Despite the comparable successes of both Shazam! in April and last year’s Aquaman, the DCEU is continuing to struggle following the commercial failure of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The decisive project was meant to open up a whole new chapter for DC Comics’ own version of the MCU blockbuster formula, but instead, it left Warner Bros. practically empty handed.
While there have been some exceptions – along with Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot has found success on her own, with Wonder Woman 1984 slated to release next summer – the fates of many actors in the early branches of the DCEU have been sealed. Already, Ben Affleck has left his role as Batman, Ray Fisher’s Cyborg is out of the picture and Henry Cavill’s return to the Superman franchise is questionable. So, the future of the DCEU has been looking jumbled, to say the least.
But a source close to We Got This Covered has now given light to some of the plans the company has in store, and it looks like their goal is to downsize – not in terms of production, but size. Let me explain.
Apparently, Warner Bros. is planning on giving each character of its extended universe their own mini-verse, eliminating, for the most part, the overarching world approach the franchise has been focused on until this point.
While we don’t have any concrete details yet, this means that upcoming projects like The Batman will spinoff into films about Batgirl and Nightwing. And The Trench, which has already been announced, will be a part of Aquaman’s mini-verse. As for Supes, while Big Blue won’t be showing up himself, WB apparently has plans for Supergirl and Superboy movies at some point.
We don’t yet know whether or not Todd Phillips’ upcoming Joker‘s a part of this conversation, but if it’s not, it looks like Birds of Prey may be the first to explore this new idea.
But tell us, what are your thoughts on the studio heading down this route? Is it a good direction for the DCEU to go in? And will this finally be what gives them a fighting chance to compete with Marvel (despite what Jared Leto already thinks)? Let us know in the comment section below.
