Since its inception, it is fair to say that the DCEU has so far had a bumpy road in its short-lived lifetime. Whilst Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad were all box office hits (Individually accumulating $668,000,000, $873,600,000 and $746, 800,000 respectively), they were all critically panned by critics and left fans divisive over the quality of the movies. Perhaps most crushingly, Justice League was both panned by critics and failed to make a profit in the box office, surpassing a meek $657,900,000 worldwide despite a production budget of $300,000,000 and being what was intended by Zack Snyder to be the culmination of his grand trilogy that birthed the DCEU with most of its core characters.
Behind the scenes, Warner Bros. have had a major shake-up in its planning and production of upcoming movies. Zack Snyder and David Ayer have both been dropped as directors for any further instalments in the DCEU, several planned movies that were once in development such as Justice League: Dark and Gareth Edwards’ Deathstroke have also been dropped and Matt Reeves’ The Batman is no longer considered a priority for the studios. Such bold moves should be treated with both commendation and concern; while it is reassuring to see that Warner Bros. are now acknowledging the failings of the DCEU and are keen on improving the quality and production of their movies, it is unclear precisely the direction that they want to go in, particularly with rumours that the DCEU will soon be renamed the Worlds of DC which suggests further divergence and variety for upcoming movies.
For the moment, DC fans are hopeful that the upcoming Aquaman movie will be as promising as its first trailer suggests and that 2019 will be a new dawn for the DCEU with the premieres of Wonder Woman: 1984 and Shazam. From then onwards, however, comes the inevitable debate as to where exactly Warner Bros. should move next with its movie slate or, rather more complicatedly, where it can move next. Should Warner Bros. try to patch up their currently rocky relations with Henry Cavill and fast-track a Man of Steel sequel? Should Warner Bros. try to get back in touch with Doug Liman and resurrect the long-dead Justice League: Dark movie that’s been in development for the past six years? In this editorial I will outline the five movies that Warner Bros. should rapidly push ahead with in the next few years from 2020 onwards, that are almost guaranteed to be a big hit with critics and fans alike, garner massive profits at the box office and further develop and explore the DCEU to ever closer perfection.
One of DC’s greatest comic-book supervillains, Black Adam has had a troubled history when it comes to making his debut on the big screen. For over a decade now, Warner Bros. and Dwayne Johnson have both been heavily attached to the movie, but changing circumstances such as the Writer’s Guild of America Strike, the rise of
The Dark Knight Trilogy and the
Harry Potter Franchise, all led Warner Bros. to focus their attention elsewhere and shelve the
Black Adam movie. Now, as the DCEU gave birth albeit with slight complications such as
Batman v Superman and
Justice League underwhelming wide expectations, Black Adam is once again being fast-tracked by Warner Bros. and for good reason. Currently, nearly all members of the production team have been hired, a script is almost close to completion, principal photography is scheduled for late 2019 and eventually, Warner Bros. will begin casting actors for key roles in the movie. As production and filming are now underway for the upcoming
Shazam and
Joker movies next year, the planned
Black Adam movie is receiving considerable approval and eagerness from Warner Bros. if planned photography will start as early as late 2019. With producers like Hiram Garcia and actors like Dwayne Johnson showing keen excitement, and Warner Bros. willing to fast-track the movie, a
Black Adam origin movie has all the makings of a grand success.
In contrast to most superhero movies of the 21
st century, a
Black Adam origin movie would be an exceptionally unique movie in that it breaks the typical formula of most superhero movies today; this formula involves the standard superhero like Superman or Captain America having a troubled background story, discovering or receiving superpowers one day and then using said superpowers to defeat a dastardly supervillain that is somehow tied to their troubled pasts or powers. This formula has been used repeatedly in superhero origin movies like
Batman: Begins,
Captain America: The First Avenger,
Man of Steel and, most recently,
Wonder Woman. Even supervillain-based movies like
Suicide Squad have ended with the villains turning heroic and using their abilities to defeat a villain that’s tied to the origin of their team, the upcoming
Venom movie looks poised to set one villain against another and the upcoming
Joker movie will likely revolve around a sympathetic origin story for the Joker before his accident. Black Adam on the other hand is a much more complex character who’s crossed the blurred lines of anti-hero and villain in the comics, something which can be explored in his own origin movie and doesn’t necessarily have to lead to him being portrayed as a good-natured or heroic character at the end of his movie. In recent years, TV shows with morally grey lead characters such as
Breaking Bad and
Game of Thrones have become cult classics as a result of their realistic approaches to characters and how they act when faced with almost impossible choices; a
Black Adam movie could have the same appeal among moviegoers and be remembered as one of the best superhero movies alongside titans like
The Dark Knight and
Black Panther.
The impressive popularity and charm of Dwayne Johnson should also not be understated or unrecognised when discussing the upcoming
Black Adam movie; Johnson is currently one of Hollywood’s best and most profitable leading actors with an extensive filmography full of highly successful movies. Johnson has appeared in many obscure movies that most critics believed were doomed to failure at the box office, including
Tooth Fairy, the 2014
Hercules movie (The good one, not
that one with Kellan Lutz),
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and the rebooted
Baywatch movie of last year. Whilst the quality of these movies may be debated among critics, they were all able to generate high turnouts at the box office chiefly as a result of Dwayne Johnson’s status as one of Hollywood’s best action-stars and prominent actors. If he were to play Black Adam, a character that Johnson has been attached to for over a decade, and gave an overwhelmingly dedicated performance on par with the likes of Heath Ledger as the Joker, he would be able to generate even louder buzz for the movie and encourage more moviegoers to watch it.
The upcoming
Black Adam movie has all the makings of a memorable comic-book movie, with a great lead actor, production crew, director and financial support from Warner Bros., and could help to energise the current phase of superhero movies in the 21
st century that some critics are questioning exactly how long it can continue for. A well written story exploring the themes of slavery and corruption with as much depth and woven analysis into its narrative as the Dark Knight for example could also make for a highly popular and well received movie among critics as well, and demonstrate to Warner Bros. that they do not need to make all of the DCEU movies light-hearted or comical with no deeper substance behind them like Marvel Studios do with their movies. Ultimately, Black Adam is one of DC’s most complex characters and, with all the individuals currently involved, could end up being one of Warner Bros. most bankable and popular comic-book movie characters of all time.
4.) The Flash
It is almost incomprehensible that the Flash has still had not had his own standalone movie yet. The Flash is one of the Justice League’s founding members, both in the DCEU and in pre-52 and new-52 comics, one of DC’s oldest superheroes and also one of the most recognisable. Although Ezra Miller’s casting as the Flash left fans divided, he proved a successful comic relief to certain fans of the 2017 Justice League movie and, given Warner Bros.’ decision to shift the tone of the DCEU in a more light-hearted and humorous way, could take this role on a bigger and grander scale in future movies. Although it has long been in development for over five years now since David Goyer first pitched the concept in 2013, the
Flash movie should take immediate priority in the DCEU, primarily in order to develop out one of its core leading superheroes. Unlike other movies that the DCEU is currently producing like
Shazam, there is a long collection of well-written Flash-centric storylines from the comics to adapt on the big-screen to further speed production along, from A Tale of Two Flashes to Flash: Rebirth and, more recently, Flashpoint.
Flashpoint is also believed to be the storyline that Warner Bros. are keen on pushing for adaption in the upcoming
Flash movie, though regardless of whether or not this is necessarily the right decision to adapt so early in the DCEU and for the Flash’s first standalone movie, offers Warner Bros. invaluable opportunities in further shaping its cinematic universe. Indeed, if on-going negotiations with Henry Cavill fail to conclude to the satisfaction of both Warner Bros. and Cavill, and if Ben Affleck does finally officially leave the DCEU in his role as Batman, Flashpoint could act as a soft-reboot for the DCEU and give a means for the narrative to write these characters out of the series. Such matters need to be resolved swiftly, however, as Warner Bros. have already gone through the first eight months of 2018 without releasing a DC movie as a result of indecision making on the parts of its lead producers and cast members.
If Warner Bros. do push forward with a
Flash movie, then they ought to reconsider their hiring of planned directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein given their flimsy records as directors. Although their directed movie
Game Night was a worldwide box office success and popular with critics, the only other movie they have ever directed,
Vacation, was a major flop, and neither of the two movies have a similar dark and gritty tone like the original Flashpoint storyline. Daley and Goldstein are ultimately major risks which, after Warner Bros.’s past history with risky directors like Zack Snyder and David Ayer, should not be repeated.
With a well-suited and talented director, however, Flashpoint could prove to be a highly popular and successful movie, and another landmark movie of the DCEU alongside
Man of Steel and
Wonder Woman.
3.) Katana
This suggestion will most likely be the one of the two most unexpected suggestions on the list, but in the grander scheme of the DCEU, I feel that a
Katana movie is necessary in the next few years if
Suicide Squad 2 is being pushed back for
Birds of Prey and
Katana won’t appear in the latter. Of the many iconic comic-book characters that appeared in
Suicide Squad like The Joker and Harley Quinn, Katana was among those who received the least spotlight and character development, which I feel is such a waste for such a complex character whose crossed the murky lines between hero and anti-hero in the comics. With the DCEU currently in disarray among which cast members of the
Justice League are unsure over returning and producing more movies, Warner Bros. should look to work more closely with those actors who are more than willing to continue their roles and who do not share the issues concerning contracts and salaries like Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill do. Currently, Karen Fukuhara is one of those actresses in the DCEU who is more than eager and excited regarding the prospect of suiting back up as Katana in the foreseeable future, even going as far to say that she would like her character’s origin explored even further in the upcoming Suicide Squad sequel, and Warner Bros. would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to further explore and develop her character in the nearby future, especially when she has such a strong fan-base.
Of course, the biggest concern that Warner Bros. may have concerning a potential
Katana movie is that, as a superhero, she is not as well known to the general public as the likes of Batman and Wonder Woman are, and may feel that a
Katana movie would flop without such a massive guaranteed turnout from moviegoers. However, Marvel studios have taken great risks in producing superhero movies based on characters initially widely unknown to the masses such as
Guardians of the Galaxy and, through a strong cast and production team, managed to gain a massive profit and establish these heroes as household names; thus demonstrating that it is possible for Warner Bros. to be able to do the same with
Katana. Furthermore,
Suicide Squad is considered a cult-classic movie among many comic-book fans and has had an unmeasurably powerful social appeal to young teenage fans, and it would be very surprising if these same fans chose not to return to the cinema and watch a movie based on one of the main members of the Suicide Squad.
On a more moral level, a
Katana movie would also serve to help broaden the DCEU and further deter institutional racism in Hollywood. Indeed, Asian actors in Hollywood in particular struggle to receive roles, leading some such as Chloe Wang going as far as to change her name to Chloe Bennet in order to gain work. If Warner Bros. were to produce a superhero movie with a female Asian lead and also potentially set in an Asian country based on popular characters with a good cast and production team, the ethical and cultural impact on the world would be enormous and go to great lengths in promoting racial diversity. I understand that many non-Asian readers may just roll their eyes and take this for granted, but Asian actors have perhaps struggled the most out of all racial groups in Hollywood and a successful
Katana movie would change the lives of hundreds of these actors for the better by giving Asian actors greater spotlight and directors greater incentive to hire them in their movies.
It may come as no surprise to those reading this that Katana is one of my favourite DC characters and I really want to see her again in the DCEU. If
Suicide Squad 2 is being pushed back in favour of the upcoming
Birds of Prey, and if Katana won’t appear in that movie, then I feel that a
Katana standalone movie should be considered an urgent priority by Warner Bros. If done properly, a
Katana movie could be a lot like
The Wolverine, and help lead to her appearing in other movies in the DCEU like
Birds of Prey 2 or
Justice League 2.
2.) Deadshot
When it first became rumoured in late 2016 that a movie focused on Deadshot was in production at Warner Bros. studios, many fans questioned the need or purpose of such a movie, but it is one that I have been a staunch supporter of. When David Ayer produced the
Suicide Squad movie, he intended to oversee the development of spinoff movies focused on the Suicide Squad members, including Deadshot, and I feel that such an inventive idea would actually work rather well. As I said earlier in this article,
Suicide Squad is considered a cult-classic superhero movie among DC fans and young audiences, and Deadshot was arguably its tied strongest and most developed character next to Harley Quinn, making it logical for him of all the movie’s characters to be the best and safest bet to carry a spinoff. Indeed, if
Batman v Superman is treated as the DCEU’s introduction of the ‘main heroes’ of the film universe, then
Suicide Squad should equally be treated as the DCEU’s introduction of the ‘main villains’ of the film universe as well. Some of these heroes have already had their own standalone movies like
Man of Steel and
Wonder Woman, both of which exceeded box office expectations, and in the case of
Wonder Woman, became a much more central and arguably one of the most interesting and powerfully written characters in the DCEU. Already, as Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck contemplate departing the franchise, Warner Bros. are looking to fast-track more
Wonder Woman sequels and make her character the new face of the DCEU. If this success could be accomplished with the Justice League’s arguably best hero, it may be argued that the same success could be replicated with Suicide Squad’s best villain if Warner Bros. took the chance and released a standalone
Deadshot movie.
One of the prevalent guarantees for why a
Deadshot movie could be a triumphant feat for the DCEU is that his character is played by the brilliant and renowned actor Will Smith. Will Smith is widely considered as a legend-like actor in Hollywood, having performed in almost countless great movies over the past few decades, from the
Bad Boys franchise to the
Men in Black franchise,
Ali,
I am Legend and of course, his first superhero stint in the underrated 2008 flick
Hancock. Although Smith has had his fair share of movies which fared poorly in Box Office scores and were considered underwhelming by critics like
After Earth, he has recently once again found his stride as an actor and is on a winning streak with widely applauded movies like
Focus,
Concussion and the Netflix movie drama
Bright. Whichever way one may look at it, Will Smith is one of the best leading actors in Hollywood with extraordinary talent and stage presence. If Smith was to star as the lead in his own standalone movie focused on Deadshot, with a good director and production team behind him, he would be able to play the role extremely well and draw in great numbers of moviegoers and fans to watch his work. Not only is he one of the best actors in Hollywood, but he is also one of the most demanded and sought after actors, and it would be imprudent for Warner Bros. to discard his willingness to return to the role of Deadshot again in the nearby future.
Finally, Warner Bros. would be free to take a
Deadshot movie in a wide range of different directions and settings, complimented with the choice of casting any different kind of superhero or supervillain from the comics. If Warner Bros. wanted to continue the theme of Deadshot being a reluctant government agent working for his freedom and life with his daughter, they could base a movie around Deadshot being sent on a secret mission by Amanda Waller to defeat a dangerous enemy, retrieve an unearthly artefact or rescue a powerful individual who may prove useful as a future member of the Suicide Squad. Alternatively, if Warner Bros. wanted to shake up the DCEU and take Deadshot in a darker and more serious tone in comparison to the previous
Suicide Squad movie, they could chose to centre the movie around a Gotham-based storyline, squaring Deadshot up against some of Batman’s classic rogues gallery like the Penguin or Deathstroke, perhaps adopting Ben Affleck’s original planned storyline for
The Batman in which Deadshot, acting as a stand-in for Batman, must fight against Deathstroke who is hired by one of Gotham’s biggest mob bosses to kill Deadshot for whatever reason. The list is endless in terms of what Warner Bros. could do with a
Deadshot movie and which current DCEU cast members could return like Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller or Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke, granting them a metaphorical goldmine in terms of success should they choose a good director and production team to create the movie.
Ultimately, the groundwork has already been laid for Deadshot to become a major character in the DCEU and his own standalone movie could cement that status. With Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck potentially departing the DCEU, Will Smith could easily replace them as the new reliable leading man of the film franchise and ensure that the DCEU not only continues to generate millions in box office revenue, but prosper beyond currently low expectations set by critics. If done properly, Deadshot could become the
John Wick of the DCEU or even a member of the Justice League given his slightly positive morality as of the
Suicide Squad’s ending, so long as he is paid for his services. When it comes to Will Smith’s Deadshot, Warner Bros. has almost nothing to lose with a standalone movie and so much to gain, and it should not be a question of whether or not the character should have his own movie, but instead when.
Honourable Mentions
With so many DC movies either planned or already in development, it only feels right to discuss a few honourable mentions and address why certain proposed movies aren’t included in this article. A
Man of Steel sequel would be a welcome addition to the current DCEU slate right now if Warner Bros. and Henry Cavill weren’t having arguments regarding the renegotiation of Cavill’s contract, as Cavill’s Superman desperately needs the
Thor Ragnarok treatment in being revamped and humanised much more to connect better with the audience. As mentioned in this article,
Suicide Squad is one of my favourite comic-book movies of all time and the sequel is not a question of ‘if,’ but ‘when’ at this stage, but unfortunately Margot Robbie will soon be attached to filming
Birds of Prey and Will Smith has a heavy upcoming schedule with filming major blockbuster hits like
Aladdin and
Bad Boys 3, meaning the answer to the ‘when’ question is ‘not for a very long time.’ DC fans will understandably be calling for a new
Green Lantern movie to be produced and set in the DCEU given the character's popularity, however this would be an incredibly risky move on Warner Bros.’ part as the last
Green Lantern movie tanked for a wide array of reasons that are far too numerous to start discussing at this point in this article, and with no major directors or actors showing any real interest in this movie, Warner Bros. have no real incentive to make this movie or any reassurance that it won’t flop as the 2011 movie did.
1.) Birds of Prey
Of all the movies on this list, it is likely that
Birds of Prey is the most unsurprising entry on this list, given its high appeal to DC fans everywhere and indeed, potential appeal to large numbers of moviegoers. Warner Bros. made cinematic history with the release of the world’s first female superhero movie in over a decade last year with Wonder Woman and could do so again with the release of the world’s first female-led ensemble superhero movie, something that would appeal to a great number of demographics. Currently, the DCEU is flip-flopping in terms of which direction it wants to follow, from a more serious and down-to-earth tone of
Batman v Superman and
Wonder Woman, to the more comical and silly tone of
Justice League and
Shazam; Warner Bros. would be able to take a
Birds of Prey movie in either of these two directions and still make a critical and commercial success predominantly through playing to the characters’ strengths. The
Justice League characters such as Batman and Wonder Woman have always been portrayed as more serious characters in the comics and movies for decades now, whereas some of the characters that will appear in
Birds of Prey like Harley Quinn and Batgirl have been more varied in terms of their portrayals as the target audiences have changed with the times, and Warner Bros. can afford to take risks in deciding how best to portray these characters in terms of direction.
While on the subject of Harley Quinn, Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the character was arguably the best received of the 2016
Suicide Squad movie, with some critics even going as far as to call her the most popular film character of all of 2016’s released movies. Harley Quinn is one of DC’s most iconic and popular characters, and as a result of Robbie’s stellar performance, is now also one of the DCEU’s strongest and most profitable characters. Not only are Warner Bros. wise in moving to have Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn be the lead in an upcoming DC movie, but even more so to have her star as the lead of yet another ensemble movie, particularly one set in Gotham City around more Gotham-based characters like Batgirl and Black Mask with whom it would make more sense to the fans to see Harley Quinn interact and fight with compared to an ancient demon witch like the Enchantress. Ultimately, Margot Robbie is currently one of the more popular and up-and-coming actresses in Hollywood, and fans have long waited for another movie with Harley Quinn at the forefront, something which works in Warner Bros.’ favour and to the satisfaction of these same fans.
A
Birds of Prey movie also gives Warner Bros. the luxury to use more members of Batman’s classic rogues gallery, whom are arguably the most iconic and well-known comic-book villains among moviegoers and comic-book fans. Villains like Deadshot and Harley Quinn were developed enough to be able to carry the
Suicide Squad movie, and although Killer Croc wasn’t considered an interest enough character by most viewers, this was largely as a result of a lack of screen-time. Jared Leto’s Joker was also panned by critics primarily as a result of the actor’s take on the character, and yet still a large proportion of the DCEU’s fanbase still liked his character, going as far as to fan-ship his and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn so much that its led to merchandise like t-shirts being produced of the two. These Batman villains are incredibly marketable and could produce large amounts of money for Warner Bros. in the long-term through future films and merchandise, and there is no reason to doubt that this could be repeated with further classic Batman villains like Catwoman and the Penguin, if a good director and cast are picked to accomplish this task. Batman’s villains are perhaps indisputably some of the better written, deeply layered and more fascinating comic-book villains of all time and are almost a guarantee to be a widely popular hit with moviegoers and fans globally.
As long as a good director and cast are on-board, there are almost no ways that a
Birds of Prey could flop commercially or critically, and could end becoming the DCEU’s best movie after
Wonder Woman. With cast members like Margot Robbie, iconic characters like Harley Quinn and Batgirl, an R-Rating and a more down-to-earth setting in Gotham City without the usual ‘end of the world threat’ formula that most comic-book superhero movies follow, a
Birds of Prey movie could be tremendously great and is something that comic-book fans everywhere should look forward to.
Conclusion
Well that’s the end of the list on which DC-based movies I believe Warner Bros. should focus on producing next after the upcoming
Shazam and
Joker movies and I thank everyone who has taken the time to read this article. Are there any on the list that you agree or disagree with? Would you like to discuss more about these movies in greater depth? Or do you have your own ideas on what Warner Bros. should do next with the DCEU? If so, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below and be sure to hit that like button!