After the release of Wonder Woman 1984 to theaters and HBO Max, Warner Bros. took no time at all announcing plans for the future of their DC Comics films and streaming series. And according to a New York Times profile on DC Films’ Walter Hamada, fans are getting a metric ton of new DC Comics inspired content. In fact, there were will be at least four theatrical DC films hitting theaters in 2022. And then two more films hitting HBO Max during the same year. And that’s in addition to DC-themed shows like Green Lantern and Peacemaker.
Yeah, it’s a lot. Dan Casey breaks this news down for us in today’s Nerdist News.
One of the biggest takeaways from this news is that Hamada is doubling down on the whole Multiverse angle. A concept that has been prominent in the pages of DC Comics for decades. The upcoming Matt Reeves reboot of the Dark Knight in The Batman will take place on “Earth-2,” separate from the the “Earth-1” of the regular DCEU. And that Batman (Ben Affleck) will soon be replaced by the original Batman, Michael Keaton. An ambitious plan such as this might have been way too confusing for general audiences just ten years ago. Hamada trusts in modern audiences as sophisticated (and nerdy) enough to understand it.
Keaton
— Brooks Barnes (@brooksbarnesNYT) January 2, 2021
Readers of the original article suffered some confusion due to the the fact that Hamada mentioned two cinematic Batmen. But luckily, the original author of the piece clarified things on social media. While Robert Pattinson will remain the solo movie Bruce Wayne in his own franchise (on its own parallel Earth), the other cinematic Caped Crusader will be part of ensemble movies which require his broody presence, like The Flash. Given his age, one of those projects for the Michael Keaton version should definitely be Batman Beyond though. Maybe as an HBO Max series?
DC Comics
As for the DC movies that are said to be “riskier,” and therefore going to HBO Max with a smaller budget, the names mentioned were Batgirl and Static Shock. Having the “riskier” projects name dropped as ones with a female and African-American leads is a wee bit concerning. With nothing confirmed though, it is possible we may yet see both heroes grace the big screen.
So what DC stories can fans expect to see on the big and small screens soon? 2021 brings James Gunn’s Suicide Squad and its HBO spin-off Peacemaker, not to mention a certain Snyder Cut. But the following year brings The Batman, the Gotham Central spin-off series, The Flash, Aquaman 2, Black Adam, and presumably the Green Lantern streaming series. 2023 brings Shazam: Fury of the Gods and possibly the third Wonder Woman film, Zeus willing. And there is still other DC projects in various forms of development, like and a New Gods film, and a Justice League Dark series. Although the status of those is a mystery.
All of these projects are in addition to the six DC-themed CW series on the air, as well as shows like Doom Patrol and Titans, which began on the DC Universe app. Hamada doesn’t seem to have influence over those series, so they didn’t get much of a mention when talking about his big DC plans. But long story short, the 2020s will have a treasure trove of DC Comics related content. Now, here’s hoping they mostly stick the landing. A Multiverse can get unwieldy. No one needs another Crisis on Infinite Earths event to streamline it all in ten years time, do they?
Featured Image: Warner Bros.