Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is box-office history and the foundation for the DC Comics movie universe is set with ten more films in the works.
BvS was the first meeting of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel on the big screen and introduced Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor and gave us glimpses of Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg (as also seen on this promotional art) and S.T.A.R. labs. with ominous hints of Darkseid invading Bruce Wayne’s nightmares.
DC and Warner Brothers plan to keep two superhero films coming each year through 2020. Director Zack Snyder is starting production on Justice League, Part One while Gal Gadot is filming Wonder Woman.
Here’s what’s next from the DC movie universe:
Suicide Squad, August 5th.
A team of DC’s most dangerous criminals recruited by a covert government operative for a shadowy mission and set up to be sacrificed if (when?) they mission fails. The team of super villains including Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Will Smith as Deadshot, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Cara Delevinge as Enchantress, Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje as Killer Croc with Jared Leto as the Joker, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.
Writer/director David Ayer calls the film ‘The Dirty Dozen’ with super villains. The film is set after the events of BvS but it looks we’ll likely see an appearance by Ben Affleck’s Batman either in flashback (showing how he put Joker and Harley behind bars. Most of the villains are from the Batman mythology) or perhaps when the Dark Knight must clean up Waller’s mess if they Squad goes loose.
The big burning question: Is the Squad’s mission to recapture the Joker? Could the failure of this team lead to this wild bunch appearing in Justice League or a possible Batman film?
Wonder Woman, June 23. 2017
This will be an origin film with Gal Gadot joined by Connie Nielsen as her mother, Queen Hippolyta, Lisa Loven Kongsli as Menalippe and Robin Wright as General Antiope – Diana’s aunts. (See the actors as the Amazon family here.)
Chris Pine plays Steve Trevor. Patty Jenkins directs the film tracking Diana’s origin on Themyscira and Greek legend and her first adventures in the outside world in World War I.
The big burning question: Will Chris Pine’s Trevor appear in the modern era? The pilot and lost love of Wonder Woman reappears in the modern world as an agent of A.R.G.U.S. a government agency who tracks meta-humans. Who is the villain? In the comics Antiope opposed Diana’s mother and founded a rival tribe of Amazons. Will we see more Darkseid or Aquaman? The immortal Amazons are descended from Greek mythology so it’s likely these warrior women have encountered Atlanteans or the New Gods (Darkseid is one of the most powerful of them and has an army of Female Furies as his enforcers.)
Justice League, Part One, November 17, 2017.
SPOILER WARNING: Stop reading if you have not seen BvS.
We saw the Omega symbol, the Parademons, Flash’s warning from the future in BvS . Zack Snyder and Chris Terrio continue the story after Batman and Wonder Woman vow to find other meta-humans (Aquaman, Cyborg, Flash) after the death of Superman, who will come back but will the Man of Steel be Darkseid’s soldier as seen in Batman’s Knightmare?
The Flash, March 16, 2018
Seth-Grahame-Smith will write and direct the standalone film starring the Fastest Man Alive. BvS introduced Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, the super fast meta-human who can even speed through time. Allen appears in Batman’s dream breaking through space and time to warn Bruce and change the past. No word on if Allen will be a forensic scientist like his comic book counterpart. No details yet on the story or villains. While Batman may be the most infamous crazy villains, Flash has it own fan-favorite foes,The Rogues including Captain Cold, Heat Wave and Mirror Master.
Aquaman, July 27, 2018
Jason Momoa is Aquaman, Amber Heard is his beloved Queen Mera with James Wan directing. The King of the Seven Seas wants to protect his undersea kingdom from polluters and other threats from the surface world. This vision of Aquaman is very different from his comic book counterpart.
Shazam! April 5, 2019
In comics teen Billy Batson can transform into Shazam (originally called Captain Marvel) the powerhouse hero based famous characters from myths and legends. Dwayne Johnson is signed to play Black Adam, aka Teth-Adam, a rival with Shazam’s powers descended from ancient Egypt and modern day monarch of the fictional country of Kahndaq.
The big burning question: Will Shazam be officially part of the DC comics canon or perhaps just an Easter egg? Was Batman’s desert Knightmare set in Kahndaq?
Justice League, part two June 14, 2019
Will part one end with a cosmic cliffhanger as Darkseid’s forces invade? Will the League’s fight against this alien invader lead to the re-introduction of the Green Lantern Corps?
Cyborg, April 3, 2020
Ray Fisher plays Victor Stone, the title hero. Joe Morton was seen as his father, Dr. Silas Stone, who used a Mother Box (New Gods supercomputer) to save his son’s life and become a half-man, half-machine. In the comics Cyborg is founder of the Justice League but in old school comics, he was a member of the Teen Titans. Could Victor’s film introduce Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Starfire and Changeling into the next generation of DC’s movie universe?
Green Lantern Corps, June 19, 2020
Which Green Lanterns will filmmakers choose? Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner or comic book rookie Simon Baz or Jessica Cruz.
By Editor