The DC Extended Universe
All the Batscoops and Superclues from the hero-stuffed panel
WITH THE RECORD -BREAKING commercial (not to mention critical) success of Wonder Woman giving both Warner Bros. and DC a boost, the companies brought their big guns to Comic-con, putting Ben Affleck (Batman), Ezra Miller (The Flash), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) and Jason Momoa (Aquaman) on stage to talk Justice League,
Aquaman and more, including indications that the DC Extended Universe is about to get pretty darn big.
Coming Attractions Following this year’s Justice League and next year’s Aquaman, Warner Bros. has another eight DCEU movies in the works. Shazam is due for April 2019, while Wonder Woman 2 will follow that in December 2019. Also coming, but currently undated, are Joss Whedon’s Batgirl, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Suicide Squad 2, Green Lantern Corps and Justice League Dark. Previously announced, but now noticeably absent, is a standalone Cyborg movie.
Undersea battles The Ocean Master, played by Patrick Wilson (who had a voice cameo as the US President in
Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice), will be Aquaman’s main nemesis. And he’s not messing around. The Atlantean king’s half brother, he’s after the throne and has an entire fleet of ships at his disposal. But they’re ships with a difference — these travel beneath the waves.
Batmobile 2.0 Batman may be down one super-powered ally (there’s still no footage of Superman in Justice League), but he’s tooling up in other ways. Most notably with his hardware-boosted Batmobile which is now visibly better armed (missiles! machine guns!) than it was in BVS.
flash forward As so many trailers are at pains to tell us these days — we need to forget everything we thought we knew. Because The Flash’s standalone film (due 2020) has a tantalising title — The Flash: Flashpoint — that hints at a surprising future for the DCEU. The ‘Flashpoint’ run in the comics saw The Flash travel back in time, drastically changing the present with his actions. Could the DCEU be set for a reboot in as little as three years' time?
born to be wild We’ve finally had our first glimpse of Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), the main villain in Justice League. Hinted at in a deleted BVS scene (as Lex Luthor examined the archives of the crashed Kryptonian ship) he will lead an invasion of Earth. Which, as shown in the trailer,includes attacking Wonder Woman’s home Themyscira and doing battle with the Amazonians.
Superman Returns The question isn’t really, “Will Superman appear in Justice League?” but, “How long will he be in Justice League for?” Killed off to give Bruce
Wayne the impetus needed to gather a team of heroes to fight together, it’s been confirmed Superman will be in the film, and there’s speculation he first reveals himself to Alfred (Jeremy Irons) based on the latest trailer. But it’s not that straightforward...
the future’s green ... because the reflection in Alfred’s glasses in the scene in question is green. As in Green Lantern. Steppenwolf hints the cosmic heroes are gone (“No protectors here. No Lanterns. No Kryptonian”), but could Warner Bros. be about to drop a surprise?
JUSTICE LEAGUE IS IN CINEMAS FROM 17 NOVEMBER. AQUAMAN IS IN CINEMAS FROM 5 OCTOBER 2018.