In the wake of Justice League, which of the multitude of upcoming DCEU films in development will actually be released? It's fair to say DC Films' team-up has changed the franchise, albeit not in the most positive way. Like previous entries, the critical reaction was decidedly unkind, but this time it was doubled with a lackluster box office; Justice League has the lowest opening of any film in the DC Extended Universe and is on track to lose Warner Bros. as much as $100M. That's serious stuff and puts a lot of the future plans in doubt.And you can't have missed that DC has a lot of future plans. Back in 2014, WB announced six films set for the franchise between Justice League and 2020, and while a lot has changed to those projects, few have been outright dropped and many, many more have been added. It's been hard to keep up with what DC Films are doing when things were looking up and now there's doubt about where exactly the franchise is going, that gets only more unclear.
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So, as the storm begins to calm, we're going to take a look through all the announced films and see which ones are actually going to come out, which are already canned and which may stay forever stuck in development hell.
The Three Movies That Have Actual Release Dates
As it stands, the DC slate has just three confirmed films with set release dates. Next up is Aquaman in December 2018, almost thirteen months from now, which be followed by 2019's Shazam! in April and Wonder Woman 2 that November. These are the only movies that are in official stages of development and have actual dates attached; all others have either only be reported by industry insiders or are being percolated in the studio.
In terms of Justice League and potential fallout, all of these seem rather safe: Aquaman is the most directly connected to the team-up and is so far along (James Wan recently finished filming) that it'd be impossible to pull the plug; Shazam! is in pre-production with its main two stars (Asher Angel and Zachary Levi) locked and a proposed production date of February 2018, and as a fresher, more comedic take from a different studio inside WB (New Line) that presumably has a lower-skewing budget will be a palette cleanser and safe bet; and Wonder Woman 2, currently in early development, is barely worth the time to defend given the love directed to the breakout first film. Everything DC-wise is in flux, but these ones seem securely locked.
Related: Can The Aquaman Movie Save Justice League's Weakest Character?
After that, there have been four dates in 2020 - February 14, April 3, June 5 and July 24 - claimed by WB at different points, although they appear to be more placeholders than anything else. Indeed, things get more complicated when you go beyond 2019.
The Other FIlms That Are Announced, But Not Definite
Given the practicalities of releasing films, there's a limit to the number of movies that can be worked on presently for a near release date. Further, considering how Justice League's struggles have been directly chalked up to franchise apathy, any plans beyond Wonder Woman 2 are particularly open to change.
That said, DC did announce eight films in addition to the already slated Justice League and Aquaman at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, so these should be treated with some level of seriousness: Wonder Woman 2 and Shazam! have since gone into development, and they sat alongside Suicide Squad 2, The Batman, Justice League Dark, Flashpoint, Green Lantern Corps., and Batgirl. Ignoring the directly Justice League-related films for now (because that's a complicated situation that deserves its own section), the active movement on these since is mixed. Suicide Squad 2 has Gavin Hood attached and is rumored to shoot early next year (a schedule helped by The Rock's potential involvement), but we've got nothing but halted rumors on Justice League Dark and while Batgirl has often been trumpeted as a key focus, it's been stalled by Whedon's involvement in Justice League and could find itself caught in the backlash due to the writer-director being at the center of the reshoot discussion. Basically, all have been heavily discussed, but are far enough away they could be collateral damage in a franchise change.
The rest of the oft-discussed DCEU films outside that set haven't been officially confirmed by the studio, although there are several in active development: Adam McKay's Nightwing is currently embarking on a massive casting call; Glenn Ficarra and John Requa being made directors on the Joker/Harley movie make that tangible; and if we have Harley drive, then Gotham City Sirens is always still possible.
Related: Justice League Reshoots: Every Change Whedon Made To Snyder's Film
However, with the others things are more in flux; while it's often taken that a trade reporting on these films' existence is confirmation they'll be hitting theaters in a couple of years, that's not really the case. These plans are mooted and early stages, and it's highly possible they could change: a Black Adam solo film has a script but that may be spec; Scorsese's Joker is purely hypothetic at this point and; and the recently revealed Gareth Evans Deathstroke is strange in light of League (again, we'll get to it). In short, from what we know, most of these are potential films rather than locked-in definites.
And with that cleared, it's time to look at the very complicated and murky future of the Justice League itself.
The Future of the Justice League Standalones Are Unclear
About a month before Justice League hit, it was revealed that the reason we hadn't heard much about any of the solo movies for the core heroes (aside from the well-on-the-way Aquaman and already-proven Wonder Woman 2) was because Warner Bros. were waiting on the reception to the movie and individual characters before actively moving on these characters. And, due to the mixed reaction and poor box office, that makes things shakey - anything could be dropped at a moment's notice. Let's look at what we know.
Flashpoint is a strong idea and Ezra Miller's Flash is at the center of one of the film's highlight moments (when Barry realizes Superman is as a fast as him), but the rigmarole of locking a director after two filmmakers have come and gone, as well as a complete script rewrite push the other way - this one really depends on if DC opt for a soft reboot. Matthew Vaughn has been in talks to direct Man of Steel 2 and Henry Cavill is contracted for one more film, but it's unclear how firm those options are (there's currently no script). And Cyborg has been very quiet, with Ray Fisher most recently playing down talk and it looking like it won't be one of those 2020 releases. The same is true of Green Lantern Corps., although that was never intended to come out before 2020 so we'd have been unlikely to hear anything yet regardless.
Read More: Have Cyborg and Green Lantern Changed Release Dates?
It's telling that the only film that's being actively discussed is one that increasingly looks separate from the Justice League endeavor: The Batman. Ever since Matt Reeves came onboard to direct, it's been made clear he's got total creative control and has little interest in bowing to the usual shared universe constraints. This took on an extreme form recently with it revealed Reeves was looking to recast Ben Affleck. Whether or not this is an in-continuity move or the film is an Elseworlds adventure is unknown, but the fact things are moving ahead and doing so despite activity in the main DCEU means this project feels a stronger possibility.
One movie that's definitely flux - and, indeed, hasn't been properly discussed since it was dropped from the slate - is Justice League 2. The new movie was originally the first half of a two-parter, but that changed quite early on in development and since then things have been quite choppy, with rumors of a script in development not yielding any more details. Of course, Justice League's post-credits scene teased the arrival of the Injustice League, and while it's not explicitly stated where Luthor and Deathstroke come back into the story, the motivation definitely points towards a straight-up sequel (although it could be the aforementioned Deathstroke film). The poor box office and general reception, though, has meant no further discussion; if Warners are properly regrouping, this will be the most suspect property, especially given the expected solo focus in the short-term.
Essentially, the Justice League-releated movies that are going forward don't actually rely on Justice League itself, while the most suspect ones are taking a backseat. That's smart world-building given the circumstances, although does leave the likes of Cyborg stuck.
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There's a lot up in the air about the DCEU's future post-Justice League that will be debated heavily in the coming weeks - will they go for a hard reboot, reset with Flashpoint, pivot into standalones or continue while hoping fortunes turn - but for now there's one thing that's certain: it ain't over just yet.
