Future of DC Films (DCEU)

[MyenShi]

The DCAU did the whole connected universe concept really well when it kicked off 25 years ago with Batman and Superman meeting for the first time.

WB could've honestly taken a lot of inspiration from BTAS, STAS, JL, and JLU in adapting a film friendly DC cinematic universe. But they instead chose to just be the anti-MCU and went all in on a vision and direction that just... wasn't good enough.

The DC heroes deserve better treatment and better stories, and DC fans don't deserve the apparent contempt WB has for them.

The DCEU news/leaks coming out now just feels like a really forced course correction where WB is trying to cherry pick between the good and bad decisions they've made instead of rolling with everything that's happened.

I'll reserve final judgement till after the dust settles. There's potential, but there's also the undeniable fact that WB/DC did all of this to themselves.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Saw that Whedon article earlier today as well

I love that Whedon's response/defense to all these allegations is "He's a bad actor" (re: Ray Fisher) and "She doesn't understand English" (re: Gal Gadot). All this time passes and that's the best you can do?

 

[matticus]

That whole JL was a nightmare. Clearly the people in power took a disappointing BvS and destroyed a JL bounce back.

WB right now - just toss it all to the wall and see what sticks. Thankfully The Batman looks awesome.

 

[Johnny Utah]

His PR team definitely quit ages ago.

 

[ironwez20]

That whole JL was a nightmare. Clearly the people in power took a disappointing BvS and destroyed a JL bounce back.

WB right now - just toss it all to the wall and see what sticks. Thankfully The Batman looks awesome.

The only thing they seem to have faith in abs let creators do there thing with is Batman . Be experimental or whatever you want. Just don’t make it campy

 

[Alatar]

The only thing they seem to have faith in abs let creators do there thing with is Batman . Be experimental or whatever you want. Just don’t make it campy

I suspect Reeves negotiated a lot of creative freedom contractually back when he signed. He reportedly even walked at one point and WB blinked in that staring contest and brought him back to the table, IIRC. Anyway, if this is correct, had he not done that I can only imagine what sort of interference there would have been by the dunce execs at WB.

 

[Alatar]

Well, we’ll see what happens within the next month or so when Discovery takes over. But I have to say, I continue to remain hopeful.

https://vero.co/zacksnyder/Wj4V-SfccVhmH8nQBvLr2N5c
https://screenrant.com/warner-bros-2022-movies-release-date-schedule-change/




https://www.cbr.com/darkseid-ray-porter-zack-snyders-justice-league-snyderverse-dceu/

 

[Alatar]

You may be right @ironwez20 but if it’s happening we should find out shortly I reckon. If they bring Zack and Ben back it’s not to replace what’s slated, but they will be fitting it into the landscape likely on HBO Max. The Snyder DC film saga (plus possible spinoffs) is just another separate parallel universe within the infinite DC multiverse.

It all depends on what WB Discovery does to reorganize what is currently WB Pictures, WarnerMedia, etc., such that dimwits like Toby Emmerich (and Walter Hamada who likely simply follows Toby’s orders, but he’s still culpable) can’t interfere with it. They may create a new division in which Snyder is free to do his thing with DC IPs.

All that being said no one will be shocked if ZSJL 2 and 3—and who knows, maybe a solo Batfleck film or tv series?—don’t come to pass. But if it does, those of us who didn’t give up will definitely take a big victory lap and enjoy the tasty tears of all the haters and naysayers.

 

[GreenRanger-Kush]

If I could use only one word to describe the trilogy, there isn’t a better fitting word than epic.

The Snyderverse will continue. Regardless in what shape or form (movies, series, HBO Max only), it will continue.

With our Batman.

 

[matticus]

What is the end game here? Discovery or WB cannot keep hearing this every couple of years. There needs to be a conclusion to this. Makes sense to me for a Knightmare series then a final Snyder JL movie. Snyder laid it all out there with Knightmare being most of JL then a JL 3. Best to tell him that this is his final bow and to market it like that, the conclusion to an epic saga.

I'm sure The Flash will open the multiverse, so you can prequel this before that or justify it as another verse. This stuff would draw bigger numbers than whatever other crap Discovery or WB would come up with.

 

[jal76]

You may be right @ironwez20 but if it’s happening we should find out shortly I reckon. If they bring Zack and Ben back it’s not to replace what’s slated, but they will be fitting it into the landscape likely on HBO Max. The Snyder DC film saga (plus possible spinoffs) is just another separate parallel universe within the infinite DC multiverse.

It all depends on what WB Discovery does to reorganize what is currently WB Pictures, WarnerMedia, etc., such that dimwits like Toby Emmerich (and Walter Hamada who likely simply follows Toby’s orders, but he’s still culpable) can’t interfere with it. They may create a new division in which Snyder is free to do his thing with DC IPs.

All that being said no one will be shocked if ZSJL 2 and 3—and who knows, maybe a solo Batfleck film or tv series?—don’t come to pass. But if it does, those of us who didn’t give up will definitely take a big victory lap and enjoy the tasty tears of all the haters and naysayers.

And then there are people like me…who want this to happen more than anything, but unfortunately know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it NEVER will.
Does that make me a Yaysayer?

 

[Alatar]

And then there are people like me…who want this to happen more than anything, but unfortunately know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it NEVER will.
Does that make me a Yaysayer?

Hah, yeah not sure what to do with that. If you’re categorically saying it’ll never happen that is essentially a naysayer but yeah, fwiw definitely appreciated that you want to see it continue.

It’s worth noting that the same thinking applied to ZSJL getting released in the first place. I believe Snyder himself said that was actually a lower odds thing than ZSJL getting a sequel at this point. But anyway, best I can see, it’s really up to David Zaslav of Discovery. I totally agree that if it was just WB continuing business as usual, there’d be no doubt it’s over.

 

[hbhf]

"The new boss will come in and restore the Snyderverse" seems to be a thing the fans think will happen every time a new guy is in charge, tbh. Hamada, Sarnoff and Kilar (once it was clear he viewed the Snyder Cut as a one time thing and moved on to promoting other projects) all went through the same savior to pariah pipeline once fans realized they weren't gonna do what they wanted.

Not knocking anyone here or saying it's impossible. Anything's possible. But nothing says to me Zaslav is coming in to restore the Snyderverse or that this will happen any differently. Like, not to be a jerk, but I feel the fans going "there are signs it's happening!" is also something I've been continually seeing, usually when it turns out to be nothing. I distinctly recall someone posting the image Discovery tweeted of the Northern Lights and taking that as a sign Zack's victory was imminent... just before the leaks about Flash erasing MOS and BVS from continuity and ending with Affleck written out broke. Idiots on Twitter and Reddit were talking for months about how Ben seemed to be in increasingly good shape in paparazzi photos and used this as "proof" he was getting ready for either a solo Batman project or ZSJL2... before he straight up said multiple times in interviews Flash is his exit and that he's not interested in doing these sorts of movies anymore. (And yes, I've heard the cries of "He'd still do it if Zack asked him!" before.)

Like I said, hey, it could happen. But the fans have a habit of putting a lot of faith in people they maybe shouldn't, and seeing signs where they don't really exist. And that's not getting into the grifters and con men who feed on their hope with fake "scoops" for the clicks. Just this week we've had a bunch of "The delays are a sign the Snyderverse is being restored!" or "Zaslav is demanding Flash be reshot to lead into ZSJL2!" (which he can't even do until the merger clears, lol) even though that ***** Grace herself later commented that Flash still ends with Keaton as the DCEU Batman and that being the plan going forward.

TL;DR: Could it still happen? Sure. But as of right now, nothing about the state of things tells me it will, and indeed most of the factors I'm seeing (recent success of Peacemaker and The Batman, Zaslav being known as a penny pincher who doesn't go for lavish budgets, Affleck flat out saying he doesn't want to do these anymore and new projects featuring Keaton's Batman already being shot) lead me to be very skeptical.

 

[mynameschris]

I think your right, especially about fans jumping on any little thing thinking it confirms their hopes and dreams.

Im sure most of us have been guilty of the same once or twice.

If post Flash they move forward with Keaton as the DCEU official Batman with Batgirl - then fair enough.

If they suddenly say there is going to be another project with the BvS Batman - and whether it’s Affleck or someone else in the role as a soft reboot - then that’s great, we all know that Keaton is Batman in Batgirl and with follow ups to The Batman being a pretty good bet we are already dealing with a DC multiverse.

As for Mr Affleck saying he’s done, it’s not the first time we have heard an actor deny they are going to be a part of a project - Andrew Garfield in No Way Home for example.

He may have had the time of his life on this project which opened the door in his mind to future returns, Leonard Nimoy as an example only came back for Star Trek 2 so they could kill off Spock and in doing so wrote and directed a sequel which brought his character back.

On the other hand he might just be a part of a film which closes the door on that part of his life. Anything is possible and I just hope which ever it is he had a good time in the role this time so he can at least look back and think “yeh I was the Batman” and it washes some of the Justice League problems we have read about from his memories.

They aren’t likely to announce anything till The Flash premiers in whatever month it moved to next year so I’m not going to dwell.

That said if he does come back I hope he does his Batman film and I also hope Cavill comes back to do MoS2.

 

[hbhf]

True, but there's a key difference. Andrew Garfield was lying about being part of an active production that had already been shot and his involvement was meant to be a secret. Ben is not saying he no longer wants to play Batman in the middle of a press tour for a movie he's actively involved in, and we know for a fact that the Batman in the next flick featuring the character after Flash (Batgirl) is played by someone else.

Again, not saying his solo Batman movie or ZSJL2 and 3 will never ever happen. But they certainly don't seem to be in production right now, and Ben saying he's not playing Batman anymore is not the same situation as Andrew Garfield denying he was in No Way Home. I fully believe Ben when he says he intends for Flash to be his exit from the franchise.

 

[Alatar]

The Batman at $609M after three weeks with a 45 day window before it goes to streaming on HBO Max. It’s about halfway through it’s entire theater run. China having a Covid surge being partly responsible, but I suspect this very dark sort of film perhaps does not appeal all that much to the Chinese audience to begin with.

There’s still no way I have found of commiserating with the BvS haters that love The Batman re: it not making $1B and still being a considered a success. They still disparage BvS. But anyway, it makes me feel validated in some odd way about BvS not cracking $1B either.

 

[melkorjunior]

The Batman at $609M after three weeks with a 45 day window before it goes to streaming on HBO Max. It’s about halfway through it’s entire theater run. China having a Covid surge being partly responsible, but I suspect this very dark sort of film perhaps does not appeal all that much to the Chinese audience to begin with.

There’s still no way I have found of commiserating with the BvS haters that love The Batman re: it not making $1B and still being a considered a success. They still disparage BvS. But anyway, it makes me feel validated in some odd way about BvS not cracking $1B either.

It's about the overall budget and the profit after expenses, not just total box office alone. Also, Batman vs Superman was the first movie ever teaming those two up and it threw in the first movie appearance ever of Wonder Woman as well--if THAT movie doesn't make a billion you are doing something very, very wrong as a studio. A version of Batman vs. Superman that mainstream audiences actually liked should have made Avengers money. It didn't, so it was a disappointment.

 

[hbhf]

I'm also not quite sure what it not hitting a billion has to do with a conversation about the future of DC Film? It's been a success critically and commercially. At least one spin-off is already in production and a sequel is all but guaranteed. It's future is pretty secure.

 

[Alatar]

I'm also not quite sure what it not hitting a billion has to do with a conversation about the future of DC Film? It's been a success critically and commercially. At least one spin-off is already in production and a sequel is all but guaranteed. It's future is pretty secure.

That’s true.

 

[Alatar]

It's about the overall budget and the profit after expenses, not just total box office alone. Also, Batman vs Superman was the first movie ever teaming those two up and it threw in the first movie appearance ever of Wonder Woman as well--if THAT movie doesn't make a billion you are doing something very, very wrong as a studio. A version of Batman vs. Superman that mainstream audiences actually liked should have made Avengers money. It didn't, so it was a disappointment.

Here is a bit deeper explanation of what I'm arguing: