At San Diego Comic Con, Warner Bros. filled fans in on what to expect from the DC Cinematic Universe! And this roster… it filled up mighty quick.
Among many announcements for the continuing cinematic slate, there was an updated list of films that DC has in the works going forward. They were:
- Shazam
- Suicide Squad 2
- The Batman
- Justice League Dark
- Flash Point
- Wonder Woman 2
- Green Lantern Corps
- Batgirl
A few of these titles had already been confirmed or hinted at, including Shazam (which will star Dwayne Johnson in the titular role), Batgirl (directed by Joss Whedon), and Justice League Dark, but there were a number of surprises, among them being Flash Point and Green Lantern Corps.
It seems likely that the Flashpoint storyline from the 2011 comics will serve as Barry Allen’s (mostly) solo Flash film, allowing WB to bring in other members of the Justice League for cameos; the Flashpoint arc centered around Barry Allen being the only person aware of the fact that the timeline of their world had significantly altered, leaving him to try and repair the damage. Green Lantern Corps is a unique way of finally bringing the Green Lantern into the DCU, while also offering up the potential for a space-faring story.
We’ll add more information as it comes up, but what do you think of this roster? Any titles that you’re particularly excited for?
The Green Lantern Corps segments were by far the best parts of the Ryan Reynolds film, so I’m glad they’re going that route. GLC could be the Guardians of the Galaxy of DC, if they do it right.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
The lineup looks quite nicely, but… are you sure that Dwayne Johnson has the title role in “Shazam”? I though he was supposed to be Black Adam.
Flashpoint is a spectacularly stupid idea for a first Flash film. It needs a way deeper connection between the characters than the films before it can hope to provide, even more than Civil War at Marvel, which was cleverly adapted to fit the MCU. Maybe they’ll surprise us, but it feels like a dumb choice.
MaGnUs: Actually Civil War worked about a thousand times better as a movie, because CW wasn’t remotely convincing in a Marvel Universe that had existed for a long time and was well-established, but it actually made perfect sense in a world where large numbers of public superheroes are relatively new.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
I think it worked well in the comics, but in any case, it was masterfully adapted to the character dynamics of the MCU.
#2, what I understood is that the first movie of the Shazam universe would be about Billy Batson (e.g. DC’s and the original person to hold the name Captain Marvel) and that the movie would be without The Rock.
There’s a four issue mini-series, going by Superman/Shazam: First Thunder, that was already somewhat turned into an animated mini-film/extended short called Superman/Shazam – The Return of Black Adam. It would make a somewhat good point (except that Black Adam needs some back story/explanation even for comic book casual fans of the DC universe) but it would use Superman as a guest and would be otherwise helpful to connect but also keep separate (assuming they are still going that way) the movies.
## 3/4/5: Flashpoint is not the way to introduce the Flash, especially if TPTB are serious about differentiating DCEU from DCW. As someone put it elsewhere, this is only happening because someone in charge:
Civil War was adaptation essentially in name only with some of those elements existing purely to create even more coincidences or as plot device, but all of this is really off topic. A better example would be WB wanting to use in live action the Death of Superman (which they have wanted since buying DC Comics) and, at least, Superman has currency in the public consciousness that can, to an extent, make it work. When Nolan adapted Knightfall, even for those not aware of Bane, it didn’t seem misplaced or too soon, in part as the last film of a trilogy (and again, Batman has been in the public consciousness for some time).