DC movies are definitely going to be less gritty and dark going forward

One of the biggest complaints that the new era of DC movies gets from critics is that the universe is too dark and gritty, especially in comparison to Marvel's more lighthearted cinematic universe.

In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, DC Entertainment's CEO, Geoff Johns, said that the criticism was certainly accurate and the studio was going to change how the DC cinematic universe looks going forward. Instead of being as serious as it has been in the past, they were going to try and lighten up the world, kind of like what they tried to do with Suicide Squad.

"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," Johns said. "It's a hopeful and optimistic view of life. Even Batman has a glimmer of that in him."

Another major problem that fans took issue with was how Batman was portrayed in Snyder's most recent film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In the film, Batman is introduced as someone who enjoys torturing the criminals he captures and almost killing Superman in a climactic fight scene. It nearly turned Batman from a hero of sorts (he's still a vigilante criminal at the end of the day) into a cold blooded murderer, and Johns said that will also be addressed in Snyder's upcoming Justice League.

On top of addressing the issues with Batman, Justice League will reportedly have fewer Snyder characteristics littered throughout. Dream sequences, like the somewhat confusing one that appeared in Batman v Superman, will be cut down and the focus will be on tightening the plot, according to WSJ sources familiar with the project.

It's unclear just how lighthearted DC is planning to make its films, since executives at Warner Bros. have said before they don't want to make Marvel-type films. Suicide Squad, which was directed by David Ayer, attempted to be more comedic, but many critics found the forced jokes too trite and it didn't fit well with the broader gritty feel the film still had.

There are plenty of DC movies for the change to happen in, however. Snyder's Justice League is due out next November, with Wonder Woman in June and a slew of other standalone films all set to come out within the next few years.