Welcome to another edition of the DC Films News and Rumors Weekly Update where we’re still having nightmares of Joaquin Phoenix in the Joker makeup. This week we have tons of Joker movie news, Birds of Prey casting, Chris Pine’s return in Wonder Woman 1984 and a small update on Batman. Let’s get to it. Here is the latest update of all of the announcements and rumors that have released from September 21-27.
There was an earlier rumor this week that a new trailer for Shazam! was coming. The rumor has since been debunked by director David F. Sandberg who said that it was just a recut of the previously released trailer. No word on when a new trailer will drop.
Since it was revealed that Chris Pine would be in Wonder Woman 1984, speculation has swirled as to how he would return from the dead. Would he be playing Steve Trevor or a familiar-looking descendant? SuperBroMovies is reporting that he will indeed be portraying Steve Trevor whose return may have something to do with a deal Diana makes with Pedro Pascal’s character who is hinted to possibly be Hades.
In Joker movie news, a snap of a map of Gotham City includes several shout-outs to previous films and characters in the Batman mythos including the Snyder District named after Batman V Superman director Zack Snyder, Wayne Avenue and Kane County named from their respective families as well as Prince Street which CBR theorizes is named after the artist who had songs featured in Batman ’89.
Meanwhile, another set photo spotted shows off a campaign poster alluding to Thomas Wayne’s run for Mayor of Gotham. It looks like his role in the film will be more than just a cameo and his run may place him in the sights of the burgeoning Joker. We also got our first look at Zazie Beetz in character thanks to Todd Phillips Instagram account. Nothing particularly shocking to note but she’s definitely looking much different than her role of Domino is Deadpool 2. To top off the Joker set photos, we also may have a look at the logo of the film which is Joker spelled out in red, painted letters.
Count Diane Nelson, former DC President, as a fan of the new movie. She recently tweeted: “LOVE IT! Great story, great actor, specific and string vision from talented director. What DC should have been doing since Nolan. Even if die hard fans struggle with his vision. #goodmoviesaregoodmovies” The movie does seem to be more in line with the Nolan vision rather than the DCEU whether that’s going to be a good or bad thing is yet to be seen.
Let us not forget that there is another version of the Clown Prince of Crime in the DCEU and he may next appear in a Joker and Harley Quinn spin-off film. Writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa have provided an update on their script which has a suitably bonkers premise. Telling Metro “It is great. The whole thing starts with Harley kidnapping Dr. Phil. Played by Dr. Phil hopefully. Because her and the Joker are having problems with their relationship… We were doing a relationship movie but with the sensibility of a ‘Bad Santa,’ f***ed up, mentally deranged people. It was a lot of fun.” Sadly there is no word yet on when the film will actually go into production.
Big news on the Birds of Prey front. The movie, which has the working title of Fox Force Five has found it’s Black Canary and Huntress in actors Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. In an interview with The Wrap, Winstead said “I can’t say that I was a huge comic book reader, but when I met with Cathy Yan, who’s directing the film, and learned kind of the back story of the character, I was really interested. It’s a really strong, kind of emotional place to start from for a superhero character. I won’t go into too much detail now, but I think it’s interesting and an opportunity to do something cool with this kind of character.” The movie itself has been set for a release date of February 7, 2020. It may seem like a long time from now but we have a pretty full slate of DC movies leading up to the release.
Deadshot was one of the breakout characters in Suicide Squad and Will Smith has recently confirmed that there have been talks of a potential solo movie for the character. Whether anything comes of it is yet to be seen, though I think the response to Joker at the box office could pave the way for more villain-centered films.
Collider recently visited the editing room for Aquaman and have provided readers with a list of seven items they learned from their visit including the relationship between Aquaman and Mera and Atlanna and Thomas Curry being the backbone of the film, how filming scenes to be set underwater being as difficult as you would think, the challenges of updating Aquaman’s classic orange and green suit for the big screen, as well as embracing the inherent goofiness of the character to keep the movie a light-hearted adventure.
We may have a start date for the production of the Batman solo film with Heroic Hollywood reporting that Summer 2019 may be the official kick-off for filming. Warner Bros. apparently loves the script that Matt Reeves turned in and are currently working on tweaks to the story. I’m good with them taking their time on this one and, if they are doing a reboot, really getting it right.
That’s all for this week. Let us know what you think of the Birds of Prey casting and your wish list for potential villains in the movie. See you next week!
