Call it the DCU for short: Warner Bros. has announced 10 DC property superhero flicks to hit theaters over the next 6 years, including a Wonder Woman movie (!) and a two-parter Justice League, plus more Lego films and the Harry Potter spin-off will be a trilogy. The focus here will be on the ambitious DCU slate starting with 2016’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.
While a Justice League movie isn’t a surprise, the fact that it’s a two-parter wasn’t suspected (instead of sequels). But the most exciting announcement is the Wonder Woman film out in 2017, the first female-led superhero film from either the MCU or DCU. This is pretty big news considering the backlash Marvel has received for not making a Black Widow film yet, constantly backtracking on their promises, so it looks like the DCU is listening and wants to give fans something they’ve been yearning for. Sony announced a female-led superhero film earlier this year, but there’s been way too little on that front and there’s no reasoning behind not doing one. Wonder Woman will have a lot of expectations to go with it though, so it’ll be interesting to see how they treat the character in BvS and how that portrayal will translate to a standalone film.
Other big films are a Suicide Squad in 2016, The Flash in 2018 not starring the CW’s The Flash‘s actor, Aquaman (let’s see how that works out!), Shazam with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Black Adam, Cyborg starring Ray Fisher in 2020, followed lastly by another Green Lantern (with probably not a Ryan named actor in sight).
Notable facts about the DCU slate: 1. Unlike the MCU, it has diverse leads, including one female lead at the moment. Marvel hasn’t diversified that much yet, so the DCU is trying to really differentiate themselves by showing their competitive advantage. 2. The DCU has “at least” these announced 10, leaving room for more plus standalone Batman and Superman films.
In comparison, there’s at least 11 films coming from the MCU from now til 2019, including Avenger’s 2, Ant-Man, Captain America 3, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, with the rest unannounced. Will the DCU be able to compete or are they too late to the table? Only time will tell, but I think the demand is there as long as they pull off BvS, Suicide Squad, Justice League Part One, and Wonder Woman without angering fans too much.
In other franchise news, the Harry Potter spin-off based on the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them novella will try to rake in the Potter-bucks three times as a trilogy, with at least one film written by J.K Rowling. Such a rich world deserves to be explored and I’ll be one of the many ready to hand over as much Potter-bucks as necessary to see these films.
And in case you’re interested, three new Lego movies are coming, with one being a standalone Batman adventure (arguable one of the stand out characters from the Lego Movie), a Ninjago adaptation in 2016, and The Lego Movie 2.
Get your wallets ready, folks.
(Story via The Hollywood Reporter)
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.