Welcome my friends to another weekly round-up of all the DC film news that’s fit to print. This week we have a few smaller updates for Aquaman, Flashpoint, and Booster Gold before we really dig into the announcement of a New Gods movie possibly being directed by Ava DuVernay. Let’s begin, shall we? Here is your weekly update of the announcements and rumors that have released from March 9-15.
First up is an interview with Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Thomas Wayne in BvS) who had this to say to Total Film magazine:
“And what I know about the Flashpoint Batman is, you know, for me, I think he is not only the darkest of the Batmen, but the coolest. And I love his whole storyline and who he is and the tortured soul of it all. We’ll see. I mean, look, DC is DC and they’ll figure out what they’re going to do next,” Morgan said. “But I’m highly aware of the character, I will say that. I’m highly aware of the character, and it would probably be a thrill of a lifetime to put on the Batsuit.”
Now this is no confirmation that a Thomas Wayne version of Batman will show up in Flashpoint, but it seems like if Warner Bros. does go down that path, Morgan is on board. What would perhaps be most interesting is if Thomas does don the bat suit, will it mean Martha becomes the Joker? That could end up with three different versions of the Joker (Jared Leto and potentially Joaquin Phoenix being the others) existing within the greater DCEU.
In Aquaman news, we can hopefully expect the trailer to debut at WonderCon, specifically at March 24’s Warner Bros. panel, according to a report on The Hashtag Show. It feels like the studio has been tight-lipped about the film and we weren’t privy to the amount of set photos we’ve seen with Shazam! so the trailer is the first real chance to get audiences hyped for the film.
Another quick tidbit of news, Flashpoint is rumored to shoot in Vancouver, previously used as a filming location for Man of Steel. Whether this means they’ll be shooting on mostly sound stages or on location with Vancouver subbing in for Central City has yet to be revealed.
Greg Berlanti, the uber-producer behind all the DC television shows airing on the CW is still hopeful that the long delayed Booster Gold movie is still happening. In an interview with The Wrap, Berlanti said “It’s still in development with DC, they’re trying to figure out both the distance that we still have to travel and how we want to execute it, how it’s going to fit into their greater landscape. That’s really on them, they’re still kind of determining their order of business on that end.” It’s no secret that I am a much bigger fan of “Arrowverse” than I am of the DCEU so I hope that Berlanti gets a chance to bring a bit of his magic to the cinematic universe. He did help write 2011’s Green Lantern film though. Never ever forget that.
While mustache-gate tore apart the world when Justice League was released, the actors involved in the DCEU are taking the whole “scandal” in stride. Case in point, Shazam’s Zachary Levi posted a pic on Instagram of his character complete with a digitally added mustache. The caption reads “Hey, @henrycavill, I feel you boo.” Henry Cavill, took it a step further by responding to Levi with a breakdown of Shazam’s qualities, the last, and most important quality, is the “moustache of legend.” It’s only a matter of time before Ben Affleck’s 90’s goatee gets brought into this feud.
Did you wish there was more Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in Justice League beyond just his post-credits sequence? Well it turns out that was the extent of all the footage he filmed for the film. He was never meant to be in more of the movie. According to an interview in Variety, Eisenberg said of having a bigger role “No. I was in it after the credits.” When pressed on if some of his scenes were cut, he responded “No, no. Actually, on the contrary, they added some stuff.” I guess if we ever get that Snyder cut, which we won’t, there won’t be any more Lex Luthor in it than in Whedon’s cut.
Last but not least is the big new this week that “A Wrinkle in Time” director Ava DuVernay is in talks to helm a New Gods movie for Warner Bros. DuVernay had previously stated that Big Barda was one of her favorite comic characters and while she hasn’t been officially announced as director, she also tweeted out shortly after the new broke, “‘Our dreams make us large.’ Thank you, #JackKirby.”
Now Variety states the the New Gods movie will be a part of the DCEU while Deadline is reporting that the film is stand-alone and not relying on any existing DC characters or worlds when it comes to telling the story. Perhaps Deadline is forgetting that Steppenwolf and Darkseid, the former of which served as the primary antagonist in Justice League, are inhabitants of Apokolip, and actually part of the stable of characters that make up the New Gods, which includes a cast of characters from Apokalips and the world of New Genesis. I can see it going either way, if the studio chooses to avoid connecting the film to the rest of the DCEU it just means leaving out Steppenwolf, though they can still use Darkseid as he didn’t actually appear in Justice League and at most was given only a passing mention. However, it may be wise to treat New Gods in a similar manner to how Guardians of the Galaxy fit into the larger Marvel cinematic universe. They’re separate enough where the individual stories don’t hinge on the larger universe, but can still leave the door open for crossovers and bigger stories if necessary. Their best bet is to work on determining the story they want to tell first, then fit it into the DCEU if they can but don’t feel like they have to jam a puzzle piece into a spot where it won’t fit.
That’s all for this week, let us know if you think New Gods should be part of the DCEU or would prefer it stand on its own. Sound off in the comments below! 
