Despite earning $657 million worldwide, Justice League was basically a flop because a movie that brought together that many superheroes should have cleared a billion easily. Instead, it showed that although people really liked Wonder Woman (which earned $821 million worldwide), they were tepid on the overall direction of the DCEU. In response, Warner Bros. is moving slowly and cautiously rather than trying to line up a parade of superhero movies with arbitrary release dates. Aquaman is still on schedule for December 21st, filming has begun on Shazam! for an April 5, 2019 release date. Additionally, casting should begin soon for Wonder Woman 2, which is currently set to open on November 1, 2019 with Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins set to return. And outside of that the picture gets fuzzy with lots of projects in various stages of development
THR now reports that Warner Bros. is eying the Flash movie and Batgirl as the follow-ups to Wonder Woman 2. Per THR, “Insiders say the next wave will likely include the Flash film and Batgirl, among others,” which naturally leads to speculation about what those “others” could be. Perhaps it’s Suicide Squad 2? The Joker origin movie starring Joaquin Phoenix? Matt Reeves’ Batman? There are plenty of possibilities, but if THR is willing to name Flash and Batgirl, then it stands to reason that these are the two that the studio is most bullish on.
Which makes sense since Flash and Batgirl are both relatively lighthearted characters. Based on the hard-turn following the disappointment of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it appears Warner Bros. has made the decision that it’s better for their superhero movies should be more upbeat. That doesn’t mean they can’t have pathos (there’s certainly dramatic weight to Wonder Woman), but they’re moving away from gritty, dark characters in favor of more personable ones like Shazam! (a boy who becomes a superhero when he shouts “Shazam!”), Flash (who was one of the few bright spots of Justice League), and Batgirl, who will probably walk the line between comedy and thriller with Joss Whedon in charge.
It will be interesting to see what kind of announcements Warner Bros. makes for what comes after Wonder Woman 2 and what it means for the future of the DCEU.
