DCEU Blog: Batgirl Cancelled, The Flash Ends And DC Studios A Go?

Well, if this hasn't been the most volatile of months for DC fans, I don't know what has been. A lot happened this month and a lot of it, not so good.

Let's talk about Batgirl, shall we? In the space of this month, it got cancelled (despite being in post production) for a tax write-off by David Zaslav, the directors were locked out of access of their own movie, a funeral screening was held and now its confined to a vault, never to be released. Not exactly a great precedent there, Zaslav.

Speaking of Zaslav, he did go on to mention a potential DC Studios with a possible ten year plan and that movies won't get released until they are done and he only wants sure fire hits, so possibly expect less experimental stuff moving forward for now.

However rumours of a DC Studios has Dan Lin as a potential candidate to run it. Lin was a producer on the ill fated Justice League Mortal movie as well as credits such as The Lego Batman Movie and Aladdin.

Ezra Miller has also had a meeting with WBD about their recent scandals and it seems for now they still have a job. The Flash movie has tested positive in test screenings and will for now make it's June 23rd 2023 release date.

Joker: Folie A Deux has officially been confirmed for an October 4th 2024 release date with filming due to begin in December. Joaquin Phoenix will reprise the title role with Lady Gaga as the new female lead while Zasie Beetz will also return as Sophie Dummond. Todd Phillips will direct from a script co-written with Scott Silver.

Mattson Tomlin will co-write the sequel for The Batman with Matt Reeves. Expect further developments on this movie over the next few months.

Yet again there are rumours of Henry Cavill appearing in Black Adam as Superman. I'll believe it when I see it but thought I should mention it nonetheless.

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods will now be released on March 17th 2023 while Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom will now take the December 25th 2023 release date instead. Blue Beetle for now remains on August 18th 2023 but don't be shocked if that gets moved as well.

CW wise, The Flash TV series upcoming ninth season will be it's last and comprise of 13 episodes. It'll air in 2023.

Both The Penguin and John Constantine (rumoured title) shows are rumoured to start filming in early 2023 for HBO Max. The former is a definite but the latter, given the way JJ Abrams is losing WB projects, I wouldn't be too confident just yet.

The Sandman was the number one title for Netflix in it's first three weeks of release. A second season has yet to be confirmed but hopefully it'll get it.

The third season of Stargirl premieres tonight on the CW. Given the dearth of promotion for the show, I wouldn't be optimistic about it going beyond this season.

Jordan Elsass will not be returning for the third season of Superman And Lois as Jonathan Kent and the role will be recast. Filming is due to start next month on the CW series.

Pennyworth has been strangely retitled Pennyworth: The Origins Of Batman's Butler and will premiere in October on HBO Max.

HBO Max will not be releasing Batman: Caped Crusader but the show is being shopped around with Netflix, Hulu and AppleTV apparently interested in the show. 

My Adventures With Superman is still being worked on, Harley Quinn has been renewed for a fourth season while the future of Young Justice has yet to be revealed.

Well, that was a jam packed month. What other hits can DC take? Will any rumoured projects go ahead? Here's hoping the next few months are more positive.

DCEU Blog - Wonder Twins Go, World Needs Heroes And More

It's been a busy month and with The Batman finally releasing this week and review embargoes about to be lifted, it's an interesting time for DC fans everywhere.

Early in February, DC/WB released a trailer titled The World Needs Heroes showing new clips from The Batman, The Flash, Black Adam and Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, confirming that all four movies will release in 2022.

More scoopers have been confirming that Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa and even Henry Cavill appear in The Flash movie. Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller recently appeared in the first season of Peacemaker.

Constantine: The House Of Mystery, which sees Matt Ryan reprising the role in animated form will be released on May 3rd. 

Matt Reeves has also confirmed to the absolute shock of no one that a sequel for The Batman is currently in development.  

Black Adam scribe Adam Sztykiel will write and direct a Wonder Twins movie for HBO Max.

Zack Snyder's Justice League is up for a fan favourite Oscar nod. You can vote for the scene where The Flash runs through time.

An upcoming episode of Superman And Lois will see Jonathan Kent (Jordan Elsass) don a Superboy look. The second season is currently airing on the CW.

Michael Keaton has been spotted on set filming for the Batgirl movie. A recent report has suggested that the movie will get a December release on HBO Max.

An addition on IMDb Pro has suggested that a Nightwing movie may be in development. Take that one with a pinch of salt though.

UK viewers will be able to see the current seasons of both Legends Of Tomorrow and The Flash on SkyMax from March 22nd. Edit: It may be April instead.

Titans fourth season have added Joseph Morgan, Franka Potente and Lisa Ambalavanar to the cast. They will play Brother Blood, Mother Mayhem and Jinx respectively.

Doom Patrol will add the character of Casey Brinke, the heroine also known as Space Case. Casting has yet to be confirmed.

The CW are going ahead with Gotham Knights and the main roster will comprise of Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown, Tiffany Fox, Julia Pennyworth, Harper Row and her brother, Cullen. The pilot should begin filming later next month.

That's a round up of this month's stuff. Let's see what next month brings.

DCEU Blog - Batgirl Major Spoilers, Arrowverse Future Series And More

Yeah, this blog might as well be a special focusing on a certain movie, but I promise, other DC stuff has happened too. Here we go.

Earlier this month, Leslie Grace used her social media accounts to unveil her costume for Batgirl (currently filming in Glasgow). Very inspired by the Batgirl: Year One comics.

Keeping with this movie, Ivory Aquino was cast as Barbara's best friend, Alysia Yeoh, marking the first trans character to appear in the DCEU.

Other casting revealed for the movie included Ethan Kai (rumoured to be a love interest for Barbara), Rebecca Front and Corey Johnson. JK Simmons also started filming at the end of the month.

Michael Keaton will film his scenes as Batman/Bruce Wayne next month and there's rumours we will also be seeing Dick Grayson in the movie with casting due to be announced soon. The movie is due for a HBO Max release later this year.

Luke J. Roberts and Olivia Grant have been revealed as the actors playing Thomas and Martha Wayne for The Batman. Their characters will be seen in flashbacks. Gil Perez-Abraham is seemingly Stanley Merkel while Barry Keoghan might be playing a much bigger character.

The Batman will be 175 minutes long with tickets going on sale from February 10th. Spoilers are going to be a challenge to avoid until March 4th.

Looks like the Joker sequel might go into production around 2023 with both Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Phillips slated to return.

Gal Gadot has also confirmed that the third Wonder Woman will not film until early to mid 2023.

Peacemaker not only seems to be likely to get a second season on HBO Max but James Gunn has admitted that another spin-off from The Suicide Squad could be happening too. I'll be doing a series review after the release of the finale.

A three part tie in comic for The Flash movie, titled The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive will be released from April to July and will be written by Kenny Porter with art by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz.

Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom has now completed filming while Shazam! Fury Of The Gods has had another test screening.

Blue Beetle will begin filming in April for an August 18th 2023 theatrical release. Expect a lot of casting news over the next few weeks.

David Ramsey's John Diggle may leading his own CW series as the network has ordered a pilot for Justice U, in which Diggle would be recruiting and training up young heroes.

Grant Gustin has apparently signed a deal for a ninth season of The Flash, which will be 15 episodes and will see Gustin earn $200,000 per episode.

Filming for both Titans and Doom Patrol's upcoming seasons will begin next month. 

HBO Max now have the first two seasons of Pennyworth available to stream. The third season has completed filming and will be released later in the year.

That's everything for this month. Next month, I could be covering some major casting reveals as well as some show renewals too.

DCEU Blog - Batgirl Adds Keaton's Batman, Blue Beetle Goes To Cinemas And Much More

It's certain been an interesting and rather busy December for DC. Upcoming projects are in full swing as we close the year with some interesting reveals. Here we go.

Michael Keaton will not only reprise his role as Batman for The Flash movie but he will also reprise the role for Leslie Grace's Batgirl movie for HBO Max, which has now begun filming.

The Flash will also see the returns of both Michael Shannon and Antje Traue reprising their roles as Zod and Faora.

An animated Crisis On Infinite Earths movie has been rumoured for a future release.

The WB released a final trailer for The Batman while Empire magazine has released several new photos and details about the movie. We're so close to it now.

Peacemaker will release it's first three episodes on HBO Max from January 13th with the remaining episodes being weekly releases. A UK broadcaster hasn't been confirmed yet though it's likely it'll go to Sky.

Both Amy Jo Johnson and Elizabeth Henstridge have directed recent episodes of Superman And Lois. The second season premieres on the CW from January 11th.

Jennifer Holland's Emilia Harcourt will appear in Black Adam. Henry Winkler is also rumoured to be playing the original version of Atom Smasher (Al Pratt).

Gal Gadot has been rumoured to be appearing in Shazam! Fury Of The Gods as Wonder Woman. This hasn't been officially confirmed, so take with a pinch of salt for now.

Legends Of Tomorrow and Batwoman's current seasons will air their finales on March 2nd. Both shows return to the CW from January 12th.

Blue Beetle will now be a theatrical release and is heading into cinemas from August 18th 2023. Filming begins in early 2022.

The CW are in early stages of developing a Gotham Knights series, but although it'll be from the writers and producers of Batwoman, it'll be set in a different continuity.

The Metal Men will now be an animated movie, instead of a live action one.

And that's it for DC News in 2021. How you enjoyed it and here's to seeing what will be on the horizon during 2022.

DCEU Blog: Batgirl Finds It's Villain, Dead Boys Detectives Rounds Off It's Cast And More

Following last month's explosive DCFanDome, this month felt a tiny bit more quiet by comparison but still there was plenty revealed over the last month.

Dead Boy Detectives has officially been commissioned as a series by HBO Max, albeit with the roles recast. George Rexstrew will be Edwin Payne, Jayden Revri will be Charles Roland and Kassius Nelson will be Crystal Palace. Filming for the series will begin in December.

Superman & Lois second season will premiere on the CW from January 11th and will be paired with the first season of Naomi. The Flash will move to Wednesdays from March.

Darnell Metayer and Josh Peters will be the lead writers for Michael B. Jordan's Val Zod series for HBO Max.

DCFanDome was viewed by over 66 million worldwide on it's various platforms. Suffice to say, it was a success story.

Batgirl has gone into production. Leslie Grace as the title character,  JK Simmons reprising his role as Commissioner Gordon while Brendan Fraser will play Firefly and Jacob Scipio has been cast in an undisclosed role. The film will be released on HBO Max.

Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom has finished filming in the UK and will do some additional filming in Hawaii next month.

Blue Beetle will begin filming in early 2022. Expect more casting to be announced over the next while.

Helen Mirren recently revealed that co-star Rachel Zegler is in fact playing the third sister in Shazam!: Fury Of The Gods along with Lucy Liu. The movie has finished production.

With Patty Jenkins Rogue Squadron put on hold, it seems that Wonder Woman's third movie may be moving forward. Lynda Carter has been confirmed to be returning as Asteria. 

Black Adam may also getting some spin-offs, but then again, this has been rumoured about every upcoming DC movie.

Matt Ryan will reprise his role as John Constantine for an animated short movie, Constantine: House Of Mystery, due for release in 2022.

Meanwhile the HBO Max series is rumoured to have the title of Justice League Dark: Constantine and will apparently start filming in the second quarter of 2022.

The second half of both Legends Of Tomorrow and Batwoman's current seasons will premiere on the CW from January 12th.

A new trailer for Peacemaker will premiere on Friday. The show premieres on HBO Max from January 13th.

And that's the round up for this month. Let's see what next month has to offer as 2021 comes to a close.

DCFanDome 2021 - Highlights

It's been a year and after setting records back in August 2020, DCFanDome came back fir a second round, shorter time and streamed on multiple platforms to deliver some of the biggest news items  and it certainly delivered alright. Here are the highlights.

The Batman (4/3/2022) might have been the last event of the evening but it was once again, the biggest hit of the bunch. The second trailer gave us more context for the movie's central plot between the Caped Crusader (Robert Pattinson) and the Riddler (Paul Dano) while also giving us more stuff with Penguin (Colin Farrell) and Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz). There's no denying that Matt Reeves has a future classic in his hands with this hotly anticipated movie.

Meanwhile Patty Jenkins confirmed once again that she will be directing the third Wonder Woman movie and Lynda Carter will reprise her role as Asteria in it.

The Flash (4/11/2022) also made something of a splash too as director Andy Muschietti unveiled some footage from the movie. The footage revealed a better look of the title character's new suit, the possible demise of the Justice League, glimpses of Sasha Calle's Supergirl and Michael Keaton's Batman along with two versions of Barry for the price of one. It looks very promising so far.

Elsewhere, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (16/12/2022) unveiled some concept art as well as the look of the new suit for Black Manta. Director James Wan also talked about the story being more of a globetrotting adventure, promising a much bigger scale for the aquatic hero.

As for Black Adam (29/7/2022), it got this event off to a good start. Dwayne Johnson certainly made his presence known and gave viewers a glimpse of the opening scene. Put it this way, you don't want to mess with this particular antihero. We also got a look at the symbols for Cyclone, Atom Smasher, Doctor Fate and Hawkman.

Meanwhile Shazam!: Fury Of The Gods (2/6/2023) also gave us glorious first looks of the Shazam family in action, Rachel Zegler's unnamed character as well as Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu as villains Hespera and Kalypso. The movie also promised a bigger scale compared to the first one and it's definitely embracing the Greek mythology in a huge way.

As for Batgirl and Blue Beetle, sadly no release dates for these movies were announced and aside from some concept art for both, nothing too shocking was revealed here. The former movie will feature a Batman (yet to be confirmed which one though) while the latter will also factor Kord Industries and will likely Ted Kord as a mentor to Jaime Reyes.

On the animated movie and TV/streaming front, Catwoman: Hunted (18/2/2022) and DC's Super Pets (20/5/2022) were highlighted while Battle Of The Super Sons was revealed for a 2022 release. HBO Max also did a sizzle reel for the third season of Harley Quinn (another 2022 release) and released the first two episodes of the fourth season of Young Justice. Meanwhile it was confirmed that Batman: Caped Crusader and My Adventures With Superman would air in 2023.

Gamers also got to see new trailers for both Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, both slated for 2022.

HBO Max are going all in with DC content. They showed a first trailer for Peacemaker (13/1/2022), renewed both Titans and Doom Patrol for fourth seasons and even managed to snatch Pennyworth away from Epix and gave the show a third season, due to be released in 2022 as well as promo pics of limited series, DMZ. Netflix on the other hand did some behind the scenes feature on Sweet Tooth and released a poster of Gwendoline Christie's Lucifer for The Sandman. 

As for the CW, both Smallville and Supergirl received panels, we got sneak previews of upcoming stuff concerning The Flash, Legends Of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Stargirl and Naomi as well as a set tour with cast members from Superman And Lois.

Last but not least, Superman now has the phrase - truth, justice and a better tomorrow. Personally, I like it. 

All in all, a pretty strong second year for DCFanDome. The shorter time and multiple platforms to watch the event was a good way to improve on the first year. I'll definitely be watching again next year. What was your highlight from this year? Mine was The Batman of course. 

DC News: Batgirl Cast, Batfleck Back, Constantine Departs And More

Well, this has certainly been a busy DC month and with The Suicide Squad in European cinemas before the US, here's a rundown of what's been happening.

Leslie Grace has been cast as Batgirl for the upcoming HBO Max. Filming will begin in November. JK Simmons has been rumoured to be reprising his role as Commissioner Gordon.

Jason Momoa will be somewhat blond for Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom.

Those rumours of The Batman doing reshoots turned out to be false.

The Flash has moved filming to Glasgow and filming has been revealed of Ben Affleck's Batman.

Filming has nearly completed on Black Adam with Dwayne Johnson and Sarah Shahi having finished their scenes.

Shazam!: Fury Of The Gods is still currently filming.

Matt Ryan will remain as a regular on Legends Of Tomorrow. However John Constantine will be written out at the end of this season and Ryan will play a new character named Dr Gwyn Davies for the seventh season, which has started filming.

Victoria Cartegena will play Renee Montoya in the third season of Batwoman. It will be a different version of the character she played in Gotham.

The first season of Peacemaker will drop on HBO Max from January 16th, starting with the first three episodes.

Michael B. Jordan is currently developing a Val Zod Superman project for HBO Max.

Tobias Menzies has been cast as Sinestro for the Green Lantern series.

Winston Duke will voice the Dark Knight for the upcoming audio series, Batman Unburied.

That's the round up for this month. Some good stuff ahead.  Enjoy The Suicide Squad in cinemas and on HBO Max next month.

DCEU News: Batgirl Gets Directors, Green Lantern Casting and Netflix Vertigo Show News

Heading into the last day of the month, here's some of the latest DC news that we got during the month.

Batgirl has bagged itself directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys For Life) to helm the movie for HBO Max from a script by Christina Hodson. No release date confirmed for the movie yet.

Blue Beetle is also in pre production, according to the director. Casting will likely be announced in the next few months.

Ta-Nehisi Coates Superman reboot will be casting a black actor in the role of Kal El. Regina King is one of several rumoured directors for the movie.

Aquaman 2 will start filming in July in the UK. Jason Momoa co-wrote the script for the movie.

HBO Max have announced a brand new animated series called Batman: Caped Crusader. The series will be produced by JJ Abrams, Bruce Timm and Matt Reeves.

They'll also be doing My Adventures With Superman with Jack Quaid voicing the title role. The show has gotten a two season order.

Sam Richardson has been cast in a role for the third season of Harley Quinn.

Mark Strong has confirmed he will not be reprising his role of Dr Sivana for Shazam!: Fury Of The Gods.

The Sandman has added Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine, the ancestor of John Constantine. Also joining the Netflix series are Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Patton Oswalt, Joely Richardson and many more.

Sweet Tooth will premiere on Netflix from June 4th. Robert Downey Jr is one of the executive producers for the series.

Titans third season will now premiere in August on HBO Max.

Injustice will be getting an animated movie.

Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Irvine have been cast as Guy Gardner and Alan Scott for the upcoming Green Lantern series on HBO Max. Filming will begin later in the year.

Batwoman and Legends Of Tomorrow will air on Wednesdays when they return in the autumn. The Flash will kick off a five episode arc with other heroes while Superman And Lois will return for its second season in 2022.

The CW have picked up Naomi for a series but passed on Painkiller.

Freddie Stroma has replaced Chris Conrad for the role of Vigilante in Peacemaker. The show will finish filming in July for a January 2022 premiere on HBO Max.

Meanwhile on June 8th and tying in with Pride Month 🌈 , there's DCPride, an anthology featuring several LGBT characters such as Batwoman, Midnighter, Apollo, Extrano, The Flash of Earth 11, Aquawoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn. John Constantine, Extrano, Pied Piper, Aqualad, The Question, Alan Scott, Obsidian, Crush and Dreamer. There will also be interviews with Matt Ryan, Nicole Maines, Javicia Leslie, Matt Bomer and Nafessa Williams. 

That's it for this month and Happy Pride everyone!!!!🌈🌈🌈🌈

Batgirl - Joss Whedon To Helm Movie For DCEU/Casting Choices

It's been an interesting few months for Joss Whedon. When he hasn't been showing some double standards in relation to his feminism on social media (love the guy but his Twitter can be ghastly at times), there's also been the celebration of 20 years of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and now it seems like he's swapping one cinematic universe for another.

Two years after his last contribution to the MCU, the divisive Age of Ultron which saw Whedon receiving a barrage of abuse from fans who hated his depiction of Black Widow in that movie, it seems now Joss is about to throw in his lot with the current DCEU franchise as reports have emerged yesterday that he will write, direct and produce a solo Batgirl movie. The movie according to sources will take inspiration from the New 52 run of the character, following the events of her recovery from being paralysed by the Joker in The Killing Joke.

Needless to say, the reception so far has been something of a mixed bag with some MCU fans scathing over the idea of Whedon in charge of another female superhero while others have fairly expressed disappointment that a female writer/director wasn't chosen for the project similar to how Wonder Woman has a female director with Patty Jenkins and the upcoming Gotham City Sirens has a female writer with Geneva Robertson-Dworet. I have to admit, I can understand the reservations but I'd also like to give Whedon a fair chance before writing off his vision with this potential project.

As for Batgirl/Barbara Gordon herself, the version we heavily associate with the character has been around since 1967, popularised in the comics and by actress Yvonne Craig in Batman '66 with Alicia Silverstone playing a version of the character called Barbara Wilson in 1997's Batman & Robin while 2002 had Dinah Meyer play mostly the Oracle version of the character (and Batgirl in flashbacks) in short lived series, Birds of Prey. The character has also appeared in various animated shows and movies, including 2016's rather polarising version of The Killing Joke, in which elements will no doubt surface in Whedon's upcoming project as well as possibly Gotham City Sirens should the character appear in that movie before Joss can write for her.

And because everyone else is doing it, here's a short list of potential actresses that could be in the running for Batgirl herself ....

1: Alexandria Breckenridge

People will recognise her from appearances in both True Blood and American Horror Story over the last couple of years but Alexandria also previously popped up in Buffy's final season as a character named Kit. It wouldn't be the first time Whedon has worked someone he's previously worked with in the past.

2: Anna Kendrick

Best known for Pitch Perfect and Into The Woods, Kendrick has expressed her interest in working in both the Marvel and DC movie universes in recent times, including a fun little interview with Ben Affleck where she asked to be Robin. Perhaps Batgirl could be the perfect role for the affable actress?

3: Emma Stone

Okay we've already seen her as Gwen Stacey in the Andrew Garfield Spiderman movies in recent times and there are fans who also would be happy to have her as Poison Ivy for Gotham City Sirens but I honestly think the La La Land actress would be a similarly great fit for Batgirl as well and going by some thoughts online, I'm far from a minority there.

4: Jena Malone

I know she's already appeared in the DCEU universe but remember, her scene from Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice was also cut and that she was in a blonde wig at the time during her brief scene with Lois Lane? Also given that there were rumors for the longest time that Malone was meant to be playing Barbara Gordon in that movie, maybe now they can come true.

5: Lindsay Morgan

Best known for her role on The 100 at the moment, the actress has become a sudden contender for the part due to her cryptically tweeting that she's got an exciting project on the horizon. Could she be about to take on one of the best female superhero roles or is it something completely different altogether? I have to admit she's an interesting casting choice if the role is actually hers.

Press Release: http://variety.com/2017/film/news/batgirl-movie-joss-whedon-warner-bros-1202018544/

Who do you want to see play Batgirl and what would you like her movie to be about? To give the DCEU their dues, at least they're more than willing to try more than one female led movie as well.