I know, I know.

It’s absolutely unexpected.

However, I just watched Justice League on HBO and I think it’s my favorite DCEU movie. Sure, Wonder Woman is still pretty great and it’s definitely my current second favorite, but Justice League blew me out of the park by being way better than I expected.

I loved seeing the newer interpretations of three of my favorite Leaguers (Barry Allen/The Flash, Arthur Curry/Aquaman and Victor Stone/Cyborg) interact with the older half of the established DCEU. Barry and Victor are my faves and I need y’all to be more proactive with shipping them (there are less than fifty stories for the ship on AO3), but I’m also interested in Justice League polyamory (something else the fandom isn’t that interested in…). The characters felt closer to what I was familiar with in the comics and various live action shows/cartoons and, the whole teamwork thing?

They’re so good at it and I am proud of them all.

While the plot and pacing outside from them working as a team was kind of wonky and I could definitely see Whedon’s mark on the characters when they showed up, I found myself dying laughing because of genuinely funny scenes rather than because the stuff onscreen was relentlessly cringy.

I even cried. At least twice!

I’m not going to be all like “Justice League was a great movie and y’all should see it” but:

It’s a good superhero movie.  It’s a fun superhero movie.

Grimdark coloring and all.

It honestly felt like the DCEU was finally getting itself back on track beyond Wonder Woman and that they kind of… got the characters. I still have so many questions about the timeline (for one: if Batman has been working in Gotham for 20 years and has gone through at least one Robin so far… Where’s Dick Grayson and how old is he?”) but it was honestly a fun movie that I could just… turn my brain off and enjoy.

I could probably wrangle some critical thoughts about the movie if I tried.

But… I don’t actually want to.

Which is kind of a big deal for someone like me who typically can’t turn the analysis off.

Justice League left me feeling joy like I haven’t felt in a while.

I… I think I love it.