Warner Bros. discovery has gone through a tumultuous upheaval ever since the acquisition happened with movies and shows being canned left right and center, amongst them a goodly number of the upcoming DC superhero slate and HBO’s various drama series, some even being tossed mid-, and in a few cases, post-production. The studio’s best attempt at capturing the famous Disney MCU magic had so far turned out to be something that drunkenly lurched from one middling film to the next.When it was announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran, who worked on Gunn’s The Suicide Squad for DC, would now be heading their production lineup, fans were left wondering what fate would befall the beleaguered Snyderverse that WB had started. With that in mind, it's time to round up all the news and rumors to date to give fans an idea of what the state of the DC union is before Gunn officially announces their slate next year.
Batman
Reports are solid where Batman isn't going. With the upsetting of the current DCU, it's solid that Ben Affleck won't be reprising his role as the dark Knight who first appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Following the canning of Affleck’s own Bat-movie, there’s as much chance of seeing the Oscar-winner reprising his role of Bruce Wayne as there is of seeing the MCU bring the former Daredevil star back as a multiversal Matt Murdoch.
Further, after tossing the finished Batgirl movie and dumping a rumored Batman: Beyond film, Michael Keaton isn't going to reprise the Caped Crusader anytime soon, either. The actor has been on a serious comeback of late, so the get was all on DC’s side, not his. As far as Robert Pattinson goes, Matt Reeves is getting to continue his pocket Batman universe but the latest Brit bat isn't going to crossover with DC's new main continuity according to Gunn. Just who the new mainline Batman will be is up for grabs.
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman 3, coming after the beloved Wonder Woman and the more divisive Wonder Woman 1984, was another project that was left uncertain in the wake of the recent buyout. With the press going back and forth on what exactly happened behind the scenes—either DC’s version that they offered an olive branch to Patty Jenkins and she rebuffed them, or her version that falls into the “I didn’t walk away, you pushed me out,” mode of PR management—what is known is that the brass weren’t happy with Jenkins’ proposed Wonder Woman 3 idea and put the kibosh on it until they could figure out where they were going next.
It’s not even known if Gal Gadot will return as the character; she could fall the way of Jason Momoa and into Gunn’s good graces, but as one of the Big Three of DC’s pantheon alongside Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, signs aren’t great.
Superman
Henry Cavill may have gotten the shortest end of the stick out of the whole DC restructuring. Not long after he left The Witcher (no reason was given for why Cavill was leaving the show) and announced he would be returning as Superman in the DCEU, the whole deal fell apart.
That announcement, made only days before Gunn and Safran were announced as new DC co-bosses, apparently wasn't ever as concrete as it seemed. Cavill is a man who may have looked the part and is a fun actor, but was relegated to movies that tonally are the opposite of what a Superman adaptation needs to be and there’s a good chance audiences are getting a lighter-hearted hero in the future, in line with the Big Blue Boy Scout persona that was established all the way back in 1938.
Aquaman
Pity the poor hero rumored to have slept with a fish but don’t pity Jason Momoa who is one of the few mainstream Snyderverse castings to have seemingly made the cut going forward in the revamped DCU.
Snagging a cameo at the end of Peacemaker, Gunn’s own spinoff of his The Suicide Squad, and starring alongside Gunn’s own Peacemaker star, John Cena in Killer Vacation, the upcoming movie produced by Safran and written by Gunn’s own brother and cousin, Momoa stands to be of the few to survive the DC culling. With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom still coming out, there’s a decent chance it’s only one of the star’s franchise entries, not his swan song.
The Flash
Despite Ezra Miller’s legal battles and tumultuous times in the press of late, WB is still going ahead with the actor’s The Flash movie (one that was supposed to have had Keaton’s Batman play a role, but c’est la vie).
Since the plot was rumored to be the Flashpoint story, a sort of multiversal reboot button for DC, that may be the only reason the film is still going through to act as a nuke on the former Snyderverse (including Miller’s Flash) and clear the way for DC to pick up the pieces that Gunn and Safran are setting up.
The Rest
Aside from Batgirl’s unceremonious dumping, it appears everything else that was in production is at last being allowed to finish. The upcoming Shazam! Fury of the Gods sequel is on its way to theaters, and so is the Blue Beetle movie with Gunn even recently tweeting the poster to his Twitter account. Peacemaker continues apace with John Cena and the rest of the gang with a rumor that Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller is going to be more prominent in the next season. With Margot Robbie’s continued interest in playing Harley Quinn and Gunn’s, too, it’s a good bet she stays in the picture too.