If you wanted to, you could chart Warner’s journey over the last decade by the decline of Batman, from the heights of The Dark Knight, to the nadir of racing to release Justice League on its intended date last November, despite its embattled production, so that the CEOs could get their annual bonuses on time. The film had an underwhelming reception, especially considering how big a Justice League movie should have been, and it’s thrown what should be Warner Bros’ biggest franchise into uncertainty…

The DC Extended Universe

At the time of writing, we know of three DC films that are 100% definitely happening. Aquaman is first up – James Wan’s film is coming to cinemas this Christmas, having already been well into production when Justice League was released. It might otherwise have gone the way of the planned Cyborg movie, but Wan is a reliable pair of hands and Jason Momoa is popular enough as the title character, that this might well be another outlier in the vein of Wonder Woman.

After that, a far bigger outlier, in the shape of David F. Sandberg’s Shazam. The New Line release is due out in April 2019, and judging by set pictures and the reported comedic tone of the film, the story of Billy Batson AKA Shazam could be the first major tangent from the DCEU at large. Another factor in that lighter tone is the involvement of Dwayne Johnson as the villainous Black Adam somewhere down the line – although he isn’t appearing in this movie.

Thirdly, and most inevitably, Wonder Woman 2 is pencilled in for November 2019. Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins will reunite to film the sequel this summer, with Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal also joining the cast. We’ve also recently learned that Margot Robbie is producing and starring in a film inspired by Birds Of Prey. Director Cathy Yan is attached to direct the fast-tracked project, which will see Robbie return as Harley Quinn alongside other female DC characters like Poison Ivy and Black Canary.

Elsewhere, Gavin O’Connor is attached to direct Suicide Squad 2 (once rumored to be a jumping-on point for Johnson as Black Adam, based on The Black Vault) and we’re apparently still getting Green Lantern Corps in 2020, but so many different projects have been announced, with so little to show for it in the wake of the underwhelming response to existing films, the future of the DCEU is something of a mystery at present.