There continues to be a lot of uncertainty surrounding the DC Extended Universe's future, and as things stand, the current era of storytelling will end with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom next December. That's a little surprising when The Flash is expected to reset this world, though there's always a chance the Aquaman sequel takes place in the new DCEU.
However, Ben Affleck replacing Michael Keaton suggests that Warner Bros. no longer plans to make him the permanent Caped Crusader. Batgirl has been scrapped and if Walter Hamada's Crisis on Infinite Earths plans have been similarly dropped, it makes no sense to put the spotlight on the retired Batman moving forward.
Whatever the case may be, Variety has confirmed that only one DC Comics movie has been given the green light in the current Warner Bros. Discovery era being overseen by CEO David Zaslav. That is Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to Todd Phillips' 2019 hit that grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
However, that movie takes place in its own reality, meaning plans for the sequel offer no real indication of where the DCEU is heading moving forward.
The trade notes that Matt Reeves remains hard at work on The Batman sequel, though it has yet to be greenlit. HBO Max TV shows revolving around The Penguin and Arkham Asylum remain in the works, as does a second season of Peacemaker. The fates of Titans, Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, and even J.J. Abrams' Constantine and Madame Xanadu are less certain, though.
Zaslav wants to make a DC Universe that's more in line with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but what that means for those standalone franchises is hard to say. Hamada was looking to take advantage of the Multiverse to tell a wider range of stories under his watch, but possible new DC Films boss Dan Lin may have a completely different idea.
What are your hopes for the DCEU's future?
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