How do you solve a problem like the DC Extended Universe? While Marvel has charted an interconnected and highly profitable cinematic universe over the last decade, fellow comics giant DC has been unable to materialize the same success. There have been bright spots in the DCEU (Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman), and highly successful one-offs like Joker (with its own sequel coming), but nothing that has cohered into a larger functional strategy for the brand. After laying the Snyderverse to rest, DC announced plans to focus on individual films rather than an interconnected universe, expanding their slate to include both theatrical films and HBO Max originals.
But Warner Bros. mega-merger with Discovery has reshuffled the deck once again, with new CEO David Zaslav controversially shelving the nearly finished Batgirl film and announcing that a new 10 year plan for DC content was in the works. And that plan doesn’t seem to include original films for HBO Max. “We are going to focus on quality. We are not going to release any film before it’s ready,” said Zaslav. “DC is something we can make better.”
And while fans are confused and disappointed, executives at DC Films are equally frustrated. DC Films president Walter Hamada reportedly nearly quit over the cancellation of Batgirl, and has seen his future DC slate stymied by Zaslav’s announcement. Hamada, who joined DC Films after Joss Whedon’s Justice League tanked in 2017, had big plans for the DCEU. These included an adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths (which the Arrowverse tackled in 2019), Blue Beetle, a Supergirl film, a Black Canary spinoff, a Secret Six film, a Green Lantern Corps TV series and movie, a Static Shock film, and a Black Superman movie written by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
While Blue Beetle and Black Canary are still on books (as are season 2 of Peacemaker and whatever else James Gunn is working on for DC), it’s unclear which of the remaining projects will survive. The studio is still on track to release Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam in October and Shazam! Fury of the Gods in December. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Flash are also still on track to release in 2023, despite the myriad allegations and arrests of its star Ezra Miller. The Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, a musical starring Lady Gaga, is also confirmed.
It’s anyone’s guess how this will all coalesce into a 10 year plan, and whether an interconnected DCEU is on the horizon. In the meantime, fans will have to wait and see the outcome of their favorite projects.
(via: The Hollywood Reporter, featured image: Warner Bros.)
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