Comic book fans, particularly of the DC Comics variety, have reason to rejoice today. Apparently Warner Bros. held a huge shareholder talk early this morning, during which they made some substantial announcements. With Zack Snyder currently filming BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, many have wondered what the future would hold for DC-related films. Several of those plans were unveiled today. The first film to hit after BATMAN V SUPERMAN will be SUICIDE SQUAD, which will directed by David Ayer (FURY, END OF WATCH) and is planned for a 2016 release. After that we’ll see a WONDER WOMAN movie (starring Gal Gadot) and the first of two JUSTICE LEAGUE movies in 2017. Zack Snyder has been confirmed to direct the JUSTICE LEAGUE films. In 2018 we get THE FLASH movie (starring Ezra Miller) and AQUAMAN movie, then in 2019 we’ll see a SHAZAM film and the second JUSTICE LEAGUE movie. Whew! Head of the studio Kevin Tsujihara also stated there are plans for something with Cyborg (Ray Fisher plays the role in BATMAN V SUPERMAN), a reboot for GREEN LANTERN, and even solo BATMAN and SUPERMAN movies (those last two shouldn’t come as any surprise). The official press release has a breakdown of the dates for these projects:
– Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” directed by Zack Snyder (2016)
– “Suicide Squad,” directed by David Ayer (2016)
– “Wonder Woman,” starring Gal Gadot (2017)
– “Justice League Part One,” directed by Zack Snyder; Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill & Amy Adams reprising their roles (2017)
– “The Flash,” starring Ezra Miller (2018)
– “Aquaman,” starring Jason Momoa (2018)
– “Shazam” (2019)
– “Justice League Part Two,” directed by Zack Snyder (2019)
– “Cyborg,” starring Ray Fisher (2020)
– “Green Lantern” (2020)
This is obviously DC’s way of trying to counter the enormous success Marvel has had at the box office, and this will certainly give their competition a few things to think about in the years to come. The big things to note here are WB’s commitment to Zack Snyder, handing him not one but two JUSTICE LEAGUE films to direct is a huge deal, and also shows the amount of faith they have in him. Some of the casting choices of their characters are interesting too. We know Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is playing the evil Black Adam in the SHAZAM movie, but still no word on who will play Shazam. Then there’s the casting of Ezra Miller as THE FLASH, which we’ll touch upon in a separate article. What do you think about all this news? Are you excited to see DC hitting the big screen in a big way? Tell us in the comments.
Sources: BenFritz and BusinessWire