Now that Zack Snyder's Justice League has finally been released, fans will be clamoring
for more from the DC Extended Universe. But what should you actually expect to see in
the future? These are the hottest upcoming movies in the DCEU.
Mere days before the release of Wonder Woman 1984 in December 2020, Warner Bros. announced
that a third movie in the blockbuster franchise was officially in development. Patty Jenkins,
director and co-writer of the first two films, will also return to finish out the trilogy
of hugely popular entries in the DCEU.
Just now, plot details are pretty scarce, although Jenkins has implied to Den of Geek
that Cheetah, the secondary villain of Wonder Woman 1984, could return. That movie ends
with Barbara still alive but not fully in her Cheetah element anymore. Jenkins explained:
"I have my reasons for making it ambiguous. But the truth is there may or may not be more
to come."
Even more vague than the plot of the next Wonder Woman film is its release date. Indeed,
the movie probably won't make its way to theaters for quite some time. While Warner Bros. "fast-tracked"
production on Wonder Woman 3, the previous two movies put Gal Gadot and Jenkins in such
high demand that they're going to be very busy for the next few years. For one, the
two are collaborating on a Cleopatra movie, while Jenkins herself is set to direct the
2023 Star Wars spinoff Rogue Squadron.
Wonder Woman's backstory is steeped in legend, leaning heavily on the world of Greek myth.
Most notably, the Lasso-wielding hero is really named Diana, and she's the daughter of Hippolyta,
the queen of the Amazons, an all-female warrior race who live in a utopian society on the
island of Themyscira.
In the DCEU so far, fans have been given just a few tantalizing glimpses into the lives
and culture of the Amazons. But according to Patty Jenkins, a movie about Wonder Woman's
people will eventually come to theaters — and it'll be vitally important to the franchise,
too. She told Total Film:
"There's an arc that I have in mind for the first movie, and then the second movie, and
then the Amazon movie, and then the third movie."
She and former DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns even knocked out a story for the
Amazons movie and quickly sold the idea to movie studio brass. Jenkins also added that,
although she probably won't be in the director's chair for this one, she'll certainly be on
board as producer.
In 2019, Warner Bros. released Aquaman, an origin story underwater adventure featuring
the half-human, half-man-from-Atlantis who has dominion over the sea. In February 2019,
shortly after Aquaman crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, Warner Bros.
officially scheduled Aquaman 2 for a December 16, 2022 release.
Aquaman co-writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick will pen the second movie's script as a solo
gig, while the original movie's director James Wan will return to helm the sequel. The main
cast will all be back, too, including Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Orm, and,
of course, Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry himself.
The 2019 superhero comedy Shazam! may be the tonal opposite of Justice League, but the
films do exist in the same universe. Henry Cavill was even supposed to cameo in Shazam!
at one point, which is also loaded with references to other Justice League heroes.
Shazam! tells the story of teenage foster kid Billy Batson, who is given the power to
turn into an adult superhero, simply by calling out:
"Shazam! Oh hey there, son. Oh, and hey there other son, who I also have, who's related
to that son I just passed in the hallway."
Despite its differences from the rest of the DCEU — and not having quite the same name
recognition as the other movies — Shazam! was a hit, earning $365 million at the box
office. And that can mean only one thing: a sequel was inevitable. Two weeks after the
release of Shazam!, TheWrap reported that the original film's director David F. Sandberg
had been hired to helm another installment. Then, at the 2020 DC FanDome, members of the
production announced the film's subtitle, Fury of the Gods — although they didn't
reveal much else.
A previously announced release date of April 1st, 2022 was pushed to November 4th, 2022
due to coronavirus-related production and theatrical lockdowns, and was later moved
again to June 2nd, 2023.
Just as Batman has the Joker and Superman has Lex Luthor, Shazam has Black Adam — his
super-powered, morally ambiguous, and nigh-on unstoppable arch-nemesis. Black Adam is also
something of an ancient anti-hero, and playing him will be one of the most bankable stars
in Hollywood: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Neither Warner Bros. nor DC have let out many details
about the plot, although the cast list includes such notable actors playing old comics favorites
like Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, and Quintessa Swindell as
Cyclone.
"All of you around the world right now watching, I can promise you this. I give you my word.
We are gonna go beyond your wildest expectations."
Filming on Black Adam was set to begin in the summer of 2020 with a release date of
December 22nd, 2021, but both were delayed due to coronavirus concerns. Now, principal
photography is set to begin in April 2021, meaning the film won't be ready until 2022
at the earliest.
The Arrowverse has had its own Flash show since 2014, starring Grant Gustin as the super
speedster Barry Allen. Now, though, Warner Bros. is set to bring another Flash project
into play: a feature film following the DCEU version of the character.
Ezra Miller will once again take up the role of Barry Allen in The Flash, scheduled for
a theatrical release on November 4th, 2022. The film is said to be an adaptation of the
2011 Flash comic Flashpoint, in which the Flash travels to the past to stop the killing
of his mother and wreaks havoc on time as a result. Most notably, these timeline shenanigans
have set the stage for the return of both Michael Keaton as the 1989 Batman and Ben
Affleck as the DCEU's own Caped Crusader.
In February 2021, Deadline reported that The Young and the Restless star Sasha Calle had
also joined the cast of The Flash as a significant character: Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El.
But could The Flash be setting up a solo Supergirl movie for Calle? Only time will tell.
In one of the more memorable scenes in Aquaman, some monstrous undersea creatures attack the
titular superhero and his fellow Atlantean Mera. These mysterious, deep-sea dwelling
monsters are The Trench, one of the tribes of Atlantis. A few months after Aquaman's
release, it was announced at the opening of an Aquaman attraction at Warner Bros. Studio
Tour Hollywood that a movie about these trench-dwelling characters was in the works.
Producer Peter Safran told The Hollywood Reporter,
"We always, even from the early concept art days, loved the idea of a Trench movie. [...] We
just knew that we had something very special there and we knew what that movie should be."
Safran also noted that Aquaman and Mera will definitely not be characters in the horror-oriented
movie, which will be set after the events of the first Aquaman and will ideally hit
theaters before Aquaman 2.
Centering on criminals that had at some point terrorized the DC Universe, Suicide Squad
was a darkly comic offshoot from the world of the Justice League. Written and directed
by David Ayer, critics hated the 2016 bad guy extravaganza. But it also won an Oscar,
made over $746 million at the box office, and led to two semi-sequels: Birds of Prey,
and the forthcoming The Suicide Squad.
The slightly-differently named film, written and directed by Guardians of the Galaxy mastermind
James Gunn, will once again find a motley crew of wicked malcontents together to save
the day, and in this case, destroy a Latin American Nazi-era prison, according to producer
Peter Safran.
The cast of The Suicide Squad will include returning characters like Margot Robbie's
Harley Quinn , Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag, and Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang. Idris
Elba and John Cena also join up as Bloodsport and Peacemaker, respectively. The sequel is
scheduled for an August 6th, 2021 release.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite
movies are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss
a single one.