Yesterday was certainly a big day for DC fans across the world! Despite splitting itself across two events in the end, with the second planned for Saturday, September 12th, DC FanDome’s marquee ‘Hall of Heroes’ event was still packed with announcements, panels and showcases from all corners of WarnerMedia’s DC superhero franchise. With the announcements, reveals and insight spanning DC’s comics, movies, television shows and video games alike, there’s certainly quite a lot to sift through for fans and followers of the Distinguished Competition. Luckily, we’ve got you covered!
Compiled here is a list of everything announced at the first-ever DC FanDome, including new trailers and more! We’ll be organizing everything according to the products and panels showcased throughout DC FanDome, so you’ll have handy headers neatly organizing everything from the show, just in case you want to catch up on what was announced, or just want a recap of the extensive new media offerings that DC has in the pipeline. Let’s get started!
The DC Extended Universe’s next big screen offering, Wonder Woman 1984 has seen several delays, ultimately pushing the movie back almost an entire year from its originally announced November 2019 release window. Fortunately, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continuing to disturb production schedules for various movies and TV shows, Wonder Woman 1984 finally appears poised to hit theatres early this October. This naturally meant that the time was right for a new trailer, one heavily emphasizing Kristen Wiig’s hotly-anticipated new villain, Barbara Ann Minerva/Cheetah, which you can check out below:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-g_YNZ90tI
This second trailer is still keeping the plot of Wonder Woman 1984 tightly under wraps, though it does finally reveal a brief glimpse of Kristen Wiig’s Barbara Ann Minerva fully transformed into the super-villain, Cheetah. Cheetah’s full appearance seemingly sets up a previously-hinted climax, one that somehow involves Wonder Woman donning her iconic golden armour from DC Comics’ fan-favourite Kingdom Come graphic novel, as also glimpsed in the first trailer. Beyond that though, we still have no idea how Steve Trevor has returned after his apparent death in the first movie. We do however get confirmation that Cheetah does indeed form an alliance with this movie’s other villain, Maxwell Lord, played by The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal.
Considering that Wonder Woman has been one of DC’s biggest and most acclaimed big screen moneymakers, it’s no surprise that she got a heavy amount of focus at DC FanDome, with Wonder Woman 1984’s lead cast, along with director, Patty Jenkins, answering fan questions and generally having a great time with each other at their panel. Actual plot details for Wonder Woman 1984 may remain frustratingly non-existent, even with just over a month left to go before this follow-up’s planned theatrical debut, but Wonder Woman herself got plenty of spotlight throughout several of DC FanDome’s other panels. On top of a panel specifically dedicated to Wonder Woman 1984, the movie’s cast also enjoyed an interlude later on, wherein they played a variation of Werewolf, a game where they try and deduce a ‘villain’ hiding in their midst. Director, Patty Jenkins also hosted a separate panel, one building off of a surprise appearance at DC FanDome by 1970’s Wonder Woman TV star, Lynda Carter, as well as tennis superstar, Venus Williams, celebrating Wonder Woman’s fast-approaching 80th anniversary in 2021, wherein it was implied that DC is cooking up some exciting Wonder Woman announcements to come.
“Wonder Woman 1984” is scheduled to premiere in select theatres worldwide on October 2nd, 2020, in 3D, 2D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, and IMAX 3D
After being rumoured for years, and teased to a ridiculous degree on Twitter and a viral website by developer, Warner Bros. Games Montreal, DC FanDome finally featured an official announcement for Gotham Knights, an all-new video game set within an all-new Batman Family-themed universe. A new action-adventure-RPG that can be played either solo, or in online two-player co-op, Gotham Knights is a Batman video game that’s bound to immediately cause a stir among fans, since it seemingly doesn’t directly feature Batman himself. Not only that, but the Dark Knight has supposedly been killed in an unspecified disaster! This shocking fate for Batman is no doubt why Gotham Knights doesn’t take place in Warner Bros. Games’ previously established Batman: Arkham universe, as confirmed by the developers.
The Gotham Knights announcement was made both via an official trailer, as well as an in-engine gameplay showcase. You can check out both below:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhVf_3TeTQE
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJjRRErYdO4
Gotham Knights places players in control of four successive members of the Batman Family, who struggle to defend Gotham after Batman’s demise. These include Dick Grayson/Nightwing, Tim Drake/Robin, Jason Todd/Red Hood, and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. Each character handles similarly, though they each boast a unique fighting style, along with individual arrays of weapons, gadgets and gear, which supposedly develop and expand as the game progresses. Batgirl, for example, wields a tonfa and a mastery of kickboxing, capoeira and jiu-jitsu, while Nightwing emphasizes acrobatics and his dual Ecrisma Sticks, and Robin wields a collapsible quarterstaff. Red Hood is easily the most distinct among the quartet as well, since his more brutal style of vigilantism leads to him being the only playable hero that isn’t averse to wielding guns.
Players are not locked into controlling any one hero as well, and can seemingly switch between their preferred hero at any point during the game. This is also important during co-op play, where players can chain strikes and devastating dual attacks, as demonstrated with Batgirl and Nightwing. Consistent use of certain characters will lead to them leveling up and gaining experience as well, further developing both passive skills and battle techniques. Each playable hero boasts innate talents on top of their fighting abilities to boot, such as Batgirl being a skilled hacker (referencing her time as paralyzed Batman assistant, Oracle), Robin being the most observant and forensically-gifted detective, Nightwing seemingly having the easiest ability to skillfully navigate environments and dangerous traps (being a former circus performer), and Red Hood being the most proficient and flexible with weapons and tools.
The gameplay walkthrough also reveals at least one villain that will be featured in the game; Mr. Freeze. Batgirl and Nightwing team up to take on the icy super-villain during the gameplay demonstration, after he sets off a weather machine that starts freezing over one of Gotham’s five explorable boroughs. These boroughs are now populated by moving cars and other NPC’s, unlike the deserted Gotham that was portrayed in the former Batman: Arkham games, and players can speed through them using Bat Cycles, as well as via the return of grapple guns and/or gliding. The fully open-world setting wasn’t explored in great detail at this point, but it does appear to promise numerous secrets, live villain scenarios, and other optional challenges for players to uncover, including, as rumoured, a key conspiracy surrounding dangerous Batman Family enemy faction, the Court of Owls. Finally, Gotham Knights will also be a cross-generation game, although it’s currently unknown if there will be a free upgrade option available for the last-gen versions.
“Gotham Knights” is planned for release in 2021, for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC
After numerous false starts, Warner Bros.’ and DC’s The Flash movie is finally gearing up for production. Since the movie is still a couple of years away, its presence at DC FanDome was minimized compared to other upcoming DC movies such as Wonder Woman 1984 and The Batman, but the Flash movie did nonetheless offer a small introductory peek at DC FanDome, hosted by star, Ezra Miller, director, Andy Muschietti, writer, Christina Hodson, and producer, Barbara Muschetti. They confirmed that the movie will be used as the vector through which to introduce the concept of the DC Multiverse to mainstream moviegoing audiences (DC’s television arm has already utilized the separate Flash television series on The CW to achieve the same purpose for the small screen), along with reiterating recent reports that veteran Batman actors, Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck will both co-star in the Flash movie in, “Substantial roles”, both as their former Batman incarnations.
Most plot details for the Flash movie remain unknown, including which villain or villains the Scarlet Speedster will face in his first feature film, as well as any other cast members aside from the Batmen of two Earth’s that have already been confirmed. We did however get a peek at some concept art of an all-new costume for Miller’s Flash to be featured in the movie, designed by Bruce Wayne in fact, one that’s more form-fitting, less bulky and armoured, and feels a bit more true to The Flash’s DC Comics appearance. You can check those out, alongside a shadowy tease of Keaton’s returning Batman, below:
It was also implied that Miller’s cameo as the DC Extended Universe’s Flash during The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, whereupon he met and briefly interacted with Grant Gustin’s TV Flash from The CW’s Earth-1 (now Earth-Prime), will be referenced in the Flash movie. Miller and co. reminded viewers of the panel that Miller’s Barry Allen was never referred to as, “The Flash” during his former DCEU appearances, and first heard the name from Gustin’s small screen Flash. While not explicitly confirmed, this cool origin for the iconic superhero identity of Miller’s Flash could suggest that DC’s television universes and television characters may also be fair game for appearances and/or references in the Flash movie, not just the former movie universes and their resident personalities!
“The Flash” is scheduled to premiere in theatres on June 3rd, 2022
Writer-director, James Gunn naturally hosted a fun, tongue-in-cheek panel surrounding his upcoming DC anti-hero movie, The Suicide Squad, a loose sequel and soft reboot to 2016’s heavily contested Suicide Squad movie. The entire lead cast was present at the panel, answering some fan questions, and playing a ‘high-stakes’ trivia game where the cast was split into two teams, one headed by Joel Kinnaman, and the other by Viola Davis, with actors being ‘killed’ if they get questions wrong. Davis’ trivia team ended up triumphant, surviving with the most actors intact, and that eventually led into a first look at The Suicide Squad. Despite the movie having finished principal photography in February, this behind-the-scenes look at The Suicide Squad, surprisingly, is not a proper trailer per se. It does however provide a tantalizing glimpse at several of the characters’ appearances, as well as the main setting (which I’ll vouch a guess as being fictional DC South American locale, Corto Maltese). You can check out that teaser below:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGWPIOKc1aQ
The movie is distinctly promised to be a, “Gritty 1970’s war film” that meets a, “Graphic novel come to life.” It also appears to be bringing lots of over-the-top action and violence, complete with, “Exploding heads and genitals” (this would seem to corroborate some insider reports that The Suicide Squad is targeting an R-rating), along with James Gunn’s signature flair for offbeat characterization. The storyline is also promised to be incredibly unpredictable, with many of the lead characters no doubt merely serving as disposable cannon fodder in the end. Speaking of the cast, James Gunn also finally confirmed who is playing who in The Suicide Squad, releasing a full cast roll call that confirms some rumours, and includes a few big surprises! Sure, some of these characters we obviously know already, since they were also featured in 2016’s Suicide Squad, but Gunn truly dove deep when it came to pulling some very obscure, very strange characters from the darkest corners of DC Comics lore. For better or for worse, the official cast list is as follows:
MARGOT ROBBIE – HARLEEN QUINZEL/HARLEY QUINN
JAI COURTNEY – GEORGE “DIGGER” HARKNESS/CAPTAIN BOOMERANG
JOEL KINNAMAN – COLONEL RICK FLAG
VIOLA DAVIS – AMANDA WALLER
IDRIS ELBA – ROBERT DUBOIS/BLOODSPORT
JOHN CENA – CHRISTOPHER SMITH/PEACEMAKER
PETER CAPALDI – CLIFFORD DEVOE/THE THINKER
ALICE BRAGA – SOL SORIA
PETE DAVIDSON – RICHARD HERTZ/BLACKGUARD
DAVID DASTMALCHIAN – ABNER KRILL/POLKA-DOT MAN
MICHAEL ROOKER – BRIAN DURLIN/SAVANT
NATHAN FILLION – FLOYD BELKIN/TDK/ARM-FALL-OFF-BOY
STORM REID – TYLA DUBOIS
DANIELA MELCHIOR – RATCATCHER II
STEVE AGEE – KING SHARK (MOTION-CAPTURE)
SEAN GUNN – JOHN MONROE/WEASEL
FLULA BORG – THE JAVELIN
MAYLING NG – MONGAL
JUAN DIEGO BOTTO – GENERAL SILVIO LUNA/PRESIDENTE
It would appear that some rumours about who was playing who in The Suicide Squad were ultimately correct, most notably Daniela Melchior being cast as a new female Ratcatcher, Steve Agee portraying a motion-capture King Shark, and David Dastmalchian portraying obscure Batman foe, Polka-Dot Man. Some sources also correctly guessed that John Cena would be portraying Peacemaker, and Idris Elba would be portraying Bloodsport.
Despite that however, some of these actors and roles are truly unexpected! James Gunn regular, Nathan Fillion portraying TDK/Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, one of the most obscure, ludicrous and uncredible characters in DC’s history, is a huge surprise, for starters! Likewise, while it was known that Peter Capaldi and Michael Rooker were involved in the movie, no one successfully leaked their characters in the end, with Capaldi’s casting as Thinker and Rooker’s casting as Savant also being fairly big surprises. Likewise, Mongal’s actress and overall featuring in the movie was completely unknown before now. James Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn portraying the disgusting and monstrous Weasel is also something that no one ultimately leaked in the end, just like Pete Davidson playing Blackguard, whom many incorrectly assumed to be Nathan Fillion’s character. Finally, Flula Borg portraying Javelin turned out to be a wild left-field rumour that was actually accurate in the end, creating a fun mix of correct and incorrect guesses out of former supposed cast leaks, on top of some truly obscure characters that are inexplicably being given time to shine on the big screen… For however long they last!
“The Suicide Squad” is scheduled to premiere in theatres on August 6th, 2021
It may come as a surprise that, among the mediums showcased at DC FanDome, comic books seemed to get the short end of the stick. Hell, even DC’s newly-announced video games ultimately got more attention than their comics! Still, while we didn’t ultimately get updates (yet) on major upcoming DC Comics events like Joker War, Three Jokers or the oft-rumoured (but likely scrapped) 5G initiative, we did at least get one sizable panel dedicated to the printed panels, one that announced the return of the Milestone imprint! This is a key step in creating more diverse storytelling opportunities for the DC Comics Multiverse, particularly since award-winning 12 Years a Slave writer, John Ridley, who is also penning upcoming graphic novel, The Other History of the DC Universe, will be taking the storytelling helm of a four-issue DC Comics ‘Elseworlds’ miniseries, spotlighting what appears to be an African-American variation of Batman from a different universe.
Milestone’s return is naturally being complemented by a ton of re-issues and new releases under the imprint. While DC’s Milestone-minted superheroes, Icon and Rocket were specifically announced for a big return under the Milestone imprint, a significant chunk of attention was dedicated to who is arguably Milestone’s most popular superhero, Static. Static is getting a big push in 2021, with a new digital-first Static comic book series planned for a debut in February 2021, followed by a new Static graphic novel. Starting next month and running to February 2021, various fan-favourite Milestone comic books will also be re-released on digital platforms such as Comixology and Amazon Kindle. Milestone is even offering fans and curious newcomers an introductory primer, along with a few Milestone comics, to read for free during September 12’s second DC FanDome event, in case you’re unfamiliar with the imprint’s personalities, or want a trip down memory lane. Finally, Ridley, along with Milestone heads, Reggie Hudlin and Denys Cowan, DC CCO, Jim Lee, and Static Shock animated series lead voice actor, Phil LaMarr, confirmed that early talks have begun regarding a Static feature film! The prospect of Static joining the DCEU is an exciting one, but regardless of what comes from that, it’s great to see one of DC’s most celebrated imprints make a return, especially after their long-running Vertigo imprint unfortunately got shut down last year.
The so-called ‘Snyder Cut’ of Justice League predictably got a panel at DC FanDome, revealing a few rather interesting facts about how the movie will be distributed, and what it may feature. While we already knew that the Snyder Cut of Justice League would be released exclusively on HBO Max in the U.S. next year, Snyder assured panel viewers that separate international distribution plans are being worked out, to get around the fact that HBO Max is currently a U.S.-exclusive streaming service. Not only that, but the most interesting and unexpected part of the panel came when Snyder confirmed that his cut of Justice League will be released in the style of a miniseries, with the option to view the entire thing as one cohesive movie, if viewers so choose. Specifically, Snyder’s cut of Justice League will be released in four one-hour chunks. That’s quite a massive movie!
With so many additions, and omissions, from Joss Whedon’s contested theatrical cut of Justice League from 2017, you can imagine that there are quite a lot of new surprises to look forward to in Snyder’s version of the movie. Several of these were teased in an all-new trailer for the Snyder Cut of Justice League, which you can check out below:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6512XKKNkU
Immediately, you’ll notice that several scenes advertised for the theatrical cut that were removed from its final product have now been restored in the Snyder Cut, including a scene of a pre-Cyborg Victor Stone playing football, a scene of Aquaman being consumed by ocean waves, and, most excitingly of all, several scenes of Superman sporting a black variation of his costume. Even entire characters that Joss Whedon apparently chopped out of the theatrical cut also appear to have been restored in the Snyder Cut, including DC arch-villain, Darkseid, and Kiersey Clemons’ Iris West (who we’ve never actually seen before this teaser!), after she’s rescued from a speeding car by Ezra Miller’s Flash. The tone of the movie is also noticeably more poignant and somber compared to Joss Whedon’s former theatrical cut, but it’s also much more consistent and artistically cohesive, something that’s sure to finally give fans some much-needed closure regarding the early offerings of the DCEU, even if the Snyder Cut of Justice League is supposedly non-canon with the rest of DC’s shared movie universe, according to Zack Snyder and DC management.
The ‘Snyder Cut’ of “Justice League” is planned for release in 2021, on HBO Max in the U.S., and other digital platforms internationally
It’s very clear that DC’s movies dominated most of the conversation at DC FanDome, at the expense of most of DC’s small screen projects. This isn’t all that surprising though, considering that movies are by far the most lucrative medium for superheroes these days. Regardless, a couple of DC’s TV shows did manage to snag some spotlight at DC FanDome, most notably The CW’s long-running small screen version of The Flash. After the show’s previous sixth season ended up being artificially shortened, losing three planned episodes to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a panel for the Flash television series helped tease some early details about the upcoming seventh season. There was even a teaser trailer made entirely with unused footage for The Flash’s Season Six, Episode 20, which is now being re-tooled into the Season Seven premiere. You can check that out below:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLxOpbRM1dk
Things certainly look pretty grim for the start of The Flash’s seventh season, which leaves Iris stranded in the MirrorVerse, while arch-villain, Eva McCulloch returns to the public eye and takes back her company by force. The cast present at the panel did emphasize that Barry and Iris will inevitably be reunited however, even though Season Seven will also see Eva fully embrace her evolution into super-villain, Mirror Master II. The teaser also appears to indicate that a legacy villain, Top will be returning to the show, being paired with Cecile in some sort of subplot regarding Cecile’s powers, and that the mysterious Godspeed clones will also seemingly keep menacing Central City. Most pressing however is the fact that Barry is almost completely out of speed, and quickly needs to build his artificial Speed Force device, in order to have any chance of stopping Eva. Ultimately, this is all that DC FanDome currently offers in terms of spotlighting the Arrowverse’s future in 2021, but it does seem like The Flash will be kicking things off strong when it finally returns, even though it, and every other Arrowverse show, will be missing their traditional Fall debut this year.
The seventh season of “The Flash” is scheduled to premiere on The CW in January 2021
Dwayne Johnson himself hosted a first look at his upcoming feature film spin-off to Shazam!, Black Adam during DC FanDome. Surprisingly, despite Black Adam not having officially started filming at this point (it was supposed to begin filming this Summer, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic appears to have pushed filming to early 2021), Johnson had quite a bit to showcase about the upcoming movie, including concept art of several key characters to be featured. You can check out the homemade teaser below:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N73oTiIIJe0
While this teaser doesn’t include some of the concept teases for Black Adam movie characters like Atom Smasher (Atom Smasher actor, Noah Centineo even crashed the panel to taunt Johnson at one point), it does give us a pretty cool extended look at the backstory behind Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, as well as confirmation of what the character’s costume and appearance will be in the movie. The teaser also ends with a debut for the official logo of the movie. After this, Johnson confirmed that Black Adam will be used to debut the Justice Society of America in the DCEU, complete with his titular anti-hero squaring off against Hawkman, Cyclone and Doctor Fate, as well as the previously-confirmed Atom Smasher! Hawkman, Cyclone and Doctor Fate likely haven’t been cast yet, but Johnson nonetheless promised that the ‘heroes’ of the DCEU would find their power hierarchy shaken up for good. Johnson also teased that Black Adam’s ruthlessness and extreme sense of personal justice will be retained in the movie, declaring that his anti-hero stands for, “Truth, Justice and the Black Adam Way.” I think it’s safe to say that we don’t even need any footage to see that this movie is going to be pretty badass!
“Black Adam” is scheduled to premiere in theatres on December 22nd, 2021
Arguably the most heavily-affected DC television series to suffer from complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is Titans, which had to halt production after barely starting filming for its in-development third season. Fortunately, Titans nonetheless got its own panel at DC FanDome, where the cast got together to tease some big new character additions for the upcoming third season. Along with confirmation that the show would be moving to Gotham in Season Three, it was also revealed that Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl herself, will be Gotham’s police commissioner at this point, succeeding her father in that role, though she has yet to be cast. At least one Batman villain, Scarecrow will also be featured during the new Titans season, as a Hannibal Lecter-style consultant for the GCPD, though again, Scarecrow has not yet been cast. Finally, it was confirmed that Curran Walters’ Jason Todd would be donning the mantle of Red Hood in Season Three, despite avoiding being killed at the hands of Deathstroke in Season Two, contrary to his DC Comics counterpart, whom fans voted to be killed off by the Joker (even if he was later resurrected as the aforementioned Red Hood).
Outside of these promising Batman Family teases for Titans’ third season however, there was no real info regarding when Titans will be able to complete production on its newest episodes. The cast did remind viewers that Blackfire, Starfire’s villainous sister, will be a major antagonist in Season Three though, complete with Blackfire actress, Damaris Lewis being promoted to series regular during the upcoming season. Beyond that however, no one had any idea as to when Titans’ third season would be resuming production. Likewise, there was also no concrete indication as to whether Donna Troy would be resurrected after her untimely demise in the Season Two finale (though Donna returning to life appears likely, since her actress, Conor Leslie was present at the panel), nor whether any further battles will be fought against LexCorp and/or Project Cadmus in Season Three. At least we know that Titans’ third season will arrive eventually, while other fan-favourite DC Universe shows such as Doom Patrol and Harley Quinn continue to linger without a renewal announcement (for now), but Titans is no doubt missing its usual Fall debut in the U.S. this year. Even Americans will likely have to wait until well into 2021 before they can finally see what’s next for these characters, let alone international audiences, who will almost certainly be yet again forced to wait even longer for the lump season to drop on Netflix.
The third season of “Titans” is in development. Its release plans in the U.S. and internationally are currently unknown
Of all the upcoming media offerings that we know DC has in the works, Aquaman 2, which may or may not be the sequel’s final title, is the furthest away from release at this point. Nonetheless, the Aquaman movie franchise did feature a small panel hosted by director, James Wan, who took the opportunity to reminisce about the original Aquaman movie with the man behind its lead villain, Patrick Wilson. Surprisingly, lead Aquaman stars, Jason Momoa and Amber Heard were absent. Regardless, Wilson’s Orm/Ocean Master was confirmed to return for the in-development Aquaman sequel in some form (though not as the main villain, apparently), and Wilson took the opportunity to relay that he’s looking forward to seeing more worlds explored in the second Aquaman movie. Nonetheless, Wan appeared to indicate that Aquaman 2 will be a bit more grounded and serious in tone, along with being a bit scarier, without wholly forsaking the fantastical sense of fun that the first movie achieved so well. There were also no updates on planned Aquaman spin-off movie, The Trench, sadly.
“Aquaman 2” is scheduled to premiere in theatres on December 16th, 2022
Warner Bros.’, New Line Cinema’s and DC’s Shazam! movie sequel is also a long way off at this point. Nonetheless, even with Black Adam largely dominating the spotlight around the Shazam family of characters at DC FanDome, a small Shazam! panel did show up later in the day, with star, Zachary Levi connecting with co-stars, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Meagan Goode, and Faithe Herman. Like the frustratingly brief, unfruitful appearance of Kaley Cuoco’s animated Harley Quinn shortly beforehand, the Shazam! panel was largely a joke panel in the end, one where Zachary Levi humourously confirmed that he, “Can’t say shit about shit” at this point, because the sequel is too far away from release, and its details are a tightly-guarded secret. Nonetheless, director, David F. Sandberg eventually crashed the panel, leading to Herman cutely revealing some homemade concept art, complete with confirmation that the official title for the Shazam! sequel will be ‘Shazam!: Fury of the Gods‘. This brief, tongue-in-cheek panel was all we got for the in-development Shazam! sequel, with no confirmation of other DC characters planned for the movie (including Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam), but it’s more than we ultimately got for Aquaman 2, while generally being a cute way to announce this movie’s title, so it’s tough to complain too much.
“Shazam!: Fury of the Gods” is scheduled to premiere in theatres on November 4th, 2022
Rocksteady’s upcoming next-gen DC game may have already been more or less officially announced, since Rocksteady confirmed its identity a few days before DC FanDome proper (presumably to head off further leaks), but a panel headlined by The LEGO Batman Movie star, Will Arnett formally unveiled the project in detail. As previously indicated, Rocksteady’s new video game is called Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and it’s a co-op-enabled action-adventure game that takes place in a devastated version of Superman’s home city, Metropolis. Metropolis appears to be under attack by Superman villain, Brainiac, and this has resulted in the various Justice League characters all falling victim to some kind of brainwashing, making them a dangerous liability to American citizens. Naturally, this leads to Suicide Squad handler, Amanda Waller declaring the Justice League’s marquee superheroes to be terrorists that must be eliminated, and that’s where the Suicide Squad comes in.
A lengthy, albeit pre-rendered reveal trailer sets the premise and tone for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and you can check it out below. Even without live gameplay, there’s plenty to unpack:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EVFYstVuVk
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is described as a, “Genre-bending action-adventure shooter”, according to Warner Bros. Games’ official press release. The game features four playable characters; Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark. Each character has different skills and combat styles, and players can freely swap between them throughout the game. The setting of Metropolis is fully open-world as well, with players able to explore it playing solo, or in online co-op with up to four players. Like Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League emphasizes the ability for players to ‘tailor’ their experience according to how they wish to approach the game, so you won’t be punished if you’re unable to play with other people, or are simply not interested in playing with other people. Then again, playing with others is probably going to be a blast, since this reveal trailer predictably sets the tone as being a lot crazier, zanier and more darkly comedic than the stark-serious Batman: Arkham games that Rocksteady previously delivered.
So far, Superman is the only targeted superhero to be confirmed for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, as demonstrated when he, seemingly under Brainiac’s influence, murders a helpless pilot with his heat vision. It’s inevitable however that the Suicide Squad will face other familiar DC superheroes over the course of the game. Whether or not Batman could show up is also an interesting question, since, unlike Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League actually does take place in the Batman: Arkham universe, as confirmed by Rocksteady. This no doubt means that Batman is MIA and presumed dead during the events of the game (unless it somehow takes place before the events of Batman: Arkham Knight), so it’s equally likely that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League could bring Batman in as a late twist (and possible surprise ally to the Suicide Squad), or ignore him entirely, and instead focus on high-powered Justice League mainstays such as Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern. This game may be quite a ways off from release, hence why it’s not cross-generation, unlike Gotham Knights, but there’s clearly a lot for Warner Bros. Games to tease over the months and years ahead, including exactly which Justice League characters we’ll get to target in the final product!
“Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” is planned for release in 2022, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC
Predictably, DC FanDome saved what’s likely DC’s most hotly anticipated upcoming movie for last, that being Matt Reeves’ cinematic reboot, The Batman. A lengthy discussion was had between Reeves and host, Aisha Tyler about the upcoming movie, which was recently allowed to resume filming in Liverpool, England. Reeves delivered plenty of compelling talking points, including that Paul Dano’s Riddler will be an all-new take on the iconic villain that no one has seen before, Reeves’ Gotham in general is aiming to be unrecognizable compared to former Batman movies, and The Batman will unfold within the second year of Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne taking up the Batman mantle. This means that Pattinson’s fledgling Batman is still largely seen as an urban legend, a ghost story and a cause for concern among Gotham’s citizens, having not yet grown into the widely-embraced hero that Batman ultimately becomes in most other DC media. Likewise, Reeves also indicated that Zoe Kravitz’s Selina Kyle has not yet become Catwoman, nor has Colin Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot yet become Penguin, both character evolutions that will be chronicled across The Batman’s inevitable sequels.
Finally, as many fans suspected, and as was confirmed by DC CCO, Jim Lee earlier during DC FanDome, Reeves indicated that The Batman is not actually set within the mainline DCEU, where Ben Affleck portrays the Dark Knight. The Batman instead takes place within its own all-new parallel universe, or, “Parallel Earth”, in DC terms. For what it’s worth, Lee also confirmed that last year’s Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix is also seen as taking place on its own separate Earth within DC’s live-action multiverse, rather than being wholly removed from DC’s live-action tapestry. Reeves also confirmed that WarnerMedia and DC have given him more or less free reign to develop the standalone universe of The Batman as he sees fit, including the previously-confirmed HBO Max television spin-off centering around the Gotham Police Department. Reeves confirmed that this still-untitled HBO Max series will take place during, “Year One” of Pattinson’s Batman tenure, preceding the, “Year Two” events of The Batman proper, and will center around the GCPD in the immediate fallout of Pattinson’s Batman first appearing in this universe’s Gotham. Reeves stopped short of confirming that any actors from The Batman, including Pattinson, would be featured in the HBO Max tie-in series, but he did at least specify that Batman would be active during the series’ events.
Finally, after Reeves’ interview with Tyler concluded, a first teaser trailer was released for The Batman. Despite only 25%-30% of the movie being filmed so far (an ironic contrast to The Suicide Squad having completed principal photography, and yet somehow not having a proper trailer for DC FanDome), this was a full-blown trailer as well, one that could easily be featured in movie theatres! You can check out The Batman’s first trailer below:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI0FyOsACyQ
The surprisingly informative trailer details an extensive look at Pattinson both in and out of the Bat Suit. It also provides a first look at Jeffrey Wright’s James Gordon, and Zoe Kravitz’s Selina Kyle, wearing what appears to be a homemade proto-Catwoman costume during a brief scuffle with Batman. The trailer also confirms that The Batman will have a heavy pulp detective-style tone, complete with a serial killer-esque Riddler, who leaves crude, child-like clues for Batman related to some kind of, “Lies” and conspiracy, amid grisly murder scenes. Pattinson’s Batman is also shown to be undeniably heroic, rushing in to pull someone away from a speeding car during a Riddler attack, but also astonishingly brutal, savagely beating down a gang member (who interestingly resembles a prototype Joker thug!) later on, before declaring, “I am vengeance!” Andy Serkis’ Alfred can also be heard in the trailer at one point, commenting on Batman’s reputation, but unfortunately, he isn’t actually seen. What appears to be a heavily made-up Colin Farrell as a pre-Penguin Oz Cobblepot is also briefly glimpsed in a couple of quick scenes, complete with Farrell appearing to adopt a kooky American accent and buck teeth to go with his penguin-esque visage. Lastly, the trailer also apparently quashes a persistent rumour about The Batman, which suggested it took place in the 90’s. This appears to be untrue, since smartphones and other variations of modern technology are all seemingly featured throughout the trailer. This would also seem to firmly put to pasture any hope that Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker could cross over with Robert Pattinson’s Batman. Jim Lee dumped some more dirt on the grave of these hopes to boot, when he confirmed earlier in the day that Joker and The Batman are set in entirely different universes.
All in all however, Reeves is clearly crafting an incredibly rich and exciting cinematic world for the Caped Crusader, one that definitely seems primed to be expanded upon with future movies and television projects. Reeves’ style definitely evokes the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy to some extent, most notably with its gritty, grounded tone and younger, more raw and inexperienced Batman, but it also appears to be more inclined to lean into the dark eccentricity behind Batman’s challenges and foes, in contrast to the Nolan movies. There’s definitely a lot more to look forward to with this movie, and it was definitely the perfect closer for DC FanDome, with the trailer especially making a big splash among online audiences!
“The Batman” is scheduled to premiere in theatres on October 1st, 2021
Here’s hoping that September 12th’s secondary DC FanDome can pack in this much fun and excitement! Either way, it promises to more heavily focus on the comic book and television arms of DC, so there’s certainly more to look forward to next month!