Looking back at the DCEU, it's hard not to have mixed feelings; there were, after all, some excellent casting decisions and more than a few great movies mixed in with some unbelievably bad creative decisions. When all was said and done, the franchise was never able to rival the MCU.
Almost three years ago, DC Studios was officially formed with James Gunn and Peter Safran placed in charge. The slate they announced back then hasn't quite materialised, but the DCU is still off to a strong start, something that's evident from Superman's success.
Many DCEU movies failed to materialise. Some like Ben Affleck's version of The Batman were scrapped long ago, while others were either on pause or in the early stages of development when the decision was made to relaunch the brand as the DCU.
In this feature, we're reflecting on the handful of DCEU projects that we'd have actually liked to see become a reality before the plug was pulled. Some were much closer to happening than others, but they all had the potential to be great DC Comics adaptations...
7. Deathstroke
We haven't included Ben Affleck's The Batman here because the movie was completely scrapped years before Matt Reeves' version of the story arrived in theaters. Joe Manganiello had been set to play Slade Wilson in that, with a solo Deathstroke movie expected to follow.
The Raid's Gavin Evans was enlisted to write and direct. Based on comments from the filmmaker, he intended to deliver a down-and-dirty action flick heavy on action and violence (exactly what fans want from DC's Terminator).
This one had been in limbo for some time, but it sure would have been fun to see on the big screen. While DC Studios reportedly has something in the works featuring Deathstroke and Bane, an action/buddy comedy doesn't hold quite the same appeal.
6. Nightwing
It was way back in 2017 that Warner Bros. announced plans for The LEGO Batman Movie director Chris McKay to helm a live-action Nightwing movie. It was never clear how that would connect to Zack Snyder's plans after he killed Dick Grayson, but excitement among fans was high.
However, as time passed, it was apparent that the project had fallen by the wayside at Warner Bros. Flops like Justice League and Wonder Woman 1984 would have done little to help matters, and Dick's story ended up being told in the so-so Titans TV series that started life as a DC Universe streaming app exclusive.
While The Brave and the Bold still doesn't seem to be going anywhere fast, we'd hope that Gunn plans to establish the Bat-Family in the DCU as soon as possible. Perhaps we'll then finally get to see Dick's corner of Gotham City fleshed out in a meaningful way with a solo project.
5. The New Gods
Warner Bros. never had much of a plan for the DCEU, explaining why we started seeing movies take shape that contradicted what other filmmakers had planned. Zack Snyder, for example, had some bold ideas for Darkseid and Apokolips, but Ava DuVernay was still given the green light to move forward with The New Gods.
DuVernay was developing the movie with comic book writer Tom King in what sounded like a fun, ambitious approach to this cosmic corner of the DC Universe.
Darkseid was going to be front and centre in this Jack Kirby-inspired tale, with Mister Miracle and Big Barda serving as the lead protagonists. Fortunately, King is getting the opportunity to somewhat revisit it with the Mister Miracle animated series, a project we have to believe has at least a few things in common with The New Gods movie that never was.
4. Super Max
Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max (which surprisingly isn’t based on a similar comic book arc) predates even the DCEU, and it would have seen the titular superhero framed for a murder he didn’t commit. From there, it was set to focus on his quest to escape from the high-security prison he’s placed in.
Along the way, the hero was going to face off against several instantly recognisable comic book villains, including The Riddler, Lex Luthor, and the Joker. Skipping an origin story altogether, Super Max would get straight to the point, and David S. Goyer and Justin Marks’ script was more of a prison escape movie than a typical superhero outing.
It's a real shame this never became a reality, as there were talks for years about the concept being resurrected for the DCEU. We'd like to think DC Studios might consider doing something with this unmade project, but we won't be holding our breath.
3. Batgirl
When Warner Bros. was acquired by Discovery, we expected some big changes, but the decision to scrap the near-completed Batgirl remains one of the studio's most shocking and controversial decisions.
Despite featuring In the Heights' breakout star Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon, Michael Keaton as Batman, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and Brendan Fraser as the villainous Firefly, the studio came to the conclusion that it simply wasn't worth finishing and releasing the HBO Max movie.
A lot of fans and filmmakers were left reeling by that, but ever the company men, James Gunn and Peter Safran have defended the decision to pull the plug on Batgirl. Now, the character is back on the shelf, and we'll almost certainly never get to judge this one for ourselves.
2. Batman Beyond
Fans have spent years hoping for a Batman Beyond movie, and it turns out the previous DC Films bosses were planning to head down that route with Michael Keaton's Caped Crusader.
After serving as a mentor to Barbara Gordon in Batgirl, Batman was going to train Terry McGinnis as his successor, giving the DCEU a new Dark Knight (leaving Robert Pattinson to continue playing Bruce Wayne in The Batman franchise). Adding salt to the wound is the fact that Michelle Pfeiffer was being eyed to reprise the role of Catwoman!
DC Studios producing this as an Elseworlds project and sending Keaton off on a high would be, well, beyond brilliant. However, with The Batman 2 moving forward and The Brave and the Bold supposedly still a priority, we somehow can't picture a third and fourth Batman showing up.
1. Crisis on Infinite Earths
The original plan for the DCEU was for it to culminate with a Crisis on Infinite Earths movie. We're unsure what the plan was from there, but the idea was for multiple versions of our favourite characters to share the screen, including an Affleck/Keaton Batman team-up.
Would this project have been any better than those ghoulish CG cameos in The Flash? We'll never know, but it's hard not to wish we'd seen this one become a reality out of curiosity alone. Many of us have indeed grown tired of the Multiverse, so why is it even included here?
Well, Crisis remains one of the most popular and iconic DC Comics stories ever told. Do we think Warner Bros. would have done right by it? That's up for debate, but this would have been a potentially epic way to end the DCEU before DC Studios' reboot had happened.