DC Entertainment: 2016 in Review – Part 1 [Movies]

For our recap of DC Entertainment’s five best moments at San Diego Comic-Con 2016, click HERE.

We first saw a glimpse of the DC Extended Universe in 2013’s Man of Steel. This year, however, we finally get a taste of the expanded world with the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The Zack Snyder-directed epic has been building up momentum for years, with an exciting marketing campaign and the very first big screen meeting between Superman and Batman. 

However, upon release, Dawn of Justice was met with mostly negative reviews from critics and lukewarm reception from the general audience. Despite the polarizing reception, Batman v Superman (unsurprisingly) made a lot of money. The film wound up grossing $873 million at the worldwide box office – less than the desired $1 billion+ figure, sure, but it’s still a big number. The movie opened with a record-breaking $166 million at the domestic box office, while its $420.1 million is the biggest worldwide opening ever for a superhero film.

After the conclusion of its theatrical run, Warner Bros. released Batman v Superman on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download. Included on the home video release is the three-hour director’s cut, dubbed the “Ultimate Edition.” This version contained 30 minutes worth of scenes, characters and plot points that weren’t in the theatrical cut. Basically, it tells a complete, coherent story that does the movie justice (no pun intended). Oh, and it happens to be rated R.

To this day, Batman v Superman is widely discussed and debated among fans. A lot of them feel strongly about it, both positively and negatively. The film is a dark, multi-layered deconstruction of two iconic superheroes. And, ultimately, that’s just not going to sit well with everybody. I personally loved the movie, but I can understand why other people may not. But one thing is for sure: Batman v Superman is a relevant hot topic for modern comic book movies, unlike any other recent installment in the genre.

The second DCEU film of the year was Suicide Squad, which shifts focus to some of this world’s villains. In the aftermath of Batman v Superman, Amanda Waller creates Task Force X, a program assembling a group of villains to carry out missions. The movie serves as the big screen debuts for Harley Quinn, Deadshot and more. Meanwhile, we get to meet the DCEU versions of Waller and Joker. The film spawned an great marketing campaign, including an iconic trailer shown on The CW’s “Dawn of the Justice League” special. It was also the first DCEU movie to have a mid-credits scene.

Like Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad was met with mostly negative reviews from movie critics. However, the general audience was much more positive, something indicated by its strong box office legs. The film broke the record for biggest August opening weekend with its $135 million debut. Its worldwide gross is $745.6 million. For Blu-Ray and digital, Suicide Squad also got an “Extended Cut.” This version of the film has 13 minutes of footage not previously seen in theaters. This includes new footage of Jared Leto’s Joker. (I imagine there’s a lot of that laying around somewhere…)

Following its financial success, the studio is now planning to expand the Suicide Squad franchise. A sequel was put into development earlier this year, with Ayer expressing interest in making it rated R. But before we get Squad 2, we’ll be seeing more of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Ayer will return to direct Gotham City Sirens, which will have Harley team up with fellow female supervillains. Geneva Robertson-Dworet is writing the script. The movie is currently being fast-tracked. Additionally, WB is considering a spin-off film starring Will Smith’s Deadshot, with several more rumored to be in development.

While Batman v Superman may not have resonated with audiences as well as WB hoped for, Suicide Squad served as a winner in this regard. The studio took a risk in producing a big-budget tentpole starring a team of lesser known villains, and ultimately, it paid off. The film spawns a new franchise for the studio, and it is one of the driving forces of the DCEU so far.

2016 also saw the formation of DC Films, a division formed by Warner Bros. to create a unified vision for the DCEU. The division will be co-run by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg. The two will offer guidance and structure in the process of building this universe, and they will also produce the films. Meanwhile, individual directors will decide on casting, aesthetics and specific story elements for each of their movies. Additionally, longtime producer Charles Roven will no longer produce every single DC film.

Now, we’re moving on to DC Entertainment’s two films for next year. Wonder Woman wrapped production earlier this year, while we got a first glimpse of footage in the “Dawn of the Justice League” special. Warner Bros. shifted the film’s release date up to June 2nd, a few weeks earlier than its initial June 23rd date. The movie’s marketing campaign formally kicked off at SDCC with an awesome trailer. 2016 serves as the 75th anniversary of Wonder Woman, making the film’s marketing materials this year even more special.

We previously met Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman in a star-turning role in Batman v Superman. Her solo movie will serve as an origin story set in World War I. Gadot previously called it a coming-of-age story for Diana, who is purer and more idealistic than in the present day. We will be sure to see much more marketing content in the next few months, leading up to the film’s release.

In addition to Wonder Woman, Diana’s origins will be told in a different way in another movie. Writer-director Angela Robinson is shooting Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, a biopic centered on William Moulton Morrison, creator of the Wonder Woman character. The film stars Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall and Bella Heathcoate. A release date has yet to be announced, but don’t be surprised if it drops in 2017 or 2018.

The second DCEU film of 2017 will easily be the biggest one to date. Justice League takes place after the events of Batman v Superman, with Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince uniting a team of metahumans. The superhero ensemble began production earlier this year and wrapped a couple months ago. The film will have a much lighter tone than Batman v Superman, with the intention to have a simpler, more crowd-pleasing storyline. It also aims to capture a more inspiring and optimistic vision of the DC Universe. The team will face off against Steppenwolf, who brings an army of Parademons to Earth in search of three Mother Boxes. The movie will also feature the DCEU debuts of Commissioner Gordon, Mera, and Vulko, among others.

We saw a first look at Justice League during San Diego Comic-Con, with the release of a group photo and a sizzle reel. Since then, we’ve gotten some bits of news about the film, including a fun behind-the-scenes video. But otherwise, marketing for the movie has been light this year. This makes sense, as we’re several months away from release. Plus, WB has to market Wonder Woman first.

Back in 2014, WB announced that the two Justice League movies would have subtitles of “Part One” and “Part Two.” However, these subtitles were dropped, with the first film having a simpler, more straightforward title. As for Justice League 2 (originally announced for 2019), the sequel will be delayed to make room for Ben Affleck’s standalone Batman film.

Speaking of Batman, we got some major new developments for the character’s next solo movie. Warner Bros. confirmed that Ben Affleck will direct the film, which he co-wrote with Geoff Johns. Plot details are still scarce, but we know that Batman will go up against Deathstroke, played by Joe Manganiello. The movie will also see the return of Jeremy Irons and J.K. Simmons as Alfred and Commissioner Gordon, respectively. Plus, Jared Leto wants to reprise his role as The Joker from Suicide Squad.

Affleck recently confirmed that production is on track to begin in the spring, and the tentative title is The Batman. While an official release date has yet to be confirmed, don’t be surprised if WB releases the movie in 2018.

Meanwhile, development continued on director James Wan’s Aquaman movie. Jason Momoa, Amber Heard and Willem Dafoe will reprise their roles from Justice League, with Patrick Wilson joining the cast as Ocean Master. This year, Will Beall signed on to write a new draft, which is based on a story by Wan and Geoff Johns. A past report said that Black Manta will be the film’s main antagonist, but that was before Ocean Master was cast. Does that mean the initial report on Manta was false, or are both he and Orm in the movie? Time will tell.

However, we’ll have to wait a little longer than expected to see Aquaman. Originally slated for July 27th, WB has pushed the film back to October 5th, 2018. This was one of two dates previously reserved by WB for untitled DC movies; the other one is November 1st, 2019.

Despite the delayed release date, production on Aquaman is still on track to begin early next year in Australia, among other locations. We’ll surely learn more about the movie in the coming year.

However, development for The Flash has hit a few bumps this year. The film’s release date was adjusted from March 23rd to March 16th, 2016. But then, director Seth Grahame-Smith dropped out over “creative differences” with WB. Basically, the studio decided against taking a risk on a new director to tackle this project. However, Grahame-Smith’s script will still be used. Rick Famuyiwa was later hired to direct the movie, and he even appeared at SDCC to talk about it. But last month, Famuyiwa also exited the project, citing – you guessed it – creative differences.

The Flash was originally on track to begin production early next year. However, the loss of Famuyiwa will surely result in a delay of not just production, but likely the release date too. A new date hasn’t been announced yet, but stay tuned.

Ezra Miller will reprise his role as Flash in his solo movie, which will co-star Kiersey Clemons as Iris West and Billy Crudup as Henry Allen. Ray Fisher’s Cyborg will return for this film. Additionally, the movie was rumored to be casting four other characters: Eobard Thawne, Fred Chyre, Len Snart, and Jay Garrick.

Meanwhile, we have received a few updates on other developing DC projects. Following Guillermo del Toro’s departure, Doug Liman was hired to direct the Justice League Dark movie, currently titled Dark Universe. The film is an ensemble starring some of DC’s magical characters, such as John Constantine and Zatanna. Liman previously teased his “unconventional” approach to the genre with this movie. Hopefully, we’ll receive more news soon.

Next, we got a couple updates on New Line Cinema’s Shazam, which has Dwayne Johnson attached to play Black Adam. Producer Hiram Garcia confirmed that the focus is on getting the story right, and they’re willing to take their time with it. Another producer, Dany Garcia, reaffirmed that Shazam does take place in the DCEU, despite having a different team of producers. The film is currently slated for an April 5th, 2019 release.

Now, on to Booster Gold. DC television producer Greg Berlanti confirmed this year that he will “probably” direct the movie adaptation, which is being written by Zack Stentz. In potentially disappointing news, Berlanti has said that, as of right now, the film does not take place in the DCEU. Of course, it’s still early days for the project, so anything can happen. But as of right now, Booster Gold is its own thing.

Next, on to DC Films’ 2020 slate. We didn’t get any updates on Cyborg, but we’ve gotten a few tidbits on Green Lantern Corps. Producer Charles Roven says that Green Lantern likely won’t be introduced until Justice League 2 at the earliest, if not his own movie. Plus, the studio moved Green Lantern Corps‘s release date from June 19th to July 24th, 2020.

We’ve gotten a lot of rumors about Green Lantern’s big screen future over the years, most recently regarding which Lanterns will be in GLC. The last rumor claimed that Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner will be the main three Lanterns. Jordan may be played by an older actor, while the other two will be portrayed by younger actors. But since this is very early days for the project, a lot can change between now and 2020.

With Superman playing a key role in the DCEU’s team-up films, fans have been wondering when he will star in another solo movie. Well, a standalone sequel to Man of Steel has entered active development, and it is now a top priority for the studio. Both director Zack Snyder and star Henry Cavill are interested in another solo Superman film. However, a director and screenwriter have yet to be named.

Also, Russell Crowe, who played Jor-El in Man of Steel, has suggested that Warner Bros. was considering multiple solo Superman movies. But, obviously, the studio wound up pursuing Batman v Superman instead.

A release date for Man of Steel 2 has yet to be confirmed. However, back in 2014, WB said that it was expected to come sometime between 2016 and 2020. Is that still the case? Time will tell.