Earlier this week, we learned that Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to scrap Batgirl despite the movie being in the midst of post-production. At this point, there have been countless conflicting reports regarding the studio's thinking, but the news has been met with an overwhelmingly negative response from fans.
If Warner Bros.' new owners have no problem with writing off a $90 million DC Comics movie, then it's fair to wonder whether any of the future DCEU projects are currently safe.
It's becoming commonplace for the studio to announce DC movies that never happen (we're still waiting on Deathstroke, Nightwing, and Cyborg), but which upcoming projects could follow Batgirl by getting the axe? There are a lot of very likely candidates, unfortunately, and it's those we're exploring here.
To take a look through the movies and TV shows at risk, hit the "Next" button below!
6. Green Lantern Corps
Announced way back in 2014 alongside movies like the two-part Justice League and Cyborg, Green Lantern Corps still hasn't become a reality. We know comic book writer Geoff Johns took over writing duties back in 2018, and it's been reported on multiple occasions that the focus will be on Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
Clearly, Warner Bros. is cautious about bringing Green Lantern back to the big screen after the 2011 movie flopped. With an HBO Max series in the works, it already feels like this movie has fallen by the wayside.
We're guessing Warner Bros. Discovery will want to focus on that scripted series for whatever form HBO Max takes moving forward, so perhaps we'll see Hal and John there. For now, though, there's no way this studio forks out the necessary money needed for a cosmic comic book movie based on what happened the last time.
5. Black Canary
Set photos for Batgirl showed several references to Black Canary, and it's been widely claimed that a post-credits scene was going to feature the first meeting between Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance.
Filmmaker Misha Green is supposed to be reuniting with Lovecraft Country and Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) star Jurnee Smollet for this movie, but it seems unlikely to happen. Believed to be another HBO Max movie rather than a theatrical release, it's impossible to imagine a Black Canary feature making the cut.
Remember, she's already starred in a movie that underperformed at the box office, so David Zaslav and company are unlikely to see any benefit from putting her in theaters or on streaming. Perhaps a Green Arrow team-up could save her?
4. Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle has also finished shooting, but if Batgirl has taught us anything, it's that a movie being in post-production won't rescue it from the axe! Originally conceived as an HBO Max movie, this has since been upgraded to a theatrical release, though it's unclear whether that means Warner Bros. Discovery has pumped more money into it.
If not, it's easy to imagine it being next for the scrap pile. It would be a terrible shame, but with relative unknown Xolo Maridueña in the lead role alongside a cast sorely lacking the sort of big names Batgirl had, we're not sure a debut in theaters will be a top priority for Warner Bros.' new regime.
Jaime Reyes' story is one that deserves to be told, especially with such a diverse cast. However, considering the studio just scrapped a Batgirl movie with Leslie Grace playing the titular Caped Crusader, that might not mean much. Plus, based on what we've seen in set photos, that Blue Beetle costume doesn't exactly look "big budget."
3. Superman
It's already been reported that the planned Supergirl movie starring Sasha Calle has been dumped by Warner Bros., and we don't anticipate the Man of Steel having a particularly bright future either.
With no sign of Henry Cavill reprising the role, producer J.J. Abrams has teamed up with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates to put a new spin on Superman with a Black actor playing Kal-El (potentially in a period setting). It's possible this will happen if it's treated like Joker or The Batman, but the studio may now be unwilling to take such a big departure from the comic books.
We'd like to see it become a reality, but can probably safely say that Michael B. Jordan's HBO Max movie revolving around Val-Zod definitely won't become a reality now. It sounded like a good fit for streaming, but it's hard to imagine both of these projects coming to theaters.
2. J.J. Abrams' Justice League Dark Slate
We've heard rumblings that Warner Bros. is already unhappy with the lack of returns on its Bad Robot investment, and recent events may now spell doom for the Justice League Dark.
From what we know, the plan was to release a slate of HBO Max movies, including Zatanna, Swamp-Thing, and Constantine, before they assembled as a team. Together, these quirky supernatural heroes may be worthy of the big screen, but with the studio looking for guaranteed hits, centring movies on characters most people haven't heard of probably isn't a good idea.
It sounds like big changes are afoot at HBO Max, so who knows what will become of these plans? Justice League Dark has been trapped in development hell for years now, and for the time being, that looks to be where it'll remain.
1. The Flash
Thanks to Ezra Miller's bizarre and disturbing behaviour out in the world, The Flash has become a movie many fans simply do not want to see. They've always been something of a divisive pick to play Barry Allen, but it won't be easy watching them in action with such troubling allegations doing the rounds online.
With rumours floating around about a $300 million budget, we're guessing Warner Bros. will put this movie in theaters, even if Miller doesn't do the rounds to help promote it.
However, should they continue to make headlines for all the wrong reasons, the studio may be left with no other choice than to write it off as a bad job. We don't think that's the most likely possibility right now, but we also can't say for sure that The Flash is 100% safe in these clearly uncertain times.