"What on Earth is DC doing?" That's been the ultimate question in film circles recently, particularly in the last week but really for months if not years. Ever since it became clear Man of Steel - a film that remains incredibly standalone in its vision of a proto-Superman - was going to be the jumping off point for DC's massive shared universe in the wake of Marvel's immense success with The Avengers, there's been confusion and skepticism in equal measure.A franchise in flux is really the best way to put it. A slate announced in late-2014 set a game plan through to 2020 that by now is pretty much in tatters (in contrast, Marvel's comparable version unveiled around a similar time doesn't look all that different) and so many movies are announced, reported or speculated on that it's nigh on impossible to keep up; The Batman has a solid two years of chatter and we're unlikely to see it before the decade's out. What are DC actually doing?Well, in the light of all the recent rumors, let's break down the exact truth and, from that, try and see how the series is diversifying and fracturing off in many different directions.

Movies Officially Confirmed By DC

DC Officially Confirmed Movies

We're going to start by laying out the basic facts, primarily distinguishing between movies that have been - through one way or another - officially confirmed and slated (albeit in many cases without firm dates) by Warner Bros. from those in early stages of development.

There are just three movies will set release dates: Justice League on November 16, 2017, followed by Aquaman on December 21, 2017 and Wonder Woman 2 on December 13, 2019. All other films that once had set weekends have since been moved to undetermined slots or dropped from the slate entirely. However, two more dates are set in 2020 - February 14 and June 5 - but we don't which movies will take these.

Besides this trio, from Warners' own SDCC panel we know there are seven more movies that they are openly working on: Suicide Squad 2, The Batman, Shazam!, Justice League Dark, Flashpoint, Green Lantern Corps, and Batgirl (this flurry was also where Wonder Woman 2 was confirmed).

Out of these, the only movie with semi-firm dating is Shazam! The film, which is notable for being a Warners/New Line co-production, will be directed by David F. Sandberg, start production next year and is expected to arrive in 2019. That latter point has led some to think the film will get the April 5 date it was originally given in DC's massive (but now defunct) slate announcement, although that's not actually been clarified.

Several of the other movies have repeatedly come up in reports as priorities for the studio and thus candidates for those 2020 dates. Most recently Suicide Squad 2 (which is presently searching for a director) but also Justice League Dark and Batgirl, whose start date depends on director Joss Whedon's turnaround from reshoots on Justice League. The Batman is another likely prio, although despite being heavily covered we don't know how far along it actually is - Matt Reeves didn't start active prep until finishing on last month's War for the Planet of the Apes.

Flashpoint is a little more complicated. The Flash movie was originally looking likely for 2018 but since lost several directors and has been through a handful of rewrites, to the point we don't know how much of the initial idea remains; it's thus now of unknown potential and date, something further muddied by its canon-altering plot. Rounding things off, Green Lantern Corps. was once set for July 24, 2020, but like Shazam! and The Flash that has presumably changed - any reporting of such a date is a holdover from old stories.

And so we have three movies with set dates, one in the latter part of each coming year, then seven movies in active confirmed development. Everything else? Well, that's more complicated.

Unconfirmed Movies In Various Stages of Development

DC Unnanounced Movies

Now, there are several movies that get talked about a lot that aren't in the previous list, plainly because they haven't been announced. Briefly, Cyborg was originally slated for 2020 but seems to have slid down in priority and doesn't hold that anymore; Man of Steel 2 reportedly has a script and is circling Matthew Vaughn, but there's been no explicit confirmation; Black Adam now exists separate of Shazam! and it's frankly unclear how Dwayne Johnson now factors into the franchise anymore; and while Chris McKay's Nightwing made a splash earlier this year, it's still early days. All of these movies are in some stage of development but not part of the company's outwardly official plans.

And then there's the Joker. The past week's brought reports regarding four movies linked to the Clown Prince of Crime; as well as the aforementioned and confirmed Suicide Squad 2, there was the reaffirmation of a Harley/Joker film (now with Crazy, Stupid, Love's directors attached) that's apparently different to David Ayer's long-mooted Gotham City Sirens, as well as a Martin Scorsese-produced Joker origin story. That last one, crucially, is the one film said to not be in the DCEU continuity but part of a new, separate banner. It appears all of these are being talked about, although it really needs re-stating that none are official yet; Ayer himself said Sirens isn't greenlit, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are just in talks for Harley/Joker, and the Scorsese project is in "early stages".

In short, we have seven movies that are part of the DC discussion yet in a very primordial state and so are even harder to define than the likes of Green Lantern.

All caught up? Good. Because from all this we can finally begin to see how DC's future looks.

What The Hell Is DC Doing?

Even making all the details on the last page clear doesn't really explain too much about DC's plan, at least not immediately.

Their expansion initially felt like a direct, accelerated aping of what Marvel's done with the MCU; a mixture of origin-explaining solo movies and big team ups. It did bring in more clearly separate properties like Suicide Squad, but otherwise, that initial 2014 slate - when the initial game plan became truly clear - felt like a rather simple reordering of the early Marvel schedule whose most novel idea was having some origin stories after the team-up.

So much has changed since that original announcement - not least the optimism for the series - although now there may be a re-emerging sense of order, at least up to the end of the decade. At SDCC, eight movies were confirmed that, in addition to the two already in production, provided an interesting roadmap. There's five following the core Justice League (with the later two - Flashpoint and Green Lantern Corps. - taking definite genre turns) a lighter entry in the form of Shazam!, a gritty contrast with Justice League Dark, and something sort of in the middle with Suicide Squad 2, which has some overlap with Gotham and thus Batgirl (as well as the already-included The Batman).

So what we seem to be witnessing is a massive franchise diversifying. At the DCEU's core are the heroes that were always going to build it, but the in-development movies suggest Warners are just as invested in exploring alternative sides - especially if they're villainous. Further, all the talk of standalones within the shared universe - especially in regards to The Batman - makes it look like they're moving from a constantly rolling wheel of story and instead trying to simply build good solo films. Why else do a completely separate Joker movie as part of a new banner? It's an attempt to offer more than the rather singular appeal thus far.

DCEU upcoming Movies

This may seem to go against the shared universe model as previously accepted - it's removing the ongoing story element as a clear, repeating focus - although that may be smart. Many of the other Marvel imitators are working on a smaller scale - The Conjuring and MonsterVerse narratives are nowhere near as sprawling as the MCU - and those that have aimed large - the divisive DCEU and Dark Universe - have struggled to garner as strong interest. It's becoming clear that to really have long-term success requires building a brand name. Indeed, while Marvel is all connected, outside of die-hard fans the real appeal is that stamp of quality the logo suggests; nobody went to Guardians of the Galaxy just for its Thanos scene, and it sounds like after Avengers 4 they're going to do a soft restart.

DC's approach feels like that in a ground-up way, purposely going in several directions. That's probably why they've tried to lock in on Christmas releases - it builds subconscious loyalty. Of course, it would also be ill-advised to not mention the franchise's mixed reception thus far, with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad in particularly gaining scathing reviews; splintering off means those who like the films can get more, but the many who don't won't simply give up.

Much of what we're hearing about these upcoming films would seem to attest to that, chief among it the idea of them being "director-led". This has been thrown around from the very early days, seemingly as a way to distinguish from the clearly producer-dominated MCU, but was undermined by repeated cases of re-edits and studio meddling. Now, though, there's a ring of truth to it; Patty Jenkins stated there was no tonal mandate on Wonder Woman, both James Wan and Matt Reeves have made clear that was an essential part of their contract negotiations for Aquaman and The Batman respectively, and everything we hear from Sandberg, McKay et al suggests a prioritization of vision above all else.

Of course, that doesn't appear to have been the initial plan and that this is being prepped in the months leading up to Justice League is certainly interesting. Everything prior to the team-up has felt like of similarly-pitched franchise ethos - even Suicide Squad fit the mold. For WB to be getting ready to go off into many lanes away from JL (including a non-canon one) could indicate they're not too confident in it being the harmonious success many have it pegged as needing to be. But that still fits the logic of what we're saying; they aren't doing a total u-turn, but are starting to adjust tact so different tastes are catered to.

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If you want to find method in the seeming Warner madness, that appears to be their future layout. Individual movies that are part of thematically linked sub-franchises forming one whole under the DC banner. It's different to the MCU and indeed much of how DC is perceived in comics (although imprints and standalone stories are definitely a big part of them) - and that makes it risky and doesn't get away from their current approach being a bit scattershot. However, it is still a method that may finally see the ship right itself. Only time (and four Joker movies) will tell.

Next: Will Zack Snyder Return To Justice League's Production?

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