Rumor: DCEU Planning Legion Of Doom Storyline

-- SPOILERS for Justice League lie ahead --

A new report suggests that DC is planning to make the Legion of Doom a major focal point of the future of their shared universe. It's no secret at this point that the DC Extended Universe had a lot riding on Justice League, which is proving to be as much of a commercial disappointment as it was a critical letdown. After getting hit surprisingly hard by film reviewers for its unfocused tone, spotty CGI, and thinly written characters, the movie is actually on pace to lose a hefty sum of money for Warner Bros, leaving the future of this shared universe in serious question.

As we await official word from Warners, we've made our own attempts at working out just which of the dozen or more DCEU films currently in development will actually get made. We can't say for sure whether in-the-pipeline projects like Joss Whedon's Batgirl will actually make it to the big screen, but it does seem as though DC is doing its best to learn from its mistakes and give the fans what they want. Given the fan base's positive response to Justice League's post-credit scene, the latest whispers coming out of the DCEU rumor mill make quite a bit of sense.

After the credits rolled on Justice League, fans were treated to a sequence starring Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke and Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, in which the latter suggested teaming up and making "a league of [their] own." If the latest rumors from El Fanboy prove to be accurate, that team-up could have even bigger ramifications on the DCEU than we thought. According to El Fanboy's sources over at Warner Bros, "Legion of Doom is happening. Not an LOD movie, but building towards the team. Watch Manganiello. He has pretty much been blatant." Those sources then elaborated on just when we might see the next step towards a widespread villainous team-up:

They're working on something cool for SDCC [San Diego Comic Con] 18, related to LOD. They want to continue planting seeds and building momentum for the team. Things will be generally quiet on the DC front until Aquaman hype begins, but I can tell you that there will be another LOD tag at end of that.

If these whispers hold weight, this strategy would be an interesting twist on the MCU blueprint of building up towards the heroic Avengers team-up through bonus credit sequences. It will be quite some time before we know for sure what the DCEU is up to, however, since Aquaman doesn't hit the big screen until December of next year. The long-term play certainly makes a lot of sense in the context of the still-possible Justice League 2 -- which we don't expect to see in theaters before the decade is out -- because the Legion of Doom would be an ideal match to square off against DC's finest. It's also great to see that the decision makers behind the DCEU have learned the lessons of the (arguably) rushed Justice League team-up, choosing instead to take the time to introduce their big bads and give them some characterization before bringing them all together.

Should another Legion of Doom tease arrive at the end of Aquaman, that means that we'll likely see either Patrick Wilson's Ocean Master or Yahya Abdul-Mateen's Black Manta being recruited. (Probably the latter, because he's both the bigger name character and the one with an extensive comic history with the Legion.) Could we also see villains from the 2019 DCEU releases like Shazam! and Wonder Woman 2 get in on the fun? Who do you want to see join up with the Legion of Doom? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments.