even after so many years, he still sees his parents dying (that scene with the giant bat exiting the grave was excellent).
Furthermore, he has no reason to trust anybody. Case in point: the loss of Robin, about whom we believe to have become a villain himself (how many good people stayed that way).
And all these inner struggles reflect in the decisions they make, in a way worsening their relation with the public. It seems to be like a never-ending spiral, one that always leads to something worse.
