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Warner Bros. Plans for Cinematic DC Universe May Have Leaked

by Ethan Anderton
June 12, 2014
Source: Nikki Finke

The gathering of geeks at Comic-Con in San Diego is still over a month away, but you can count on some big surprises meant for the convention getting spoiled before then. One such major announcement may come from Warner Bros. as former Deadline head Nikki Finke has returned to the entertainment news battlefront with her own site and a big scoop to kick things off. Normally this kind of rumor would be brushed off, but coming from someone like Finke, we're inclined to believe it. Supposedly the studio has a timeline plan for how they want to release films in the DC Comics universe following Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and their plans are pretty damn ambitious, and they also tell us who will be in Justice League.

Supposedly this is the general schedule that Warner Bros. has for DC Comics properties:

May 2016 – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
July 2016 – Shazam
Xmas 2016 – Sandman
May 2017 – Justice League
July 2017 – Wonder Woman
Xmas 2017 – Flash and Green Lantern team-up
May 2018 – Man Of Steel 2

Notice how Man of Steel 2 is slated for May of 2018? That seems to confirm our suspicions that Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice isn't really a Superman movie, and it's more of a Justice League prequel. Finke says the delay on Batman v. Superman was in order to get talent signed up for multi-picture deals to follow the tentpole, some of whom will be introduced by way of cameos in the film. We already know about Wonder Woman and Cyborg, along with rumblings of The Flash popping up, but apparently a new Green Lantern may be introduced, and Aquaman will be a part of Justice League as well.

The inclusion of Shazam is a little surprising, unless Warner Bros. plans to somehow fit him into their DC universe. Meanwhile, Sandman is a separate comic book entity that will not tie in to all this Justice League stuff. The most surprising piece of information here is that Warner Bros. and DC are really beefing up their comic book presence rapidly with three movies in the same cinematic universe coming out in 2017, one of them being a surprising team-up of The Flash and Green Lantern. Are these rumors true? Is this what Warner Bros. will reveal at Comic-Con? We'll find out in just over a month. Thoughts?

Find more posts: DC Movies, Movie News, Rumors

35 Comments

I hope this is all true. I have always liked DC a tiny bit more than Marvel, and I am dying to see all of these heroes on the big screen.

Snowmanfloza on Jun 12, 2014

No Ben Affleck Batman reboot? That kind of seems strange. Maybe in 2018 with Man of Steel 2. Other than that the schedule choices looks a bit odd. On one hand you have people that you definitely expected to get a film and on the other things you didn't expect at all. Sandman? Flash/Green Lantern movie seems the strangest out of all.

DJ Jack Ryan Hardy on Jun 12, 2014

After Nolan's he might be better as being a secondary character in most of the other movies instead. I'd like that - then he's always around but we don't have to have so many DC movies, and not so many more Batman movies.

OfficialJab on Jun 12, 2014

Unless he gets great reception...I can see another Batman film under that idea...We'll see. I'm open to anything.

Quanah on Jun 12, 2014

I feel like Batman will play a Nick Fury type role in all the other movies.

DAVIDPD on Jun 12, 2014

none of those dates are in 2015 🙁

Tyrell Antonio on Jun 12, 2014

MAN OF STEEL 2...I remember when...

DAVIDPD on Jun 12, 2014

Ooooh Shazam. Just wonder if Reynolds will still be GL.

Xerxexx on Jun 12, 2014

It seems like they are getting away from that and starting fresh. I wouldn't blame them or be 100% opposed to 'using' GL 2011 as a the character's on-screen origin, retroactively making it part of the DCU...but GL 2011 was pretty bad, and ignoring it would be fine. It's a double edged sword. Use the 2011 film as the origin, and accept a really bad movie into the DCU, or ignore it, keep the bad-ness out of the DCU....but 'give up' on an already existing on-screen origin for the character. Batman Begins is in a similar situation(although it is an infinitely better film). It is an excellent origin for Batman, so why NOT use it as a 'general origin' for the DCU version of the character since we aren't getting a 'DCU Origin' for DCU Batman...but then you are sort of stepping on the toes of the whole "This isn't Nolan's Batman" concept. It is kind of like Hulk 03. I think Marvel Studios would have been better suited to simply 'accept' that film as part of the MCU-canon, just so that it saves them the trouble of re-telling the origin. But apparently they felt that doing a reboot and telling a mini-version of the origin in the opening was a better idea.

Chris Groves on Jun 12, 2014

Reynolds was okay as Hal...but I was hoping for the John Stewart (Derek Luke?) version...if WB does recast they might as well pull a The Avengers move and just establish GL in the Justice League movie.

Xerxexx on Jun 12, 2014

Reynolds was a great Hal and it was a good casting. Only thing is the script brought down the entirety of the film and dragged along the actors with it. I would actually like to see Reynolds take another shot at Hal again. With a better script and a better film vision it could definitely work.

DJ Jack Ryan Hardy on Jun 12, 2014

This.

Xerxexx on Jun 13, 2014

Possibly. But I think they sort of want to wash their hands of that film. Most agree it was awful. I tried to re-watch it recently, and just the sheer terrible CGI right off the bat made it hard for me to want to see through it. For the few things they got right, they got many more things wrong and the whole film was spoiled. Having a 'fresh start' might be advisable. At most, they might play things a little loose, so that those who really liked that film can 'sort of' view it as being connected to the DCU....an approach I'm hoping they'll take with Batman Begins. Leave things vague enough to allow fans to interpret it our own way, if we want to see BB as an origin story for both the Nolan and DCU Batman...why not let us?

Chris Groves on Jun 13, 2014

Please no Ryan Reynolds...

TheOct8pus on Jun 13, 2014

Shazam the movie would make my life complete. So excited if this is real

Drejhead on Jun 12, 2014

The Rock has been in the rumor mill to play Black Adam for a while now, who knows.

DJ Jack Ryan Hardy on Jun 12, 2014

I'm interested, and if they have a clear plan, good for them. Some seem a little off the wall, like they wouldn't really be proper for the shared DC Universe, and others seem really likely. I mean, does something like Sandman really have a place? That is in the lineup by a solo Batman movie(possibly directed by Affleck?) isn't in the cards? Shazam/Captain Marvel gets an entire movie to himself, but The Flash and Green Lantern(who are both individually more mainstream than Captain Marvel) have to share a movie? You would think the focus should/would be on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Cyborg, Jon Jones/Martian Manhunter before they get into more of these 'fringe' characters like Captain Marvel or Sandman.

Chris Groves on Jun 12, 2014

Marvel started with a "fringe" character in IRON MAN. You just never know until you know, right?

DAVIDPD on Jun 12, 2014

Sure, but I mean, just going by general personal experience...myself and my older brother(who is not a fanboy on any level) both knew who Iron Man and Captain America were, and were at least generally familiar with their basic concept. I know virtually nothing of Shazam or Sandman...the only Sandman I knew about is the Spidey villain, and the only Shazam I had ever heard of was Shaq's crappy movie from back in the day. I mean, as far as my general awareness, if Iron Man and Cap are B characters, then this Shazam and Sandman guy would be C or D.

Chris Groves on Jun 12, 2014

Fair enough. But you are being subjective, Chris.

DAVIDPD on Jun 12, 2014

Yeah, just giving my opinion based on my experiences with people. I had no idea who Shazam and Sandman were, and I'm a total nerd(not specifically for comics, but I love the superhero genre) so I know that anyone 'more casual' than me has likely never heard of them. I believe even in 2006 or 2007, more people would have a general awareness of Iron Man than of Sandman or Shazam.

Chris Groves on Jun 13, 2014

Sandman is completely separate from the whole Justice League/superhero thing so that movie coming out shouldn't have any correlation with the movies surrounding it. The comics came out on DC's Vertigo imprint so they aren't nearly as popular as let's say a Superman or Batman title. The Sandman series is extremely beloved in the comic book community however, but the general public has no idea who the hell he is, so hopefully their marketing is smart for that one. Shazam, while I know who he is and a little bit of his backstory is definitely a C list character in my opinion. So who knows how that movie would fair. I think they are going for a more "fun" while still being dark and brooding approach with their new DC movie universe by doing team up movies (Batman/Superman & Green Lantern/Flash) which could be a smart move.

Blake on Jun 13, 2014

That's both ambitious and cool. I'd happily sit through each one. Get it done!

Quanah on Jun 12, 2014

A Flash/GL flick is diddling all of my G(eek) spots.

leemoder on Jun 12, 2014

Finally, they stopped being so insecure and waiting for box office results before announcing future films. DC may finally be displaying a similar confidence in their movie properties as Marvel has.

Blake on Jun 13, 2014

I'm still not excited about this, given their spotty track record. It all depends on how good Superman vs. Batman is. They really need to recast the Green Lantern.

TheOct8pus on Jun 13, 2014

Shaquille O'Neill

TheOct8pus on Jun 13, 2014

I am not a American guy and I only know batman and superman and a little bit wonder woman but this is not atracting my attention. Onley if they use topnotch directors it will work like at marvel studios. The avengers, Thor and iron man are great because they used great directors. Zack Snyder did a hell of a job with superman so give him the freedom to say this is the way DC should go and not a bunch of studio executives...

Avi on Jun 13, 2014

Wow Nikki Finke is back for like 5 minutes and already breaks this story? As annoying and insane as she is, goddamn she's good at her job.

Mitch Dunham on Jun 13, 2014

Maybe if any of it were true. To bad its completely false..

Fox on Jun 14, 2014

I want to be spoiled by multitudes of comic movies.

mooreworthy on Jun 13, 2014

Since I'm no longer six years old, I'll pass. But you go right ahead.

PedophileStateNittanyLiarz on Jun 14, 2014

Indeed I will. I missed the appointment to get a stick up my ass when I was six.

mooreworthy on Jun 16, 2014

Yeah, you're doing so much better stuff with your time. Like posting condescending remarks to strangers. Congratulations on being so grown up.

morganr on Jul 3, 2014

Once again the DC Movie Universe looks extremely lackluster compared to MARVEL. The fact they chose Zack Snyder to helm the most important film leading up to the Justice League is just indicative of the poor decisionmakers at the top.

GoonieGooGoo4 on Jul 22, 2014

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