We hope you weren’t holding out for Justice League 2…
If industry tipster ‘DanielRPK’ is to be believed, the future of Warner’s DCEU will largely revolve around standalone adventures – think Shazam! and The Batman – with “very few crossovers.”
This seismic shift, if true, can be traced back to the new leadership at the helm of DC Films. Back in January, Walter Hamada took over the role of DC Films president, and is ostensibly in charge of Warner’s superhero output for the foreseeable future. The first port of call will be James Wan’s standalone Aquaman movie, before Shazam! and the hotly-anticipated Wonder Woman 1984 deliver a banner year for WB in 2019.
And though DC Films has dabbled in headline-worthy crossovers like Batman V Superman and Justice League before – technically Suicide Squad falls under this umbrella, too – it seems Warner Bros. has enforced a new policy: standalone adventures like The Batman and Shazam! take priority, with only a few crossovers that will remain on the shelf until such time as the DCEU is back on track.
Indeed, at the outset, it became clear that the franchise hoped to invert Marvel’s strategy in that crossover movies would come first, before character-driven solo outings for Cyborg, the Flash and Aquaman were spun out from the sprawling epic that is Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon’s Justice League.
But such an approach wasn’t without its faults, and the stuttering performance of Warner’s superhero franchise – so far, at least – proves that, yes, oftentimes it’s better to walk before you can run. Unless you’re Tony Stark.
Via Twitter:
The future is Stand-Alone, with very few crossovers. Probably for the best. I trust Jenkins, Wan, Reeves and Sandberg to deliver their own great stand-alone Superhero films. Then someday down the road they'll crossover again (and this time they'll make it work) #DCEU
— Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) July 4, 2018
All of this only heaps yet more pressure on Aquaman‘s burly shoulders. The standalone epic isn’t due to arrive until December, but with SDCC right around the corner (July 19th), we’ll surely find out more about Warner’s superhero slate sooner rather than later.
