Originally Posted by
Vordan
The big problem with the DCU is the Justice League is unabashedly the most important team in-universe. That’s not the case over at Marvel. They’ve got the Avengers as the kinda “premiere” (thanks to the MCU) but also the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the MCU elevated the Guardians of the Galaxy, even the Defenders and the Inhumans got a push for a while. Marvel has multiple teams that are more or less on equal footing with each other.
At DC all the big events revolve around either the League itself or Leaguers solo sides. There hasn’t been a big Titans or Legion of Superheroes or Young Justice or whatever type event for a while. There was that Doom Patrol event, Milk Wars, but Doom Patrol is weird and your average casual can’t stand it. I love DP and am grateful for the show’s success but I can’t see them at the center of the DCU no matter how much I wish otherwise. They’re the weirdos on the periphery and always will be.
It also doesn’t help that the Titans/YJ are treated as basically the kids getting together to hopefully one day be good enough for the League. JSA is pretty much the same, the old timers who are way past their prime training the next gen. Except even there the next gen will never replace even the guys who weren’t popular enough to carry over like the Trinity did.
Hot take but I think part of the reason for the Doom Patrol’s success is
1. They’ve got a clear mission statement about who they are, what they’re about, and what they fight, and they fill a niche the League can’t
2. No Bat or Super or Wonder brats on the team. That means no scenes of Batman showing up to lecture the “leader” in front of his team and make it clear they’re viewed as an ancillary branch of the League (aka what happens in Titans/TT with Dick and Damian all the time)
They’re a totally independent team that does it’s own thing without giving a damn for the League and that’s why they’re great while the other teams flounder in the shadow of the League.
Edit: Oh wow I completely forgot the Suicide Squad lmao. Shows how much of an impact they made but I can understand why DC and WB push them for the same reason as the Doom Patrol. Suicide Squad has a clear reason for being, has a completely different set up and jurisdiction to the League, and they aren’t under the League’s thumb instead operating completely independently. Honestly if the Squad wasn’t mainly the “Harley Quinn and Her Wacky Pals (Most of Whom Are Batman Rogues)” these days, I’d probably like them a lot more. There’s definitely potential there, and an opportunity to make use of one of the things DC has over Marvel: Their villains are better.