Marvel is the king of “cinematic universes” (several different franchises existing in one connected world). While others have tried to take this title by making their own cinematic universe and succeeding with this task (the X-Men series), others are becoming more of a series of commercials for spin-offs rather than films, like the Amazing Spider-Man franchise. The one that seems to have the most potential to work is none other than DC, who has recently announced several movies they will be releasing between 2016 and 2020. Here are 5 things that DC can do to make their movies successful, quality films.

(There will be spoilers for the Man of Steel.)

#5

Learn from your mistakes.

While Man of Steel certainly had its good moments, it also had a lot of problems that hurt the film, one of which being the controversial ending in which, after the massive destruction of Metropolis, Superman snaps General Zod’s neck and screams in despair over what has transpired. We then immediately cut to him smiling and living his happy-go-lucky life, not even mentioning Zod or anything that happened in Metropolis. This is a big problem because, if you are going to have a huge moment like this happen, then you need to actually show the consequences. The reason this is so low on the list, however, is because the issue can still be fixed in Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The point is that if you plan on doing a similar thing in a future film, you are going to need to make it have an impact, otherwise people are not going to care what happens in the later movies.

#4

Make the heroes unique.

One reason why people love the Marvel movies is because all of the main characters are great in their own ways. For example, if you don’t like Iron Man, you may like Captain America, the Hulk, or Groot. If DC wants to continue to have a growing audience, they’re going to need to do the same thing and make all the main members of the Justice League interesting.

#3

Have great Bad Guys.

If there’s one weakness that the Marvel films have, it’s that they are lacking in particularly fantastic villains, with a few exceptions such as Loki and Thanos. This could be the chance for DC to swoop in and blow people away with a wonderful line-up of villains. We’ve already gotten a little taste of this with Man of Steel’s General Zod being an enjoyable, interesting villain in an otherwise okay film, but the problem may be that some of their villains, if done incorrectly, can just come off as rip-offs of other comic book movie baddies.

#2

Have fun.

The Dark Knight was a fantastic movie but it spawned something awful: the “Diet Dark Knights.” Now every superhero is a constantly brooding anti-hero, even if the formula did not work for the character being adapted. DC is falling into this formula starting with Man of Steel. The problem with this is that people are going to be sick of getting depressed constantly and lose interest. Let some of your superheroes have a little fun with their super powers.

#1

Plan ahead

Possibly the biggest concern and also the one most likely to be overlooked. The focus should be on the film they are making at the time but there’s also the need to know what the end game is and a plan to get there. If not, DC will have a lot of trouble making good, successful films.