Geoff Johns Clarifies DC Movie/TV Universe Connection; "You Won't See Batman Or Superman"
Talking at The Flash's TCA panel today, Geoff Johns has confirmed that there are still no plans to integrate the movie and TV DC universes, making it clear that keeping them separate allows Warner Bros. to "tell the story that's best for film". We also get an update on Wonder Woman...
As Arrow continues to get more and more popular, and The Flash gets his own series, fans have been desperate to know whether the movie and television DC universes are one and the same. There have been hints that they both are and are not in the recent past, though Geoff Johns made it clear once and for all today that they are very much their own thing. "You'll see a lot of DC universe characters [on The Flash and Arrow]. You won't see Batman or Superman. We're on production on Batman V Superman now. So you'll see characters like The Atom or Firestorm, but no not Batman or Superman right now [on TV]." That makes sense, but Smallville aired when Superman Return was released, so why not? Well, Johns is referring to the Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck versions of these characters, and went on to definitively state that we won't see the two worlds collide anytime soon. "It's a separate universe than film so that the filmmakers can tell the story that's best for film. While we explore something different in a different corner of the DC universe. We will not be integrating the film and television universes."
Now, what's going on with Wonder Woman? As well all know, Gl Gadot will play the character in 2016's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, while a solo movie has also been rumoured. At one point, The CW was planning on launching Amazon, a series which would focus on a younger version of the Amazonian princess. That was put to one side when they started to prioritise The Flash, but it still could happen according to CW Mark Pedowitz. "If she is and we can get the right script we will do it. One of the nice things is that a lot of the other broadcasters and cable networks have done Comic Book Characters based on the success of Arrow. So for our purposes, it is a rich source material, we know what the mythology is, and if you have the right superhero character you go for it." Johns reiterated this point, adding that as long as they don't feel repetitive (after all, there's no point telling the same story on film and on television), "there's room for everything." He finished by adding that he would most like to see Shazam adapted to live action, though it wasn't clear whether he meant on the big or small screen...