Re: Zack Snyder's Justice League coming in 2021
I think WB is being actually pretty smart now...
They had a fledgling "universe" being built around Snyder's vision, but that bombed with JL's (and, to a minor extent, SS') course correction. So they focused on three stand-alone movies, which were all well received and made money (WW, Aquaman and Shazam) and which, crucially, did not interfere with MoS-BvS-JL continuity (Snyder being a producer in WW and Aquaman might have had something to do with that). Meanwhile, BoP moves forward to target to female audience, but doesn't do well.
With the change of the guard (Geoff out, Hamada in), WB decides to keep pursuing the solo route with Todd Phillips' Joker and Matt Reeves' Batman. Joker is a huge success, so now WB knows that if the movie is good, people don't mind "gritty", "dark" and "serious" in their comic book movies.
So basically, they can go ahead and make "solo" movies (but you can bet that if Pattman is a success it'll be a trilogy) with a more "auteur" approach, kinda like "else worlds". On the other hand, they have a rabid fan community clamouring for the SnyderCut. They give Snyder the money to finish his movie, which gives them red with the fans and the filmmakers, but also gives them buzz for their HBOMax deal, and maybe, just maybe, gets their DCEU back on track.
But not only that... they have cleverly opened the door to the multiverse idea with their TV shows, so basically, they have all the bases covered.
If the SnyderCut is a success and Affleck comes back, they can go back to that "Snyderverse", be it on the big screen or on their streaming service (and there's already some series being developed, if I'm not mistaken).
If Matt Reeves' Pattman is a success, they can go all out on a trilogy.
And they still have the multiverse card if Keaton does indeed come back.
So, all in all, there's enough to play around with.