With the releases of “Man of Steel” and “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice”, DC’s entrance into the realm of major team-up franchise films has not been graceful. “Man of Steel” received mixed reviews, and “Batman vs. Superman” was just a hair’s breadth away from being a complete cinematic flop but, because DC has already entered the ring of franchise films with “Batman vs Superman”, there’s no turning back now. The damage has already been done. DC’s only hopes of redemption are its upcoming films, such as “Suicide Squad” and “Wonder Woman,” which aim to connect the entire DC Cinematic Universe. Based on the massive movie schedule that’s been released by DC, it appears that the sins of its recent past will be probably be forgiven.
The most immediate addition to DC’s list of films will be “Suicide Squad,” coming out on August 5th, a film based upon the comic book story-arc in which some of DC’s most notable super-villains are captured and forced to work for the government as a top-secret and easily disposable tactical force, hence the title of the film. The film stars several Hollywood heavyweights, including Will Smith (playing the role of “Deadshot”), Jared Leto (playing the iconic role of the “Joker”), and Margot Robbie (playing “Harley Quinn”). DC has thrown massive amounts of effort into the marketing of this film, and the results have been amazing.
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With last week’s Comic-Con in San Diego came plenty of exciting reveals by DC, including the trailer for its next film installment, “Wonder Woman.” The film will be released on June 2nd, 2017, and will chronicle the origin story of the Amazonian warrior, set in the midst of World War I. This will also be the first major film appearance ever for the heroine played by Gal Gadot, and fans everywhere are unanimously exclaiming, “It’s about damn time.” The trailer for the film looks spectacular and is raising a significant amount of hype. In all honesty, I’m currently more excited for this film than anything else DC is planning to release in the near future.
DC also revealed the teaser trailer for “Justice League” at San Diego Comic-Con, introducing new heavy-hitting characters to the DC Cinematic Universe. The film will be released on November 17th, 2017 and, based on the footage released in San Diego, will see Bruce Wayne (played by Ben Affleck) amassing a team of good, but dangerously super-powered individuals to combat an even more dangerous foe; a formula that has become all too familiar within the Superhero movie genre. Hopes for “Justice League” are high, however, and the film introduces major DC comic book characters to the big screen, including Aquaman (played by Jason Momoa), Cyborg (played by Ray Fisher), and the Flash (played by Ezra Miller).
DC’s release schedule continues with an exhausting number of titles set to be released during the next three to four years, including “The Flash,” “Aquaman,” a Batman solo film, “Shazam,” “Justice League 2,” “Cyborg,” “Green Lantern Corps,” “Booster Gold,” “Harley Quinn,” “Lobo,” “Sandman,” “Dark Universe,” “Legion of Super-Heros,” and, finally, “Metal Men.”
Wow. Typing all of that last part was genuinely exhausting. But, I digress. Here’s the part where I say how I feel about the whole thing.
As a self-professed Comic-Book nerd and someone who greatly appreciated, but definitely noticed the flaws of both “Man of Steel” and “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” I have very high hopes for the future of the DC Cinematic Universe. DC appears to have learned from its recent mistakes and from the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which hit the ground running in 2008 with box office hit “Iron Man,” and has collected some major talent on and off the screen for many of these upcoming films. The only obstacle DC faces now is the one that usually causes teeth-grinding anxiety for everyone who works in the film industry: the audiences. However, the trailers for “Suicide Squad,” “Wonder Woman,” and “Justice League” look extremely promising and even seem to improve upon many of the problematic elements of previous films, so I don’t believe audience response will be an issue. As long as DC is willing to be flexible and owns up to its mistakes, everything will be fine. In fact, I think it will be better than “fine.” It’ll be fantastic.
