Deep into the critical and box office success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rival comic book studio DC tried to catch up with their own “dark, serious” collection of interconnected films.

While “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad” made big money in 2016, the dark approach alienated a large segment of superhero-loving moviegoers. Even with the success of 2017’s “Wonder Woman,” DC feverishly recalibrated with “Justice League,” adding extensive reshoots and re-editing the movie in order to “brighten” director Zack Snyder’s brooding original ideas.

Plagued by awkward tonal shifts and a ragged script, “Justice League” turned out much worse than any of its critically-reviled predecessors, in part because it felt more like a cheap studio cash grab than any attempt at graceful storytelling.

Interestingly, in the years since “Justice League” essentially bombed the DC extended movie universe, the Marvel Cinematic Universe steered into slightly darker territory. Although Robert Downey Jr. and Paul Rudd continued to fling one-liners across the screen, Marvel went ahead and murdered half the universe in “Avengers: Infinity War,” then spent a good chunk of “Avengers: Endgame” examining the fallout of the genocide.

DC, meanwhile, leaned into the silliness. While it might be impossible to make a serious movie about a superhero who talks to fish, 2018’s “Aquaman” embraced the absurdity and delivered a colorful, ridiculous, and unabashedly fun big screen experience.

Minus a few large-scale action sequences at the end, last year’s “Shazam!” is about a kid trapped inside the body of a superhero and is giddy about all the cool things he can do. No brooding anywhere.

DC’s new approach reaches a whole new level with their first entry of 2020, “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.” Despite an R-rating for violence and a potty mouth, “Birds of Prey” serves as the highpoint of the DCEU’s tonal recalibration. Margot Robbie reprises her “Suicide Squad” role, showcasing her enormous comedic talents by distancing her sparkplug Harley Quinn character far, far away from Jared Leto’s offputting Joker performance in “Suicide Squad.”

“Birds of Prey” barely takes its own plot seriously, as Harley narrates her own adventure with frequent non-linear asides. Directed by Cathy Yan, the movie playfully introduces a new team of antiheroes and villains and smashes them together with several visually dynamic fight sequences (aided by the team that worked on the “John Wick” series).

In short, “Birds of Prey” is a ton of fun. Sadly, DC may learn the wrong lessons from the film’s muted box office debut this month. The movie’s R-rating and lengthy original title likely hobbled the film’s financial prospects from the start, and the studio even rebranded the movie “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey” after its disappointing first weekend. Others might steer clear of it just because it technically serves as a sorta-sequel to “Suicide Squad,” which is, pretty objectively, a terrible movie.

Whether “Birds of Prey” turns a profit or not, Robbie will return to the role for future DCEU installments. Hopefully the powers-that-be don’t waver from the lighter approach.

The billion-dollar success of the Joaquin Phoenix-led “Joker” might complicate their plans. That movie scored multiple Oscar nominations by going darker than any other superhero movie had gone before.

There’s room in the market for that approach too, but, at the end of the day, these are stories about comic book characters who wear silly costumes. At least a few of them should be fun.

- • •

Tyler Wilson can be reached at [email protected]. He’s been writing professionally about movies since 2000 and is the co-host of Old Millennials Remember Movies, available everywhere you get podcasts and at OldMillennialsRemember.com.