At this point, the trials and tribulations of Warner Bros.’ attempts to build a cohesive cinematic universe akin to the MCU have been well documented. Love it or hate it, the journey from Man of Steel to Shazam! has been full of controversial choices. From Man of Steel’s wanton destruction of Smallville and Metropolis to Batman v. Superman’s uncompromising bleakness to Justice League’s full-on attempted reversal of all of it, there’s always been as much discussion about the decisions behind the movies as there has been about the films themselves.
But with the Big Two — Superman and Batman — off the table at the present time while Warner Bros. plans their futures, the studio has found success in other characters to lead the charge while they figure out what’s next for the World’s Finest. They’ll be back in leading roles eventually, no doubt, but in the meantime, the torch has been passed to Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and most recently, Shazam to carry on the dream of a living, breathing on-screen DCU. Though Warners seems to be moving away from the trendy need to build an intricately connected shared universe (there’s only a one-off mention of Steppenwolf in Aquaman, for example), execs at the studio seem to be willing to keep moving forward with a more loosely connected universe where continuity is a bit more fluid.
Source: IGN.com Shazam! Only Wants Us to Remember the Best of the DCEU