The DC Extended Universe has been technically alive since Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel in 2013, but it really kicked into life in 2016 with Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, despite many good aspects, since its inception it has been plagued by a poor critical reception and large backlash’s on social media. The box office of these films had been incredibly high (until Justice League finally broke the run) but the series has had few smash hits both critically and commercially.
Man Of Steel earned solid reviews (with criticism over the violent ending) and solid box office, but not good enough for a standard sequel as Warner Bros opted to turn the sequel into a crossover with Batman to launch their own cinematic universe in response to Disney’s MCU. Batman v. Superman grossed huge box office but was trashed by critics and many fans, but Ben Affleck’s Batman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman received praise. A similar situation occurred in that summer when David Ayer’s Suicide Squad premiered to more huge box office but even worse reviews. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn was a definite stand out, but Jared Leto’s Joker was poorly received.
It was lucky then that the next movie was 2017s Wonder Woman which was the DCEU’s first critical smash and box office sensation. However, it was unfortunate that it was just a few months later that the much edited Justice League released to horrific reviews and low end box office on a huge budget, and it spelled the end of the DCEU as we knew it.
Affleck and Cavill would never return to their roles, but it was the debut of Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash. It wasn’t for another 13 months that the DCEU would release a film, but when it did, James Wan’s Aquaman was a huge hit with fans and critics, and became the DCEU’s first billion dollar entry. This was followed soon after by the equally well received Shazam, but unfortunately the box office for this entry was very low, and it got caught in between the storm of Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame.
Later in 2019 will see the release of Joker, but this more arthouse film will not be a part of the DCEU and therefore any further related films will not be included in this prediction as they will not be part of the main DCEU.
When looking at what the future holds, I have factored in the films already dated, the films we know are in development, and some of my researched predictions based on the popularity of certain characters and the trends of superhero cinema. So here are my predictions of the next 8 years of the ever changing DCEU:
2020
Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn) (Confirmed)
Wonder Woman 1984 (Confirmed)
2021
The Batman (Confirmed)
The Suicide Squad (Confirmed)
The Trench
2022
Black Adam
The Flash
Aquaman 2 (Confirmed)
2023
The New Gods
Wonder Woman 3
Gotham City Sirens
2024
Batgirl
The Batman 2
Green Lantern Corps
2025
Birds of Prey vs Gotham City Sirens
Superman
The Flash 2
2026
Supergirl
Justice League 2
Aquaman 3
2027
Batgirl 2
The Batman 3
Cyborg
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