Those who don't know shit about comics or DC's creative head honcho Geoff Johns probably think he took the job at DC Films and was forced to lighten the DCU movies' grim tone. But it's what Johns has done throughout his career, taking the DC Comics brand, which was just as dark and "real" as the movies currently are, and gave them a more hopeful feel. So when he talks to the Wall Street Journal about similar adjustments that were made to Suicide Squad and Justice League, it's simply not that much of a surprise. At least not to me. Johns says...
Mistakenly in the past I think
the studio has said, ‘Oh, DC films are gritty and dark and that’s what
makes them different.’ That couldn’t be more wrong. It’s a hopeful and optimistic view of life. Even Batman has a glimmer
of that in him. If he didn’t think he’d make tomorrow better, he’d
stop.”
Johns and DC Films exec Jon Berg do admit that fan reaction to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice caused them to do some course correction on Suicide Squad and Justice League. The supervillain team-up move had the "hope and optimism" aspect "accelerated" according to Berg. It must've worked because the film is now one of the top-grossing comic book movies of all-time. Zack Snyder's Justice League was initially planned to be a multi-part story but has been scaled back to a single movie that will focus on the plot rather than the director's typical "controversial flourishes". Basically don't expect any weird apocalyptic dream sequences.
One reason I was never upset about the violence in Man of Steel was that I knew there would be consequences to Superman's actions, and we saw that play out in 'Batman v Superman'. Now Batman, who kills with extreme prejudice throughout, will have to face similar ramifications in Justice League, which is the right way to handle it. Address these things in-story rather than through press interviews.
How it all turns out we won't know until Justice League arrives next year on November 10th.
