This year saw the DC Extended Universe, the movies basically, reach a high water mark with the fantastic Wonder Woman. Arguably the first DC movie in this connected universe that people are happy to admit to enjoying. But is one film enough to save a massive franchise? Not at all.
Still though, DC and WB are forging ahead with numerous films hoping to recapture that Wonder Woman magic and if rumors of Zack Snyder stepping back from the franchise are to be believed, things might start looking up.
I know many of you out there are excited about this. Heck even other industries outside of film and comics are excited and into the DCU. Even a top online casino features many of these heroes, namely due to their popularity.
Here’s what they and us have to look forward to:
We already know about Aquaman, which is currently shooting, Justice League, which is currently reshooting with Joss Whedon at the helm, and previously announced films like Gotham City Sirens which might not be a sure thing. At comic-con we got sure fire confirmations on several more titles coming from the studio.
THE BATMAN – We’ve known about this for awhile now. Matt Reeves though appears to be starting nearly from scratch so we don’t know what form it will ultimately take. Worse yet, we don’t know how much longer Ben Affleck is staying in the role, despite his claims that he won’t leave anytime soon.
THE FLASH: FLASHPOINT – For me, this was the most curious announcement of them all, especially when paired with rumors of Affleck leaving the role of Batman. Flashpoint was a huge story line that made massive changes to the DC Universe. It’s an odd choice to use for the first solo Flash movie considering the potential ramifications it, assuming they stick with the story, would have on the DCEU as a whole. Perhaps even altering Batman??
GREEN LANTERN CORPS – They’re trying it again, hopefully on a grander scale than the previous attempt at Hal Jordan. This one promises to launch the DCEU into the stars much like Guardians of the Galaxy did for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Will it be as successful? Who knows. We don’t know a thing about it outside of Tyrese constantly campaigning to be in it. It will be exciting to see all those iconic lanterns on the screen though.
BATGIRL – Joss Whedon takes the reins for the upcoming Batgirl film and this genuinely has me excited. I’ve been a Whedon fan for forever and I think this is the absolute perfect DC film for him to helm. I’m exceedingly confident that we will get a Batgirl everyone will love the hell out of. A big piece of this is casting the perfect Barbara Gordon and I don’t think we need to worry much in this regard if this shortlist is accurate. I wonder how this will interact with a supposed Nightwing film that we’re also hearing rumbles of?
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK – John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Zatanna, and Etrigan the Demon. If those names aren’t exciting to you then maybe this isn’t a movie you’ll be excited for. Details are scarce about much for this movie except that it’s got horror elements and it’ll likely feature the characters above. This is an interesting title to do for the franchise. It’s more rooted in magic elements so it’ll be interesting to see how this fits into the grander scheme of the DCEU. This and Batgirl are the two I am most excited about, save for Wonder Woman 2.
SHAZAM! – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson goes dark as Black Adam to take on the yet to be cast Shazam. I was never big on this title and I am not all versed in the lore but I am interested to see Dwayne Johnson take on a villainous role though. My concern is that this is going to end up lighter Man of Steel and people just aren’t going to be that interested. I mean is Shazam even that well known outside of comic fans?
SUICIDE SQUAD 2 AND WONDER WOMAN 2 – Lastly, we’re getting sequels for Suicide Squad (meh) and obviously Wonder Woman. Details on both are scarce although I heard some mention of the Cold War for Wonder Woman which seems weird to me. Suicide Squad 2 is getting a new director in the form of Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows).
The future is looking bright for the DCEU. Maybe it’s possible to dig themselves out of the hole the franchise has been stuck in after nearly 100% of their films turned out terrible. Thankfully, Wonder Woman came along and changed that and if we’re lucky started a trend of actual GOOD DC films. I am honestly expecting the upcoming Justice League to be a bit of a disaster but maybe Joss can pull off a miracle.
What do you think? Are you excited about these titles? Do you think DC can make a come back and produce some more great films? Let us know in the comments!
Garon Cockrell is the Founder and Editor of Pop Culture Beast and host of The Pop Culture Beast Show. He founded the site over seven years ago to have a place on the internet to write about the things he loved. Since then, Garon has become a best-selling author (Demonic and Other Tales), an award winning screenwriter (Best Screenplay 2013 Motor City Nightmares Film Festival), and a cast member on the top rated podcast, Never Not Funny.