Change of Plans for DC Movies are Coming in the Next Few Years

By: George Burkert

Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman will continue to play a huge role in the “DC Extended Universe”. (Credit: ew.com)

The “DC Extended Universe” has gotten off to a roller coaster start. Most of their movies with the exception of “Wonder Woman” and “Aquaman” have gotten mixed to negative reviews and have not made the box-office money Warner Brothers hoped they would make.

After “Aquaman” entertained audiences and made over $1.1 billion dollars worldwide, Warner Brothers and DC Comics are ready to change the “DC Extended Universe” around and move away from the direction of “Man of Steel” director Zack Snyder.

The year 2019 already has “Shazam!” coming out on April 8th and “Joker” coming out October 4th, but “Joker” is rumored to be in a separate universe from the “DC Extended Universe”.

Since “Wonder Woman” was the most praised movie, Warner Brothers and director Patty Jenkins have plans for more sequels. “Wonder Woman 1984” is scheduled for a 2020 release with Gal Gadot reprising her role. Jenkins already has plans for the third film and said she would like to see other DC superheroes get their own movie before having more “Justice League” movies.

Another hero who will most likely have multiple sequels is Aquaman, after the huge success of his title film. There are also talks of an “Aquaman” spinoff based off the Trench.

A major change happening is that Ben Affleck will no longer be Batman after numerous rumors the past year said he won’t return.

Affleck was originally going to direct “The Batman”, and produce as well as star in it, but stepped down as director and producer in early 2017 and eventually departed from the role of Batman.

Matt Reeves, director of the last two “Planet of the Apes” films, will direct “The Batman.” “The Batman” is scheduled for a 2021 date with a new, younger actor currently unknown taking on the role of the caped crusader.

Another big change coming is in the “Suicide Squad” franchise. The franchise will be relaunched in 2021 with “The Suicide Squad” directed and written by James Gunn, who directed “Guardians of the Galaxy,” but was fired by Disney back in 2018 for controversial tweets made years ago.  

“The Suicide Squad” is set to be a relaunch with new characters, but not a reboot. Margot Robbie, who played Harley Quinn in the 2016 film “Suicide Squad,” is set to return in the 2020 film “Birds of Prey.”

“Birds of Prey” will be a female team-up movie with superheroines like Black Canary and Huntress making their first appearance on the big screen.

It will also be the first film in a trilogy focusing on Harley Quinn, with the second film being rumored to involve Gotham Sirens team, which had other female Batman villains such as Catwoman and Poison Ivy. This second installment is being developed by “Suicide Squad” director David Ayer.

Other films announced include “The Flash” for 2021, “Green Lantern Corps” for 2020, and “Cyborg” for 2020.

However, it’s looking like “Cyborg” and “Green Lantern Corps” could be pushed back with no directors or casting announcements with the exception of Ray Fisher reprising his role as Cyborg. “The Flash” is currently in pre-production and will be directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.

DC has not announced any plans for future “Justice League” movies and is seeming to focus on solo movies. “Justice League” was a box office failure in 2017, so Warner Brothers is in no rush to come out with a second one.

Also unknown is whether Henry Cavill will continue to play Superman. After rumors came out in September 2018 about Cavill leaving the role, Warner Brothers put out a statement not saying Cavill is gone, but there are currently no decisions being made for future Superman movies.

Recently, a rumor came out that Superman could make a cameo in “Shazam!”, but the man of steel might not be played by Cavill. Another rumor is that Warner Brothers wants to focus on making movies about Supergirl instead of Superman.

Before Gunn agreed to direct “The Suicide Squad,” he was approached to direct a sequel to “Man of Steel,” but turned it down, so it could be possible that Warner Brothers does have plans for more Superman movies with Cavill, but are still looking for a new director. According to people close to Cavill, he still wants to play Superman.

DC and Warner Brothers have also talked about giving solo movies to lesser known heroes like Zatanna and Blue Beetle, but no directors or casting decisions have been made so far, as they are possibly waiting to see how successful “Shazam!” could be.

With the changes and new additions being implemented, fans hope the “DC Extended Universe” can finally get on track.