Sick of the DC Universe and all its loose lips, sinking ships, and various PR disasters? Sorry, there’s more to come, but suffice to say, for the last few weeks, ever since the “Batgirl” was canceled, it’s been a rollercoaster ride for the company that’s seemingly in the press every day for one negative story after another. Either it’s something that their too-toxic-to-touch “The Flash” actor Ezra Miller did or got arrested for, or it’s some update on “Batgirl” that make the optics of canceling an Afro-Latinx-led project while continuing to support a film by an embattled white actor who has had the worst PR of 2022 look worse and worse.
Let’s start out with “Batgirl.” Yesterday’s Variety update says that Warner Bros. Pictures Group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy are seeking to mend fences with “Batgirl” star Leslie Grace. This is undoubtedly true; Grace was the breakout star of WB’s “In The Heights,” and the whole situation is likely very embarrassing to De Luca and Abdy on a personal and professional level. Variety says they are “entertaining the possibility of having her continue to play Batgirl in a future DC film (or, at least, star in another Warner Bros. production).”
Honestly, this feels like spin. Sure, Grace could easily get offered another WB film, but being offered to play Batgirl again feels unlikely. As Variety’s own piece reports, the canceled “Batgirl” led to “middling test scores,” so it sounds like DC Films and WB have lost faith in that character. Do not be surprised if this doesn’t happen. Now, again, Grace could easily be offered all kinds of “make goods” by WB, but honestly, why would you want to work with that studio after that, and if you are and you’re her management? Aren’t you only going to do it if you can make them pay with a super healthy, perhaps overspent payday?
What else is in the report? Well, some original reporting and a collection of other reports about what projects at DC are safe and what projects are not.
Let’s make sense of this and let you know what’s what. “Joker 2,” which reportedly has a $150 million budget and complicated musical sequence, is fine. We know this because it’s shooting soon and already has a release date. Matt Reeves’ “Batman 2” (working title) is also fine because that was already announced at Cinemacon. While other outlets are already worrying because Variety says Reeves’ sequel is many years away and doesn’t have an official greenlight yet, well, sorry, that’s pretty standard and normal. For one, to get an official greenlight, you need a proposed budget; to get a budget, you need a script that doesn’t exist yet.
Reeves takes time between movies, and by his own admission (listen to the recent Q&A podcast to get more insights here), he is a slow writer that needs help (he brought on at least two writers for “The Batman” and one of them Mattson Tomlin wasn’t even credited because the script changed too much beyond his contributions). Reeves took five years between “War Of The Planet Of The Apes” and “The Batman,” so “many years away” is just standard business. In other words? Nothing has changed with the development of “The Batman” sequel. It’s just going to take time.
With Warner Bros. Discovery and David Zaslav changing their overall strategy and canceling films like “Batgirl,” what one really needs to worry about most of all, overall, is films that have yet to be made, are stuck in development, and have zero track record to speak of yet.
So, this means, while yes, there could be reshoots and retooling of things like “The Flash,” “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” and “Black Adam” (all of which are rumored to suffer release date shifts later this year) they’re all fine and will come out. Things like a third “Wonder Woman” film will be fine, too; she’s a hugely important piece of IP to the DC Universe (though “Blue Beetle,” currently shooting and set for August 2023, is apparently having dramas and issues that may be public by next week).
OK, so what’s left? Well, Matt Reeves’ “Penguin” series starring Colin Farrell is apparently fine and shooting next year. Director James Gunn has assured fans his many projects are OK, and “Peacemaker 2” is still coming. Deadline has reported that “Black Canary,” starring Jurnee Smollett, is apparently fine and still in development. The “Green Lantern” series at HBO Max is reportedly OK, and no one still seems to know much about the J.J. Abrams projects at Bad Robot that are seemingly way, way overdue: “Justice League Dark,” “Constantine,” “Madame Xanadu” and a Ta-Nehisi Coates-written script centering on a black Superman.
But personally, if it hasn’t been made yet, and isn’t proven IP—I’m looking at Bad Robot that was paid $200 million two years ago and still hasn’t produced one iota of DC content yet—if you’re a fan or a producer and worried about the cost-cutting efforts of Warner Bros. Discovery and Zaslav, I’d be most worried about the things that haven’t shot yet. These are the easiest projects to look at a script, look at a proposed budget and balk on.
Another big takeaway from the article: DC and Warner Bros. are still looking for a Kevin Feige figure to oversee things. One name that keeps constantly coming up is Greg Berlanti, who already oversees most of DC’s Television properties—“The Flash,” “Superman & Lois,” the Arrowverse, etc.—but he’s apparently not interested because he’d have to take a considerable pay cut to work inhouse and currently he is one of the most successful producers on television (thank Christ, he might be rich, but the quality of those TV shows are consistently dreadful).
Lastly, not mentioned, but seemingly clear: WBD wants a DCEU version of Superman and The Batman. Will Henry Cavill return in post-credit sequences as rumored? Will Ben Affleck’s fate change in “The Flash” reshoots? So, the state of the DC Universe overall? Well, some plans are in place, or hopes and dreams, but seemingly still in flux at the moment.