It's all quiet on the Marvel front today, but don't fret because that means we have an awesome roundup of DC news for you to dive into! Following those big HBO Max announcements last night, we have lots of new details and logos to share with you, while an existing DC TV show just got renewed.
There's also loads of fresh details about
Joker, including a brilliant behind the scenes story about star Joaquin Phoenix getting mistaken for an annoying extra. James Gunn, meanwhile, weighs in on whether the DC Extended Universe really is a shared world, and there are more Snyder Cut reveals.
Think you've heard it all before? Well, this update sheds some light on just how close to complete it is.
So, as you can probably tell by now, we have lots for you to take a look at here today if you're keen to know more about the future of DC on film and TV. Hit the "View List" button to check it out!
When Arthur Fleck Became "The Joker"
Joker is a movie that has generated a lot of discussion since it was released, and that includes the possible meaning behind Arthur Fleck's dance down those steps near the end of the movie.
Now, director Todd Phillips
has elaborated on that scene.
"The idea is that only when [Arthur] finally becomes the Joker is he fully free," the filmmaker explains.
"That dance on the stairs, that's the culmination. It's the one time he's fully free – or from that time forward he's fully free in his mind."
If you look back at the movie, Arthur definitely seems more confident from this point onwards.
The Justice League Snyder Cut's Score Is Finished
We've heard conflicting reports about how far along the "Snyder Cut" of
Justice League was before Joss Whedon took charge of those reshoots, but Junkie XL has now confirmed that he finished scoring that version of the movie before
The Avengers director replaced him with Danny Elfman.
"Well, I definitely could, but I won't," he said in regards to releasing those tracks in some way.
"The full score is still there. It's a really great score, and it's just there. It never goes away. We'll see what happens in the future, you know?" Asked if he thinks we'll ever get to hear his score, the composer replied:
"I have no comment on that. But I'm just saying, it's there. The full tracks."
These remarks are bound to get supporters of the "Snyder Cut" even more riled up and it's easy to see why, especially now it's been revealed the movie may be more finished than we thought.
Pennyworth Renewed For Season 2
In all honesty, there hasn't really been a huge amount of buzz surrounding Epix's
Pennyworth, but it's now been confirmed that a second season consisting of ten episodes will start shooting in January. Set in the 1960s, the show revolves around younger versions of Alfred Pennyworth and Thomas Wayne.
"Pennyworth has been a big hit for us, embraced by critics and fans alike," Epix President Michael Wright said in a statement today. "It was the highest-performing original series ever to premiere on Epix, more than doubling the viewership of the shows that came before it. Bruno Heller, Danny Cannon and WBTV have delivered a brilliant, must-watch series. We can’t wait to work with this phenomenal cast and creative team on another exciting season."
The show is essentially a prequel to
Gotham, and this news would seem to confirm that TV shows revolving around characters in Batman's Universe are pretty much guaranteed to be a hit.
HBO Max Will Boast The Entire DC Films Library
Last night, the curtain was finally pulled back on HBO Max, and HBO CCO Kevin Reilly confirmed that the streaming service will soon become the exclusive home of the entire DC Films library.
As well as the current slate of movies set in the DC Extended Universe, that also includes every
Batman and
Superman movie from the past forty years. On Twitter, HBO Max says that it's "all in with DC!" and these movies will be available for at least one year following the platform's launch.
What isn't clear is what this means for DC Universe, the current home of many DC movies!
Are We Getting A Joker Sequel?
During last night's HBO Max presentation, a great deal was made about the fact that
Joker will be on the streaming service when it debuts. However, with the movie taking aim at $1 billion at the worldwide box office, could a sequel re-teaming Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix happen?
"Joaquin and I would constantly talk about a sequel on set," the director
recently admitted.
"We've never seriously discussed it and still haven't because we really always envisioned it as its own standalone thing." It's definitely exciting to think that a follow-up could become a reality.
For now, though, it doesn't sound like it's anywhere near close to being confirmed.
A First Look At The DC TV Shows Coming To HBO Max
Last night, we learned that
Green Lantern and
Strange Adventures are coming to the HBO Max streaming service. Well, some low-res teaser posters have now found their way online and, as you can see, they don't reveal much. They're still pretty cool, though, and that's definitely a new Green Lantern logo.
As for
Strange Adventures, the signs definitely appear to be pointing to a unique new take on the superhero genre, but it will be interesting to see whether DC is able to pull it off after that disastrous
Powerless sitcom which took a similar approach to using original characters in a DC setting.
Jesse Eisenberg Talks More About The Snyder Cut Of Justice League
As you can see in the video above, an obnoxious interviewer recently asked Jesse Eisenberg about the "Snyder Cut" of
Justice League and the actor seemed supportive of that eventually being released.
He's clearly baffled by the entire situation, but the
Zombieland: Double Tap star admitted that there were scenes he was in that weren't in the movie and thinks fans fighting for artistic integrity is a good thing (much to the interview's chagrin as he's desperate to ridicule those same people).
A New Take On The DC Extended Universe
As you can see above,
The Suicide Squad director James Gunn was recently asked about whether the DC Extended Universe really is a shared world similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
While the filmmaker ignored the part about his movie being linked to The Batman, he pointed to the comic books as an example of stories being told which aren't necessarily linked together.
Clearly, Warner Bros. is moving away from the idea that these movies all have to link up.
Joaquin Phoenix Was Confused For On Annoying Extra On Joker
Here's a fun story to wrap things up with. Stand-up comic Gary Gulman makes a cameo appearance in
Joker and because he was unaware that Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck was supposed to have a laughing disorder, he found himself distracted by what he thought was an annoying extra!
"The one thing I will say that was a little bit irritating is that when I was running through my set, there were all these extras, and they’d clearly been told that I was doing well, so they were laughing and enthusiastic," Gullman told
Collider.
"And there was one extra who was so enthusiastic in his laughter that it was throwing off my timing."
"He was just laughing too loud, and right when I was about to say something to Todd about maybe getting the guy not to laugh so loud, I realised that it was Joaquin Phoenix," he continued. "It’s my best ‘Joker’ story. I can’t believe it took me six takes to figure out that the man with the really bizarre laugh was the Joker."