Superhero animation is really in vogue right now. Arguably following the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the medium has taken on a newfound prestige and though fans have known this for years, it seems the industry is finally realizing that comic book cartoons aren’t just for kids. On TV, for example, HBO Max has Harley Quinn while Amazon Prime found a lot of success with Invincible.
In the near future, Marvel Studios will also be getting into the game with their What If…? anthology series. That will be canon to the MCU, although based around various alternate realities. It seems Warner Bros. is looking to go one step further than their chief rivals, though, according to what we’re hearing. Sources close to WGTC – the same ones who said Ben Affleck would return as Batman in The Flash – say that WB wants to do big budget animated movies that’ll be canon to the DCEU.
It’s unclear if there are any specific projects in development at this time, but our intel does point to the studio looking into expanding the cinematic universe into the animated medium. WB is already beginning to extend the franchise onto TV, with James Gunn’s Peacemaker series and The Batman-related Gotham PD show. And as they continue to consider ways to keep the franchise growing and growing, it makes sense that they’d jump on the idea of doing some animated spinoffs.
WB Animation has made a lucrative business out of their straight-to-home DC animated movies over the past decade or so, with several coming out every year. But DCEU animated films that operated on a much bigger scope and scale could be something really special and would no doubt prove hugely popular with fans. It’s easy to imagine that these’d be perfectly placed to end up on HBO Max rather than released theatrically, but that’s just speculation.
In any case, the next DC animated flick to arrive is Batman: The Long Halloween Part One, due out on VOD and Blu-Ray on June 22nd.
