This article originally appeared on Complex.com
Without a traditional San Diego Comic-Con this year (canceled because of you-know-what) to showcase a bunch of new projects, Warner Bros. and DC decided to take matters into their own hands and set up a brand new virtual event for fans. Called the DC FanDome (get it, fandom?), the live experience featured a series of Zoom panels with the cast and creative talent behind the scenes of anticipated movies like The Batman, Wonder Woman 1984, the Snyder Cut of Justice League, and more.
FanDome successfully translated what it’s like to sit through panels at Comic-Con, while also packing the day’s events full of new announcements, trailers, and footage for DC’s entire cinematic slate from now well into 2022. For the first time since the end of Justice League, the future of the DCEU is starting to come into focus—and it’s an exciting time, full of promise.
A lot of info and teases were given out, so instead of sifting through it all across different articles, we’re here to break down all the highlights in one place and contextualize a few things along the way. Let’s dive in below.
'Wonder Woman 1984'
“I really think the movie is so great on the big screen...We’re going to stick it out, and we believe in putting it in the cinema.” That’s how Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins started the virtual panel for the COVID-19 delayed sequel. Much like Warner Bros. has a continued commitment to ensuring Tenet makes a theatrical window, so too will Wonder Woman 1984. While the complete cast—Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal, and Kristen Wiig—were also in (virtual) attendance, viewers saw special cameos from Venus Williams and the OG Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter.
While there’s no new date for the release of 1984, there was a new trailer which officially debuted Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah’s look. The film’s plot seems to focus on an offer from Pascal’s Maxwell Lord to the public, stating that anything people want or anything they can “dream of, [they] can have.” The sudden and mysterious reappearance of Chris Pine’s long-departed Steve Trevor, combined with this menacing statement from Lord, hints that the power suit-clad villain may be responsible for bringing back Diana’s (Gal Gadot) lover.
Meanwhile, Kristen Wiig’s Barbara Ann Minerva and Diana’s dynamic hinges around a perceived wrong. “You’ve always had everything, while people like me have had nothing,” Minerva states. This pits the two against one another while Maxwell pulls strings as the master puppeteer. Minerva fully embraces her “apex predator” status towards the end of the trailer with some special effects work that puts Cats to absolute shame. Oh, and in the same way we had Steve being a guide for a fish-out-water-Diana in the first movie, the roles will be reversed in 1984; the trailer ends with Steve getting his own fashion montage in the same way Diana had hers in the first movie. Steve seems to adapt well enough, as the sporty Nike Cortez’s that briefly appear look great on Chris Pine.
'The Flash'
It turns out it’s rather fitting DC originally wanted Phil Lord and Chris Miller involved with The Flash. The Erza Miller-starring, Andy Muschietti-directed standalone feature for the Scarlett Speedster looks more and more like it’s going to be inspired by the duo’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse—but with Batmen instead.
A loose adaptation of the popular “Flashpoint” storyline, the movie will explore Barry’s backstory and introduce the concept of the DC Multiverse to general audiences. The Flashpoint comic hinges around Barry Allen traveling back in time to save his mother from being killed. In doing so, he sets off a chain reaction and fundamentally alters the timeline in the process: Bruce Wayne’s father is Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman are fighting to control the world, and Superman spends his days as a lab rat, to name a few. In Muschietti’s version, Barry will still time-travel to save his mother but will somehow intersect with a few different versions of Batman along the way.
We knew Micahel Keaton would reprise his role, but earlier this week it was also announced that Ben Affleck’s version of Bruce Wayne would appear. While The Flash has yet to start filming, Muschietti showed concept art of Barry’s new, “more organic” suit built by Keaton’s Batman. One of the other pieces of concept art showed the two together in the Batcave as they fought unknown assailants, with Keaton in the iconic 1989 Batsuit.
The multiverse—and by extension, The Flash—will allow DC to really have their cake and eat it too, bringing together all these different versions of iconic comic book characters into one unified front. It’s an ambitious task, and it will be interesting to see how The Flash pulls everything together. Can we get Will Arnett’s Lego Batman in this too?
'The Suicide Squad'
“[This was] a warm and wonderful set.” This quote from actor Peter Capaldi was earnest, sure, but I can’t help but think of it as a direct contrast and resetting of expectations around The Suicide Squad. The sequel is helmed by Guardians of the Galaxy director/writer James Gunn in what was initially a bit of a coup for DC after he was dismissed from Marvel over some bad tweets. While Gunn eventually found his way back into the director’s chair for the third Guardians movie, he made a pit stop to revamp DC’s ragtag group of villains entirely. If Capaldi’s note isn’t just lip service, he seemingly brought a nice bit of comradery to the set too—something that was perhaps missing on the shenanigans-filled set of David Ayer’s original movie.
While Gunn is still working on editing the film, he revealed who each of his star-studded cast would be playing. Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman and Viola Davis will all return as Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Rick Flag, and Amanda Waller respectively. Joining them this go-round is a combination of beloved character actors, Gunn-troupe favorites, and others including Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, John Cena as Peacemaker, Nathan Fillion as T.D.K., Michael Rooker as Savant, Flula Borg as Javelin, Alice Braga as Solsoria, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Mayling Ng as a gender-swapped Mongal, Sean Gunn as Weasel, and Steve Agee as King Shark. You can see the full cast reveal video below.
There are many deep-cut DC characters here—I sincerely cannot believe we’re getting Polka-Dot Man and The Thinker in a major blockbuster, for example. While that’s exciting for diehard comic book fans, the inherent danger of the missions the Squad undertakes means that not everyone is bound to make it out alive. It is fitting, as gritty war movies of the 1970s-inspired Gunn’s take on the sequel. You can see more in this behind-the-scenes video feature that was also released.
While we’re still pretty far out from the films August 2021 release, but even in this early look, The Suicide Squad is certainly shaping up nicely under Gunn’s warm leadership.
'Static Shock' and Milestone Comics
As part of a surprise panel, DC unveiled the return of Milestone Comics. Founded in 1993 by a coalition of Black writers and artists, including the legendary Dwayne McDuffie, Milestone focused specifically on addressing racial minorities’ underrepresentation in superhero comic books. It wasn’t officially a part of the DC Universe even though the company distributed the comics themselves.
The most famous of Milestone characters was Static Shock, who was created by McDuffie and starred in an animated series for four years. Not only will Virgil Hawkins return in a Static Shock digital comic in February 2021 and as a graphic novel, but there’s a “serious conversation” at Warner Bros. about developing Static as a theatrical feature film. Considering the impact the animated series had on generations of fans, this is exciting—and long overdue—news.
The Snyder Cut
I still, really, cannot believe this movie is even happening—but it is. And so director/writer Zack Snyder took the virtual stage at Fandome to talk about his version of Justice League. Snyder confirmed that Cyborg (Ray Fisher) will be the “heart” of the movie and will see his storyline fleshed out considerably from the version that Joss Whedon finished. The director also hinted at a particular sequence involving some unknown bits of The Flash’s powers and an increased role in the movie’s plot.
Additionally, Snyder revealed that the movie would drop in four, one-hour installments with an eventual theatrical-type cut to come later. The trailer included below, is set to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and features previously unseen footage, including Darkseid (DC’s version of Thanos, basically), Kiersey Clemons’ version of Flash paramour Iris West, the Hall of Justice, and more. The trailer ends with Ben Affleck’s Batman saying while Darkseid has faced all kinds of enemies, he hasn’t met the Justice League “united.”
'Black Adam'
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time. This is the one that’s going to change everything.” It is wild it’s taken this long for Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson to attach himself to a superhero-related project, but Black Adam is the one he’s had his eye on for quite some time. Black Adam will focus on the origin of Teth-Adam, who lived in the fictional Kahndaq. This nation prospered under slave labor of people like Teth until he revolted and took control of the same power eventually granted to Shazam. Reborn as “Black Adam,” Teth served as judge, jury, and executor, liberating his people along the way—but not before he was locked away. Eagle-eyed viewers will note there was a subtle reference to this history in 2019’s Shazam! during Billy’s (Asher Angel) interaction with the Wizard (Djimon Hounsou.)
Black Adam is inherently an anti-hero, which will be an interesting and atypical role for Johnson. Additionally, Black Adam will also feature characters from the Justice Society, including heroes Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher as the foe Black Adam will square off against in the Jaume Collet-Serra-directed film when it releases on December 22, 2021.
'Aquaman' sequel
Since the Aquaman sequel won’t arrive until December 2022, it’s still a little too early to provide a lot of information on the Jason Momoa-led franchise. Instead, director James Wan and actor Patrick Wilson chatted about their shared work experience across five films and how their relationship further grew on the set of Aquaman. However, Wan revealed the second installment would be “a little bit more serious” than its predecessor. Part of the first movie’s charm is how it avoided the dour tones much of the DCEU had seen up to that point, so this news is a little disheartening to hear. Hopefully, the movie won’t shift gears completely. Wan also hinted Patrick Wilson’s Ocean Master character will still be a part of the sequel, despite his defeat at the end of the first film.
'Shazam!'
Much like Aquaman, the forthcoming Shazam! sequel won’t arrive for another few years, so the only real news from the panel was that the upcoming second film would be titled Shazam: Fury of the Gods. It’s unclear whether Zachary Levi’s Shazam and Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam will go head-to-head, but we can only hope we’ll get to see the matchup soon rather than later.
'The Batman'
What a wonder a well-cut trailer can do to change the public perspective. Initial buzz around the first trailer for the Matt Reeves-written and directed, Robert Pattinson-starring Batman reboot appeared to be extremely strong if my timeline was any indication.
While Batman is often known as “The World’s Greatest Detective,” other cinematic versions haven’t fully explored this element until now. The Batman will see Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne take on a mystery haunting Gotham courtesy of Paul Dano’s The Riddler. Reeves revealed the movie’s tone draws its influence from noir films like Chinatown, Taxi Driver, and The French Connection with a real-world grounding to make it seem as if it could all “really happen.” The trailer itself comprises about “25%” of the final film, as corona-related complications shut down production earlier this year.
Reeves also stated this story is essentially a “Year Two” version of the character. We’re moving past the tired origin story of Batman (which hopefully means R.I.P. to seeing Martha and Thomas Wayne, well, R.I.P.) into a world wherein everyone, including the villains, is still coming into the identities we know and love. We see brief glimpses of Zoë Kravitz in burglar mode wearing a ski mask with just a touch of cat ears. Meanwhile, there’s an otherwise unrecognizable Colin Farrell as the Penguin— although Reeves stated he doesn’t like being called by that name. And Jeffrey Wright’s Commissioner Gordon gets a fair amount of screentime in the first part of the trailer while Andy Serkis’ Alfred is heard in voiceover.
The Riddler’s menacing, uh, riddles seem to indicate there’s more to Batman and Gotham’s past than perhaps even Bruce knows. However, one thing that’s abundantly clear to a group of Joker-inspired goons is this: While he might not be wholly Batman in name, this version of the infamous character is undoubtedly full of rage. And this trailer is loaded with enough tantalizing details and bold new directions to make the wait until October 21, 2021 all the more grueling.