SPOILERS: 15 Pressing Questions That Need Answering For The Future Of The DC Film Universe
Post-Justice League, Warner Bros. has a lot of questions and issues that need addressing but here are the 15 most immediate concerns DC Film co-Chairs Jon Berg and Geoff Johns need to address.
Most fans agree that Justice League wasn't nearly as bad as film critics made it out to be, however, the damage has already been done. The film had the lowest opening weekend of any DCEU film to date and is reportedly in danger of ending its box office run in the red. But instead of dwelling on what went wrong, let's discuss what needs to be addressed moving forward.
Despite Justice League likely ending up a box office disappointment, WB's stable of DC Comics superheroes represents possibilities too lucrative to ignore. In order to move past this bump in the road, there's some lingering issues that need to be addressed before WB can truly turn the corner. Here are the 15 most pressing issues architects Geoff Johns and Jon Berg must problem solve before moving to the next chapter of the DCEU.
How Does Clark Kent Return From The Dead
Without Revealing His Alter Ego?
Superman comes back from the dead and there's certainly a ton of onlookers that witness him taking down Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, Batman and Flash. Eventually, he comes back to his senses and effortlessly takes down Steppenwolf when the rest of the League appears outmatched. But perhaps even more curious are the scenes at the end of the film which sees Kal-el back in his Clark Kent attire.
Will Clark return to work at the Daily Planet? Will no one piece together the fact that Clark Kent and Superman returned from the dead at the same time? If the DC Films Universe truly continues on after Flashpoint, hopefully, this gets adequately and plausibly addressed.
Why Was Steppenwolf On Earth In the First Place?
The film sees Steppenwolf described as the destroyer of worlds and it appears he's acting on the behalf of Darkseid but his exact motivations are unclear. In the comics, Darkseid is obsessed with obtaining the Anti-Life Equation, a theoretical mathematical formula that would give the ruler of Apokolips control over all sentient life. None of that gets mentioned or even hinted at in the film. It's just implied that Steppenwolf goes from planet-to-planet, destroying and reshaping as he sees fit, all in the name of Darkseid. The "why" of it is apparently being saved for another film.
Will The Public Be Aware That Wayne Manor Is The Justice League's HQ?
In every Justice League iteration, the team has a base of operations where they gather to strategize when threats become too big for one hero to tackle alone. Some Justice League heroes even call the base home as they have nowhere else to go between missions.
There's been several different headquarters for the League but the two most popular are the Hall of Justice and the orbiting satellite known as The Watchtower. In some instances, the bases work in tandem, with the Hall serving as an Earth-based embassy while the Watchtower functions as a watchdog for extraplanetary threats. Batman's Flying Fox serves as a mobile base of sorts but it gets destroyed by the end of the film.
If the dilapidated Wayne Manor is turned into the Hall of Justice as the film's final moments imply, wouldn't it be fairly obvious that Bruce Wayne is involved- either as The Batman or as the League's financier? Even the latter would draw unnecessary attention to what exactly Bruce Wayne spends all his money on...
What Happened To The Rest Of The Parademons?
But the group of Parademons that were taken away with Steppenwolf weren't anywhere close to being the full amount shown in the scenes leading up to the initial assault on the power reactor. There were literally thousands swarming the skies but only a small number were teleported away.
Did another boom tube open and take away the rest? Do the parademons stop functioning without Steppenwolf, similar to how the Chitauri stopped functioning in The Avengers after the mothership was destroyed? While Steppenwolf's defeat assured victory, it seems obvious that the fight was far from over. The audience is just left to assume that the rest of the Parademons were taken disposed of "off-panel."
Where Did Steppenwolf's Final Boom Tube Take Him?
Speaking of Steppenwolf's defeat, where did his Boom Tube open? His first defeat all those years ago left him exiled from Apokolips. That flashback scene reveals that Steppenwolf had to be dragged back to his ship as the battle's outcome became obvious but what's he been up to in all the years since? If Superman's power was what was keeping Steppenwolf at bay and his death was the signal for him to return, why didn't he come back in the hundreds of years between the death of the Greek Gods (as seen in Wonder Woman) and Superman's arrival on Earth?
The story about the Mother Boxes are not the same as Thanos' quest for the Infinity Stones, where he's unsure of where to find them and has been tracking them across the cosmos and alternate dimensions. While Steppenwolf may not know their exact location, he knew the Mother Boxes were still on Earth. There clearly needed to be another rewrite done on Steppenwolf's motivations in the film.
Where's The Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814?
The brief flashback battle between the Greek Pantheon, Atlanteans, Amazons, Man and a Green Lantern was definitely one of the highlights of the film. However, the appearance of a Green Lantern raises a ton of questions. Traditionally, there are 3599 Green Lanterns assigned to guard and patrol 3600 sectors of space as divided by the Guardians of Oa. The Green Lantern defeated by Steppenwolf in Justice League could very well be Starkadr, the Lantern who proceeded Abin Sur as the protector of Sector 2814.
That leads to the question of where Hal Jordan's predecessor was during Steppenwolf's mini-invasion? If the ring hasn't yet passed on to Jordan yet, the potential annihilation of all life on Earth should warrant a house call by the sector's sole intergalactic peacekeeper.
The Amazons Are Forbidden To Leave Themyscira But Why Didn't Atlantis Send More Than Aquaman?
It seems very odd that Steppenwolf would just backstroke into Atlantis, kill some guards, steal the Mother Box they've been guarding for centuries and Atlantis would leave it to their half-blood, self-exiled would-be king to exact revenge. At the very least, there should have been some Atlantis soldiers that accompanied him to battle. Did Willem Dafoe's Vulko initially accompany Aquaman? We know he filmed scenes that were ultimately cut. Hopefully James Wan and Jason Momoa's solo Aquaman film addresses this issue.
What Other Villains Will Lex Luthor Target For His Injustice League?
We know Aquaman's solo movie will see Ocean Master and Black Manta debut, so they're prime candidates for inclusion. As for Barry Allen, his solo film is titled Flashpoint so it's safe to assume that Reverse-Flash is somewhere out there in the larger world. Plus, there's also Captain Boomerang, who appeared in Suicide Squad while Wonder Woman 2 is likely to see Cheetah introduced.
But what about a foe for Cyborg? His most notable adversary is probably a Geoff Johns creation of the last few years, Grid. Cyborg's opposite number is created when his Mother Box-created technical appendages truly gain sentience and expel the biological remnants of Victor Stone as "contaminated material." The Teen Titan turned Justice League member is forced to turn to Will Magnus, creator of the Metal Men, for new bio-mechanical components to save his life and take the fight to Grid. Seeds for the DCEU to create Grid were definitely evident as illustrated in the scene in Justice League where Cyborg's robotic side decided to attack an amnesic Superman.
What Does The Future Hold For Cyborg?
Speaking of Cyborg, where is he going to live now that he's a publicly known hero? Unlike the other League members, he doesn't really have a secret identity or civilian occupation. In Justice League's New 52 reboot from Geoff Johns, there's a minor storyline wherer Johns explored the issue of Cyborg staying up in the Watchtower all the time, just scanning the web for signs of criminal activity and refusing to eat or sleep.
Even before his robotic side separated and started calling itself Grid, Victor was acting more like a machine than a man. Humorously enough, Cyborg started to regain some of his humanity thanks to the man-child Shazam, who would spend his off-hours up in the Watchtower playing video games with Victor and eating fast food.
Wonder Woman's Adventures Between World War I And Present Day
Batman's clumsy goading for Wonder Woman to take a leadership role in Justice League actually raised the solid question of what's she been doing all this time since World War I? A Superman-esque figure like herself could and should've changed the world. Even her motivations for tracking down Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman were self-serving as she only wanted a potentially incriminating photo.
Presently, there are no solid answers but a ton of fan theories floating around various forums and message boards, ranging from Diana losing her powers to being stranded in another realm, such as Olympus or Hades. Hopefully the Wonder Woman sequel does an adequate job of explaining just exactly what DC's greatest female superhero has been doing for the last 100+ years.
Will Something Come Of The Strange Terraforming Done By The Unity In Russia?
Combining the three Mother Boxes and creating the Unity was supposed to transform the world into a nightmarish duplicate of Apokolips. However, the film leaves off with the strange terraforming of the Unity creating a rich, tropical landscape that was more reminiscent of the lush jungles of New Genesis than the fiery vistas of Apokolips.
Something tells me that living in such a strange location and possibly sampling any of its fruit or vegetation could have some strange, super power-inducing side effects. Hopefully this development isn't just forgotten and dumped moving forward.
Will More Forces From Apokolips Invade?
We never truly learn why Steppenwolf was on Earth all those years ago and he only returns because of the shame of his defeat. Is there something on Earth that the forces of Apokolips need? Maybe some item or artifact that is the key to defeating Highfather and the rest of the New Gods? Do the New Gods even exist in the DCEU?
If Steppenwolf's firs arrival on Earth wasn't just by happenstance, fans should expect more forces from Apokolips to show up on Earth, such as Granny Goodness, Desaad, Kalibak or even Darkseid himself. If a full on invasion force arrives, the League's definitely going to expand membership.
What's Next After Aquaman, Shazam And Wonder Woman 2?
Whatever happens with Justice League's box office, there's three more confirmed DCEU films coming down the pipeline- Aquaman, Shazam and Wonder Woman 2. No other film in the DCEU currently has a set release date. That said, there's currently 15 films in development:
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The Batman
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Batgirl
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Nightwing
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Flashpoint
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Cyborg
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Green Lantern Corps.
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Justice League Dark
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Man of Steel 2
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Gotham City Sirens
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Suicide Squad 2
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Harley Quinn and Joker spinoff
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Deathstroke solo film
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Black Adam solo film
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Lobo solo film
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Justice League sequel
There's two ways of looking at this- it's great there's so many films in development or WB doesn't have a clue as to what they're doing or where the DC Films Universe is headed next. Which side of the argument do you fall on?
Who Won That Race Between Flash And Superman?
The pair would race again several times in the years that followed but the outcome was always decided in an inconclusive manner. However, in a 2009 Blackest Night tie-in from Geoff Johns, a post-Crisis, recently-resurrected Barry was preparing to sacrifice himself once again to save the world and heroes from all over the world were attempting to stop him from paying the ultimate price, yet again.
However, no one was fast enough to keep up with him, not even Jay Garrick. Enter Superman. Confident that he could keep up with Barry due to all of their previous races that ended in ties, Barry quickly dissuaded all such notions, reminding Supes that those races were for charity. Barry effortlessly tapped deeper into the Speed Force and left a dumbstruck Man of Steel in the dust.
How Will The Out-of-Continuity Spinoff Films Effect The Future Of The DC Film Universe?
Probably the only question bigger than what films are making up the next chapter of the DC Films Universe is the question of what films are existing outside of it. The news of a Joker origin film that's set outside of the established continuity of DC Films' shared universe certainly raised more than its fair share of questions. Subsequent reports also speculated that Ben Affleck may not star in Matt Reeves' Batman film and that his potential trilogy may join the Joker origin film outside of the DC Films Universe.
Are these films ultimately establishing a multiverse or are they just separate- without even the most tenuous connection to the DCEU? If Warner Bros. were to reveal how they're organizing their films and what the overall structure of their shared universe is, many fan concerns and complaints would be put to rest.
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