Warner Brothers has faced an uphill battle in creating its own, unique DC Comics cinematic universe. Outside of Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, Marvel has been dominating the superhero movie world. When people think superhero movies, The Avengers and their individual characters are king.
But WB and DC have now unveiled their own slate of films, in which they hope to establish a distinct cinematic universe built around its signature properties. The studio has revealed some big details of what’s to come. These stories promise to be darker and possibly more gruesome than anything Marvel has done. Here’s the slate of upcoming films to expect from the other superhero movie universe during the next five years.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
We got our first look at Zack Snyder’s universe-building film that pits two of the most iconic superheroes in comic book history against one another. I went over the trailer after it debuted, but to summarize, I was quite impressed with what we were shown. We got our big look at Batman, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor in a movie which has legitimate stakes. The destruction in Man of Steel was catastrophic, and BvS deals with that directly, as it’s a main plot point for Batman’s intentions and the hatred/cult following for Superman.
Suicide Squad (2016)
David Ayer’s film was a victim of leaked footage, but if any positives came from that, it’s we got an HD trailer. Like BvS, the trailer calmed the trepidation surrounding this flick. The trailer was a great mix of dark and creepy, showing the entire “Task Force X,” including looks at Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Jared Leto’s Joker. While I don’t expect every member of the squad to make it out of the movie, this is another foundation-setting piece to Zack Snyder’s universe since there are so many characters to play with.
Wonder Woman (2017)
We finally got to see Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) in and out of costume in the BvS trailer, and both looked outstanding. There was a rumour that Chris Pine would be playing sidekick Steve Trevor, but that may have been a smokescreen for his audition for the Green Lantern Corps movie. There wasn’t as much news about this film, but what we do know is that Patty Jenkins is set to direct the film after replacing Michelle McLaren.
The Batman (TBA)
Possible the biggest news in DC’s cinematic universe is we’ll be getting a solo Batman film starring, co-written and directed by Ben Affleck. If that’s not big enough news, famed DC comic writer Geoff Johns will be co-writing the script. While no date has been announced, it’s expected to begin production once Affleck’s latest film Live by Night finishes production. On his “Fatman on Batman” podcast, Kevin Smith expressed how keen and excited Affleck is to shaping his own Batman film, and how he’s got some great ideas. Consider me excited.
Justice League Part One & Two (2017 and 2019)
Not much news here yet, other than the individual films setting up the epic team-up movie.
The Flash (2018)
With the news Chris Miller and Phil Lord would be directing the Han Solo Star Wars anthology film, it’s kind of up in the air what their roles are now with The Flash. Currently Miller and Lord are pegged to write the movie, but with so many commitments, it wouldn’t be surprising if they dropped out. Despite all of the uncertainty, the film’s star, Ezra Miller, sounds stoked about playing the titular character, telling MTV:
“Barry Allen is the hero of the Silver Age, who follows a lot of really interesting discoveries in physics. It’s like, where he comes from, we’ve figured out the event horizon was there, and then he was the character that was created through our mythos machine of comic books to break that event horizon so we could explore in fantasy. I think that’s an interesting idea – and also what the fuck does that do to someone?’
Asked what he thought of the current CW Flash television show, Miller gushed:
“I think it’s awesome! Come on, we’re The Flash! It’s parallel universes! Grant Gustin is The Flash and I’m The Flash – don’t you see? It’s the Event Horizon, we crossed it baby! Grant and I are chilling. We’re gonna have a race – it’s gonna be dope! Like Jay Garrick and Barry Allen back in the day!”
I would actually lose my mind to see Gustin and Miller co-exist, although I’m almost certain that’s never going to happen. I do love Miller’s enthusiasm though.
Aquaman (2018)
Jason Momoa was absent at Comic-Con, as was any big news about the movie. (Though Aquaman is rumored to appear in BvS and possibly Suicide Squad.) What we know is James Wan (Furious 7) is set to direct the movie with Zack Snyder’s 300 screenwriting buddy Kurt Johnstad pegged to write.
Shazam (2019)
No new updates here. We know Darren Lemke (Turbo) will be writing the film and Dwayne Johnson will star as the film’s villain, Black Adam.
Cyborg (2020)
Ray Fisher, who is set to play the titular character, was a no-show at Comic-Con. We still don’t know anything else about the project. However, Cyborg — or perhaps his human alter-ego Victor Stone — will reportedly make an appearance in Batman v Superman.
Green Lantern Corps (2020)
Another exciting development from Comic-Con was the announcement of a rebooted Green Lantern film. While there were no specific details revealed, we know there will be multiple Green Lanterns in this flick, with Chris Pine likely suiting up as Hal Jordan. Earth’s two other Green Lanterns from DC Comics mythology, John Stewart and Guy Gardner, will presumably be part of the story too.
So yeah, lots of great news for DC’s upcoming slate of superhero films. For once, it seems like Warner Brothers has a cohesive plan to build a pretty exciting universe. Who knew?
[Header image via The Hollywood Reporter]
