Day 3 of my shared universe series is upon us! After two days of Marvel, it's time to focus on their Distinguished Competition. In the past, DC has relied solely on Superman and Batman films to keep themselves afloat. And for awhile that was fine, considering Supes and Bats were the two most iconic heroes out there. With the rest of DC's stable untested, Warner Brothers was fine with keeping them the subject of various animated films and shows.
But in this new post-Avengers age, it's been proven that people will flock to any B or C-list superhero as long as they're handled well. Look at what Marvel did with Guardians versus DC's Green Lantern flop. When it comes to bringing their non-Superman and Batman heroes to life, DC doesn't have a great track record. But with this new initiative to bring DC's roster of heroes to the screen, we may finally be seeing signs of major shake-ups in how Warner Brothers conducts one of their most lucrative properties.
The Story So Far: In regards to this DC Cinematic Universe that WB is constructing, the only canononical entry is Man of Steel. Beforehand, WB released five Superman films and seven Batman films (not counting animation). None of those films are canon to this new universe, nor is the 2011 Green Lantern film, nor the expanding DC TV universe of Arrow and The Flash. Off the backs of MoS, Warner Brothers plans to release ten more films from 2016 to 2020, with more solo Superman and Batman films following that slate.
Predictions
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 25, 2016)- Complicated title aside, this film is on everybody's radar for 2016. While the subtitle and casting decisions point to a Justice League origin story, I'm inclined to think this is actually a clear cut Man of Steel sequel with Batman as a major supporting character. The other heroes are glorified cameos, meant to establish their existence. And while it's a long shot, it's perfectly possible for these heroes to come together as a proto-Justice League before the credits role. And as to the rumor that the film is secretly going to be released in two parts to cover everything, I'm not entertaining that thought until it's proven. As of now, BvS is still one film, so I'm treating it as such. Based on the official casting, minor spoilers from production photos, and the announced film slate (with some likely correct Internet rumors thrown in), here's my prediction.
Zod's invasion in MoS has turned most of the public against Superman. Lex Luthor is turning the media against him, making him out to be a menace. Bruce Wayne, while hating Luthor, agrees with his stance that Supes is dangerous after personally witnessing the fallout of the battle. Superman's presence has caused other superhumans in hiding to reveal themselves. Among them are Diana, princess and ambassador of the Amazons
, and Orin, king of Atlantis. Clark uses his pull at the Planet to investigate reports of other metas, and becomes particularly fascinated by the urban legend of the Batman. When Clark holds a meeting with Diana and Orin to discuss the growing superhuman population, Luthor secretly records it and leaks it to the press. This causes a mass panic, as the people believe Superman will lead an alliance of superhumans against humanity.
Afraid of permanently losing the public's respect, Supes tries to help break up a border dispute between two Middle Eastern countries. His presence only escalates the tension, and Supes is forced by the government to back down. Realizing he is beyond control, the gov. asks Luthor to deal with the Superman problem. Clark goes to Gotham to cover the Gotham vs. Metropolis football game (Victor Stone, the future Cyborg, is QB for Metropolis). He uses the opportunity to gather evidence for his Batman story, and interviews Bruce Wayne. Wayne, who's studied every scrap of Superman footage, deduces Clark is Supes. He promises Clark an exclusive interview with the Batman, and uses the meeting to spring his knowledge of Supes' identity on him. Bruce antagonizes Clark into attacking him. Supes wins the fight but flees in shame when he sees Batman is mortal.
Luthor deduces that Wayne funds the Batman and gives Wayne kryptonite, which he harnessed from the terraformed section of the Indian Ocean. Armed with kryptonite and a mech suit, Bats challenges Supes to a rematch in Gotham. Bats wins and beats Supes to near death. Seeing the humanity in Clark for the first time, Bats realizes Luthor's played them against each other. Luthor unleashes Doomsday, a flawed Kryptonian cloned from a salvaged Genesis chamber. Vic Stone is severely injured in the wreckage. Supes and Bats team up to fight Doomsday, but are too weakened from their earlier battle. Diana and Orin show up to help, and manage to put down the creature without severe human casualties. Supes seems to die, but ends up surviving. Supes and Bats voice their respect for each other, and agree with Diana and Orin to team up in times of crisis. Supes becomes a hero in the eyes of the public, with a statue made of him.
, and Orin, king of Atlantis. Clark uses his pull at the Planet to investigate reports of other metas, and becomes particularly fascinated by the urban legend of the Batman. When Clark holds a meeting with Diana and Orin to discuss the growing superhuman population, Luthor secretly records it and leaks it to the press. This causes a mass panic, as the people believe Superman will lead an alliance of superhumans against humanity.Afraid of permanently losing
the public's respect, Supes tries to help break up a border dispute between two Middle Eastern countries. His presence only escalates the tension, and Supes is forced by the government to back down. Realizing he is beyond control, the gov. asks Luthor to deal with the Superman problem. Clark goes to Gotham to cover the Gotham vs. Metropolis football game (Victor Stone, the future Cyborg, is QB for Metropolis). He uses the opportunity to gather evidence for his Batman story, and interviews Bruce Wayne. Wayne, who's studied every scrap of Superman footage, deduces Clark is Supes. He promises Clark an exclusive interview with the Batman, and uses the meeting to spring his knowledge of Supes' identity on him. Bruce antagonizes Clark into attacking him. Supes wins the fight but flees in shame when he sees Batman is mortal.Luthor deduces that Wayne funds the Batman and gives Wayne kryptonite, which he harnessed from the terraformed section of the Indian Ocean. Armed with kryptonite and a mech suit, Bats challenges Supes to a rematch in Gotham. Bats wins
and beats Supes to near death. Seeing the humanity in Clark for the first time, Bats realizes Luthor's played them against each other. Luthor unleashes Doomsday, a flawed Kryptonian cloned from a salvaged Genesis chamber. Vic Stone is severely injured in the wreckage. Supes and Bats team up to fight Doomsday, but are too weakened from their earlier battle. Diana and Orin show up to help, and manage to put down the creature without severe human casualties. Supes seems to die, but ends up surviving. Supes and Bats voice their respect for each other, and agree with Diana and Orin to team up in times of crisis. Supes becomes a hero in the eyes of the public, with a statue made of him.
Suicide Squad (August 5, 2016)- Boy did this film jump on everyone's radar. Thanks to an all-star cast portraying key DC villains, this film is set to expand the DCCU in enormous ways. I don't have any major predictions plotwise for this film, but here's my best guess. We definitely know that Amanda Waller assembles the Squad, led by Rick Flagg, and including Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Enchantress, and Harley Quinn. We also know Joker's involved. My guess is Quinn is needed to help the team fight the Joker, but is conflicted whether to betray the team for him. I'm also thinking Lex Luthor will get wrapped up in the plot, which is part of a larger conspiracy involving the coming of Brainiac.
Wonder Woman (June 23, 2017)- While a persistent rumor says this film is set in the 1920s, with sequels exploring WWII and modern day, there's no real evidence to support that. The producers have confirmed Diana is the daughter of Zeus, meaning this is most likely based on the New 52 run. In accordance with that, I'd like to see a film set after BvS that heavily focuses on Greek mythology. My personal theory sees Diana return to Themyscira to find her home torn apart by civil war. Ares, the war god, has empowered the sorceress Circe to declare war against Diana's mother, Queen Hippolyta.
Circe takes one of Diana's close friends, Barbara, and turns her into her servant Cheetah. Diana learns that should Circe's rebellious Amazons win the war, they will open the gate to Tartarus and give Ares an army with which to overthrow Zeus on Mt. Olympus. Diana is conflicted over whether to side with her mother and father, or her brother and best friend. She relives her origin via flashbacks to remember her roots, and decide whether humanity is ultimately worth saving or if she should give it all up for a chance at godhood. By film's end, Diana learns of the presence of an evil "New God", who is preparing to attack humanity.
Justice League Part I (November 17, 2017)- For the first part of DC's epic team up, I'm predicting that this'll be the first we see of Ezra Miller's Flash and Ray Fisher in full Cyborg mode. They will be introduced as younger, rookie type heroes who team with Supes, Bats, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman to combat Brainiac, who Diana belives is the "New God" she was warned about. The Justice League is officially formed to fight Brainiac, who is summoned to Earth by the same signal from the Fortress that summoned Zod.
Brainiac teams with Luthor and possibly other villains to form the Legion of Doom. One of Brainiac's drones is captured by Vic Stone's father, Dr. Silas Stone, and used to turn Vic into Cyborg. Vic becomes a major asset in the battle against Brainiac and the Legion. After defeating Brainiac and Luthor, the team is visited by Green Lantern Hal Jordan, who tells them that a bigger threat is coming: Darkseid, the true New God. This was heavily rumored awhile back, and I'm inclined to believe it as it's the perfect excuse to take time recasting GL properly, while giving Brainiac his due as a JL villain and saving Darkseid, the bigger threat, for a later film.
The Flash (March 23, 2018)- It seems weird speculating on this film when the Flash TV show is doing such a good job with the mythos. If I had to guess, I'd say this film will deal with the origin either in an opening montage or flashbacks, and have the Scarlet Speedster either fight Captain Cold and the Rogues or Reverse-Flash. Yes, those villains are also on the show, but it'd be cool to see how a film version with big budget effects does it. Given Miller's age, maybe having him be Wally West would be better, as it would differentiate him from Grant Gustin's Barry Allan on the show. Wally worked great as the Flash of the Justice League cartoon, so it's not completely unheard of.
Aquaman (July 27, 2018)- Since Jason Momoa has been confirmed for the character, I expect the DCCU version of Orin/Arthur Curry to be quite the badass. For his film, I'd also base it heavily off the New 52 run. We'd do flashbacks for the origin again, and focus on Arthur/Orin dealing with the responsibilities of leading an underwater kingdom. Arthur's half brother Prince Orm is the main villain, with Black Manta and the Trench as side villains.
A partial adaptation of the "Throne of Atlantis" arc would be great, where Arthur abdicates the throne and Orm takes the opportunity to lead an invasion of the surface. Arthur's relationship with Mera should obviously be explored. Personally, I'd love if the film also took some influence from the '90s version and have Arthur lose a hand, replacing it with a hook or harpoon head. You know, for extra badassery. Also, Kaldur'ahm, the new Aqualad from the Young Justice cartoon, should be involved, because reasons.
Shazam (April 5, 2019)- Aside from Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock aka The Scorpion King playing Black Adam, we know nothing of this film. It is said to have a lighter tone than the other films, meaning it may be more childish to reflect the age of the main character. This should obviously be an origin story, showing how Billy Batson is chosen by the wizard Shazam to become his new champion. Billy must fight the old champion, Black Adam, when he awakens to destroy the world as vengeance for an ancient betrayal. Johnson's described Black Adam as an "antihero", so we'll probably get a more sympathetic version of the character.
Justice League Part II (June 14, 2019)- The League takes on Shazam and Green Latnern as new members in their fight against the New God Darkseid, who comes to destroy Earth with an army of Parademons. Personally, I'd like to see Martian Manhunter and the Hawks (at least Hawkgirl) added as well, as alien refugees whose planets were ravaged by Darkseid. We have no evidence for this, obviously, but it would be nice to see. Darkseid should definitely be the villain though.
Cyborg (April 3, 2020)- I'm not knocking Cyborg as a character, but let's face it: he's not deserving of his own film. He just doesn't have a lot of personal story arcs to carry a film franchise. While the New 52 made him a Justice League founder, I and many others knew him as a Teen Titan. I personally think this film is secretly a Teen Titans movie, with Cyborg as the leader, founder, and main character. If that's the case, a line-up of Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire would be great, along with some version of Robin or Nightwing. Deathstroke should be the villain, maybe alongside Terra to do the betrayal storyline from the cartoon and "Judas Contract" comics arc. Here's hoping.
Green Lantern (June 19, 2020)- For the last confirmed film on the DCCU slate, we finally get a new Green Latnern movie. Hal Jordan should be redeemed from his last film, but if they use the movie as an excuse to introduce the other Earth Lanterns, like Kyle Rayner or (especially) John Stewart, that would be great. Sinestro should be the villain, and maybe go the whole nine yards and do the Sinestro Corps storyline. If Kyle or John becomes Hal's student, it would create a unique dynamic of Hal training a partner while fighting his old mentor. The film should definitely be a full on space opera, with almost no time on Earth. If the 2011 film taught us anything, it's how not to make a good GL film. DC should at the very least learn what didn't work, and adjust things accordingly.
The Future- Beyond these films, we know more solo films for Bats and Supes are coming. In addition, Guillermo Del Toro is working on his Dark Universe film, which would adapt "Justice League Dark" and include the DCU's magical characters like John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, and Swamp Thing. Obviously I'd like that film to be made, to build more on the magic side of the DCCU. As for future Supes and Bats films, I have a few ideas. Solo Superman movies should introduce Supergirl, and maybe Cyborg Superman as a villain. Since the DCCU Batman is older, any solo Batman films should (in my opinion) introduce Terry McGuiness and do Batman Beyond. If DC wants prequels set before BvS, then films adapting the "Court of Owls," "Death in the Family/Red Hood," or "Hush" comic arcs would be great to see.
Also, I think a third Justice League film should adapt "Crisis on Infinite Earths", with the GL film teasing Anti-Monitor. With such a huge event, it would allow DC to incorporate characters from throughout the multiverse, including the Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and Adam West Batmans, the Smallville and Reeve/ Superman Returns' Supermans, and the Arrow and Flash universe. As part of the build up, WB could even make films adapting key Elseworlds tales, like "Kingdom Come," "All-Star Superman," "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?," "Red Son," and "Gotham by Gaslight," among others. My only justification for this theory: Geoff Johns namedropping the multiverse to explain seperate TV and film canons. By acknowledging previous, unrelated films and shows and allowing for films outside of a shared universe, DC would actually have a leg up over the continuity-heavy Marvel.
Can It Work? Based on the announced film slate, DC is obviously approaching the shared universe concept differently than Marvel. While there will ultimately be four films leading into the first Justice League, most of them will be standalone films that probably won't have much bearing on that film's plot. BvS will probably be doing most of the world-building, which will be debated up until the film's release. Will BvS be another Iron Man 2 or Amazing Spider-Man 2, stuffing in characters and plots to help set up a universe? Only time will tell.
While most people think Marvel's way is the only way, I applaud DC for taking a somewhat different approach. The world building is coming in a huge team-up film instead of a solo movie, and the solo movies seem more like standalone spinoffs then essential jigsaw pieces in a larger story. The larger team ups are coming earlier, to sell the characters before their own movies flesh them out. It seems like DC is literally reverse engineering the Marvel method, but we won't know how well it'll work until BvS comes out. The key to success is, as always, to make quality films. If the films offer a satisfying standalone experience with characters people can root for, then team ups followed by spinoffs has a lot of potential to work.
However, there is an inherent risk with this method. If BvS bombs or underperforms, then the entire DCCU film slate is scrapped. It's great to see Warner Brothers finally showing faith in their lesser DC properties, but that faith will vanish if they don't test well in the BvS flick. That's where a potential Multiverse concept could come in handy. With parallel universes, all previous superhero films and shows not in the same universe could still "count." You could make whatever standalone stories you want and not worry about whether things are connected. Instead of a shared universe, you do a shared multiverse, with interdimensional crossovers.
That has a lot of potential to work, but the spinoff method seems to be what DC is adopting for the forseeable future. As it is, this could work, but it's very dependent on the popularity of one film to find success. Marvel's formula allows them to keep going even if one film flops. So even though the success of this method could kickstart a new way of approaching the shared universe concept, its untested viability could ultimately doom it to failure. We'll see come 2016. Until then, let's turn our focus to a "shared universe" that's entirely lost its potential to be one: Sony's Amazing Spider-Man franchise. Tomorrow we'll explore that tangled web, so today we'll say adeu to the (potential) DCCU.
Circe takes one of Diana's close friends, Barbara, and turns her into her servant Cheetah. Diana learns that should Circe's rebellious Amazons win the war, they will open the gate to Tartarus and give Ares an army with which to overthrow Zeus on Mt. Olympus. Diana is conflicted over whether to side with her mother and father, or her brother and best friend. She relives her origin via flashbacks to remember her roots, and decide whether humanity is ultimately worth saving or if she should give it all up for a chance at godhood. By film's end, Diana learns of the presence of an evil "New God", who is preparing to attack humanity.
Justice League Part I (November 17, 2017)- For the first part of DC's epic team up, I'm predicting that this'll be the first we see of Ezra Miller's Flash and Ray Fisher in full Cyborg mode. They will be introduced as younger, rookie type heroes who team with Supes, Bats, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman to combat Brainiac, who Diana belives is the "New God" she was warned about. The Justice League is officially formed to fight Brainiac, who is summoned to Earth by the same signal from the Fortress that summoned Zod.
Brainiac teams with Luthor and possibly other villains to form the Legion of Doom. One of Brainiac's drones is captured by Vic Stone's father, Dr. Silas Stone, and used to turn Vic into Cyborg. Vic becomes a major asset in the battle against Brainiac and the Legion. After defeating Brainiac and Luthor, the team is visited by Green Lantern Hal Jordan, who tells them that a bigger threat is coming: Darkseid, the true New God. This was heavily rumored awhile back, and I'm inclined to believe it as it's the perfect excuse to take time recasting GL properly, while giving Brainiac his due as a JL villain and saving Darkseid, the bigger threat, for a later film.
The Flash (March 23, 2018)- It seems weird speculating on this film when the Flash TV show is doing such a good job with the mythos. If I had to guess, I'd say this film will deal with the origin either in an opening montage or flashbacks, and have the Scarlet Speedster either fight Captain Cold and the Rogues or Reverse-Flash. Yes, those villains are also on the show, but it'd be cool to see how a film version with big budget effects does it. Given Miller's age, maybe having him be Wally West would be better, as it would differentiate him from Grant Gustin's Barry Allan on the show. Wally worked great as the Flash of the Justice League cartoon, so it's not completely unheard of.
Aquaman (July 27, 2018)- Since Jason Momoa has been confirmed for the character, I expect the DCCU version of Orin/Arthur Curry to be quite the badass. For his film, I'd also base it heavily off the New 52 run. We'd do flashbacks for the origin again, and focus on Arthur/Orin dealing with the responsibilities of leading an underwater kingdom. Arthur's half brother Prince Orm is the main villain, with Black Manta and the Trench as side villains.
A partial adaptation of the "Throne of Atlantis" arc would be great, where Arthur abdicates the throne and Orm takes the opportunity to lead an invasion of the surface. Arthur's relationship with Mera should obviously be explored. Personally, I'd love if the film also took some influence from the '90s version and have Arthur lose a hand, replacing it with a hook or harpoon head. You know, for extra badassery. Also, Kaldur'ahm, the new Aqualad from the Young Justice cartoon, should be involved, because reasons.
Shazam (April 5, 2019)- Aside from Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock aka The Scorpion King playing Black Adam, we know nothing of this film. It is said to have a lighter tone than the other films, meaning it may be more childish to reflect the age of the main character. This should obviously be an origin story, showing how Billy Batson is chosen by the wizard Shazam to become his new champion. Billy must fight the old champion, Black Adam, when he awakens to destroy the world as vengeance for an ancient betrayal. Johnson's described Black Adam as an "antihero", so we'll probably get a more sympathetic version of the character.
Justice League Part II (June 14, 2019)- The League takes on Shazam and Green Latnern as new members in their fight against the New God Darkseid, who comes to destroy Earth with an army of Parademons. Personally, I'd like to see Martian Manhunter and the Hawks (at least Hawkgirl) added as well, as alien refugees whose planets were ravaged by Darkseid. We have no evidence for this, obviously, but it would be nice to see. Darkseid should definitely be the villain though.
Cyborg (April 3, 2020)- I'm not knocking Cyborg as a character, but let's face it: he's not deserving of his own film. He just doesn't have a lot of personal story arcs to carry a film franchise. While the New 52 made him a Justice League founder, I and many others knew him as a Teen Titan. I personally think this film is secretly a Teen Titans movie, with Cyborg as the leader, founder, and main character. If that's the case, a line-up of Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire would be great, along with some version of Robin or Nightwing. Deathstroke should be the villain, maybe alongside Terra to do the betrayal storyline from the cartoon and "Judas Contract" comics arc. Here's hoping.
Green Lantern (June 19, 2020)- For the last confirmed film on the DCCU slate, we finally get a new Green Latnern movie. Hal Jordan should be redeemed from his last film, but if they use the movie as an excuse to introduce the other Earth Lanterns, like Kyle Rayner or (especially) John Stewart, that would be great. Sinestro should be the villain, and maybe go the whole nine yards and do the Sinestro Corps storyline. If Kyle or John becomes Hal's student, it would create a unique dynamic of Hal training a partner while fighting his old mentor. The film should definitely be a full on space opera, with almost no time on Earth. If the 2011 film taught us anything, it's how not to make a good GL film. DC should at the very least learn what didn't work, and adjust things accordingly.
The Future- Beyond these films, we know more solo films for Bats and Supes are coming. In addition, Guillermo Del Toro is working on his Dark Universe film, which would adapt "Justice League Dark" and include the DCU's magical characters like John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, and Swamp Thing. Obviously I'd like that film to be made, to build more on the magic side of the DCCU. As for future Supes and Bats films, I have a few ideas. Solo Superman movies should introduce Supergirl, and maybe Cyborg Superman as a villain. Since the DCCU Batman is older, any solo Batman films should (in my opinion) introduce Terry McGuiness and do Batman Beyond. If DC wants prequels set before BvS, then films adapting the "Court of Owls," "Death in the Family/Red Hood," or "Hush" comic arcs would be great to see.
Also, I think a third Justice League film should adapt "Crisis on Infinite Earths", with the GL film teasing Anti-Monitor. With such a huge event, it would allow DC to incorporate characters from throughout the multiverse, including the Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and Adam West Batmans, the Smallville and Reeve/ Superman Returns' Supermans, and the Arrow and Flash universe. As part of the build up, WB could even make films adapting key Elseworlds tales, like "Kingdom Come," "All-Star Superman," "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?," "Red Son," and "Gotham by Gaslight," among others. My only justification for this theory: Geoff Johns namedropping the multiverse to explain seperate TV and film canons. By acknowledging previous, unrelated films and shows and allowing for films outside of a shared universe, DC would actually have a leg up over the continuity-heavy Marvel.
Can It Work? Based on the announced film slate, DC is obviously approaching the shared universe concept differently than Marvel. While there will ultimately be four films leading into the first Justice League, most of them will be standalone films that probably won't have much bearing on that film's plot. BvS will probably be doing most of the world-building, which will be debated up until the film's release. Will BvS be another Iron Man 2 or Amazing Spider-Man 2, stuffing in characters and plots to help set up a universe? Only time will tell.
While most people think Marvel's way is the only way, I applaud DC for taking a somewhat different approach. The world building is coming in a huge team-up film instead of a solo movie, and the solo movies seem more like standalone spinoffs then essential jigsaw pieces in a larger story. The larger team ups are coming earlier, to sell the characters before their own movies flesh them out. It seems like DC is literally reverse engineering the Marvel method, but we won't know how well it'll work until BvS comes out. The key to success is, as always, to make quality films. If the films offer a satisfying standalone experience with characters people can root for, then team ups followed by spinoffs has a lot of potential to work.
However, there is an inherent risk with this method. If BvS bombs or underperforms, then the entire DCCU film slate is scrapped. It's great to see Warner Brothers finally showing faith in their lesser DC properties, but that faith will vanish if they don't test well in the BvS flick. That's where a potential Multiverse concept could come in handy. With parallel universes, all previous superhero films and shows not in the same universe could still "count." You could make whatever standalone stories you want and not worry about whether things are connected. Instead of a shared universe, you do a shared multiverse, with interdimensional crossovers.
That has a lot of potential to work, but the spinoff method seems to be what DC is adopting for the forseeable future. As it is, this could work, but it's very dependent on the popularity of one film to find success. Marvel's formula allows them to keep going even if one film flops. So even though the success of this method could kickstart a new way of approaching the shared universe concept, its untested viability could ultimately doom it to failure. We'll see come 2016. Until then, let's turn our focus to a "shared universe" that's entirely lost its potential to be one: Sony's Amazing Spider-Man franchise. Tomorrow we'll explore that tangled web, so today we'll say adeu to the (potential) DCCU.
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