James Wan to direct Aquaman

This might be the one movie so far that Warner Bros. has done right regarding the new DC Universe. The studio has brought on horror director James Wan to direct Aquaman starring Jason Momoa.

Wan is coming straight off an overwhelming success of Furious 7 along with the lingering success he had with the 2014 horror hit, The Conjuring. He is also well known and respected among moviegoers for the Saw franchise as he co-wrote and directed the first film and co-produced all seven as well as the Insidious trilogy. Wan is currently in pre-production for The Conjuring 2, but he is up for the challenge of joining the DC Universe.

Personally, I'm a bit disappointed that Warner Bros. snagged him and not Marvel. I think he fits in better with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I won't count him out. I've been a fan of his since the beginning of his career and I definitely know he can do great things. Whatever he does will be better than the bullshit Zack Snyder pumps out.

So far Aquaman is set to make a cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and it's assumed he will appear in the Justice League films. 

First posters for Batman v Superman

I like these. They are simple as hell, but I am digging them.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - First Teaser

After an unexpected leak of the trailer last night, WB and Zack Snyder decided to just go ahead and release the first teaser for Batman v Superman today despite an IMAX event still scheduled for next week.

All I really have to say is that it looks like it could potentially be good, but I'm still not 100% on board. I think this version of Batman looks buff as hell and is definitely intimidating, but I don't really like the pegging Superman as a villain. I also hate that Batman voice. It sounds like he's speaking via a voice modulator... unless they are doing that on purpose to hide Affleck's real Batman voice.

First glimpse at Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor

Many were skeptical about Jesse Eisenberg being cast as the legendary Superman villain, Lex Luthor, but a first glimpse at the actor as the character shows that he just might be able to pull it off.

Gone are Eisenberg's trademark curly locks and his usual pleasantly clueless facial expression.

First look at Jason Momoa's Aquaman

And he looks pretty badass.

Director Zack Snyder leaked the image via Twitter to tease what Momoa's portrayal of Aquaman will look like in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The costume is colorless (no surprise) and still displays the character's insignia on the belt. The trident is also pretty cool looking.
It is worth mentioning that although Aquaman is set to appear in the Justice League films, he will most likely only get a cameo in Dawn of Justice. There is no telling whether we will get any other teasers for other characters that have been cast already. Ezra Miller has been cast as The Flash while Ray Fisher has been selected for Cyborg. The "Unite the Seven" tagline could mean a couple different things; the seven seas since it is Aquaman or it could be the seven members of the Justice League.

We will see before too long. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set to open March 26, 2016.

Viola Davis joins Suicide Squad

Warner Bros. and DC have officially cast Oscar-nominee Viola Davis in the upcoming adaptation of Suicide Squad. Davis will portray Amanda Waller, the government official in place to oversee the group's operations. She is essentially the Nick Fury of the Suicide Squad.

Davis was among the shortlist of sought after actresses for the role which also included Octavia Spencer and Oprah Winfrey. There are still some kinks to work out with her schedule as she is currently on the television series, How to Get Away with Murder, but I am sure they can work it out. There are also rumors that Davis might get a Summer job filming some small easter eggs for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Viola Davis gained a lot of popularity after the 2011 film, The Help, which earned her nominations for an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA. She's also been seen in Ender's Game, Get on Up, Prisoners, and Eat Pray Love. 

Jena Malone confirmed for Batman v Superman

The question is... who will she be appearing as?


Yesterday there were some rumors that Robin will be appearing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and that it would be a female version of the sidekick. Naturally, as soon as people see confirmation of an "unspecified character" the masses automatically assume Jena Malone will be playing the female version of Robin. Before the confirmation there was already speculation that Malone had something to do with the film as she's been seen on set and recently shared a picture of herself (via Instagram) with red hair.

The red hair is the giveaway for a lot of people because in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns arc, the character of Carrie Kelley was a young redhead who becomes Robin after saving Batman's life. By young I suppose I should specify that Kelley was 13-years old, so unless Zack Snyder is going for an older version I don't think this soon to be 30-year old actress is ready to become Carrie Kelley.
With that said, another major and more plausible possibility is that Malone could be suiting up to play the Arkham Asylum psychiatrist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel (aka, Harley Quinn). With the announcement of the Suicide Squad movie set for 2016, a long awaited film appearance by Harley Quinn is very possible. She was a member of the Suicide Squad along with the Secret Six and Secret Society of Super Villains.

If you are somehow unfamiliar with Harley Quinn... she begins as Dr. Quinzel, a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. While interning she is assigned to analyze The Joker and she quickly becomes obsessed and falls in love with him. She aids him in escaping from Arkham multiple times, but after he returns badly wounded from a fight with Batman she quits her job and suits up as The Joker's jester-like sidekick. She quickly befriends fellow villain, Poison Ivy, who later injects her with a serum that makes her immune to toxins as well as giving her superhuman strength and agility.

The Joker and Harley Quinn is probably one of the most famous comic villain tag-teams. Given that fact, I would think it's a solid guarantee that if Jena Malone has been brought on to play Harley Quinn we will see a new version of The Joker in Zack Snyder's DC Universe. Most people consider The Joker untouchable after Heath Ledger, but I'm not so sure. I personally had Ezra Miller pegged for a future version of the character, but he was cast as The Flash so that isn't going to happen. I think Jena Malone would be a great candidate for Harley Quinn so I'm hoping that is the case rather than bringing her in as Carrie Kelley. She doesn't really seem like a Batman sidekick type of girl, but I could be wrong.

Warner Bros. announces DC release dates

Warner Bros. made some very big announcements today regarding the new DC Universe. Within the announcement includes release dates and exactly which characters are getting solo films.

After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits in 2016, the next DC film will be Suicide Squad. Suicide Squad is set to be directed by Fury director, David Ayer, and it also received a 2016 release date.
Next up on the schedule for 2017 is Wonder Woman and Justice League - Part One while The Flash and Aquaman received 2018 releases. Jason Momoa was confirmed to be starring as Aquaman and the studio confirmed Ezra Miller will star in The Flash.
2019 will bring us Justice League - Part Two and Shazam, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
2020 has a Cyborg movie scheduled along with a reboot of Green Lantern.

In addition to all of this, Warner Bros. did also announce there will be at lease one more solo Superman movie along with a solo Batman movie. With Green Lantern not coming until 2020 I think it's safe to say that if the character has any involvement in the Justice League movies it will be very minimal. I also think it's a bit interesting that Aquaman isn't coming until 2018 seeing that Jason Momoa is already confirmed to be part of Batman v Superman and Justice League - Part One.

Ezra Miller to lead The Flash in 2018

In a large amount of announcements by Warner Bros. and DC Comics we received more information about a new solo movie centered around The Flash. In the announcement the studios highlighted that the solo film will be released after Justice League - Part One in 2018 and that the actor portraying the hero is 22-year old Ezra Miller.

You might recognize Miller from the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the television series, Royal Pains. He also gave an extremely unnerving and chilling performance alongside Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin back in 2011. He was praised for his performances thus far and has proven to give believable performances that cross drama and comedy. He is also extremely charismatic on screen. As a 22-year old he is a lot younger than any other actor in the current DC Universe, so that will prove to either be a good or a bad thing.
There is no real confirmation on whether Miller will be appearing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice or the first Justice League movie, but it is pretty much guaranteed that he will at least appear in Justice League - Part Two which will be released after The Flash. If he is going to have an appearance in BvS they have done a fantastic job keeping his involvement a secret. I don't think he's even been spotted on set.

I think he is a good casting choice for a comic universe, but I don't know if I would have chosen him for The Flash. If at some point they revisit The Joker, honestly my first choice was Ezra Miller. I'm a bit bummed about this. I won't lie about that. 

Scoot McNairy rumored for Batman v Superman

Rumors are floating around Batman v Superman (duh) regarding who is playing The Flash. Word has it that Scott McNairy is playing the speedy hero, Barry Allen.

McNairy was spotted on the set of Batman v Superman wearing green fabric on his calves. If you know anything about digital replacement, the green fabric is used for CGI effects and other digital enhancements so naturally the rumors have hit saying the fabric is being used to give him the appeal of being fast.
BvS is being kept completely under wraps so it is impossible to really guess what McNairy was doing on set or what the green legs are for, but if he does wind up playing The Flash I don't think it would be a bad thing. I have never disliked him.

Warner Bros/DC confirm Aquaman film

A while back we received rumors that Jason Momoa was in negotiations to play Aquaman in the upcoming Warner Bros/DC Comic movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and a separate Aquaman film. There are now reports that Warner Bros. has commissioned not only one, but two Aquaman screenplays and that Momoa's casting is basically confirmed.

Last week we got a schedule of release dates from Warner Bros. through the year 2020 and speculation immediately began on exactly what all of those release dates might be. The plan is obviously to compete with Marvel's Cinematic Universe and create a similar one for the new DC Universe that was kicked off by Man of Steel last year.
So far we have Gal Gadot portraying Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman and it's being assumed that one of the many untitled projects is a solo Wonder Woman film. The focus now has shifted to Aquaman where Warner Bros. is "aggressively" developing the project as they have commissioned two screenplays in hopes that they could use one or combine the two for a quick development process. Script #1 is being written by Gangster Squad writer, Will Beall, while the second script was given to 300: Rise of an Empire writer, Kurt Johnstad.
As far as Jason Momoa goes, there hasn't been any official release by Warner Bros. regarding his casting, but it's pretty much a given that if he is playing Aquaman in Batman v Superman that he will also helm the solo movie and be part of Justice League. Recently a Detroit radio station was caught red-handed teasing the project and Momoa's involvement, but director Zack Snyder made a surprise call into the show and claimed that Aquaman could, "cut the flesh of Superman if they came in contact." If that's the portrayal they're going for then I guess they picked the right actor.

There are so many untitled dates on the Warner Bros/DC schedule so it's difficult to wrap your head around it all, but realistically speaking we could see Aquaman as early as 2016. There is a spot on August 5, 2016 as well as two unfilled dates in 2017 (June 23rd and November 17th). There is no real timetable on Justice League anymore, but many expect it by 2017. Realistically at this point we could have solo films for Wonder Woman and Aquaman in 2016 and early 2017 and have Justice League on November 17th.
However, Zack Snyder is currently shooting Justice League back-to-back with Batman v Superman, so they might turn tradition upside down and release Justice League in 2016 before any other solo films. There really is no telling, but I don't know why they would let a project sit on the shelf for two years after filming wraps.

List of every superhero movie through 2020

With the newest announcements from Warner Bros. regarding the DC Universe, we now have a more clear view of what movie theaters will be showing for the next five years and it's a bit overwhelming. This includes superhero movies as well as the planned Star Wars flicks.

Let's take a look at what we have on tap:


May 1, 2015

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel)

June 19, 2015

Fantastic Four (Fox)

July 17, 2015

Ant-Man (Marvel)

December 18, 2015

Star Wars: Episode VII (Disney/Lucasfilm)

March 25, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Warner Bros./DC)

May 6, 2016

Captain America 3 (Marvel)

May 27, 2016

X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (Fox)

Summer 2016

Star Wars Spin-off #1 (Disney/Lucasfilm)

July 8, 2016

Doctor Strange (Marvel)

August 5, 2016

Untitled DC Project

November 11, 2016

Sinister Six (Sony)

March 3, 2017

Untitled Wolverine Project (Fox)

May 5, 2017

Untitled Marvel Project

Summer 2017

Star Wars: Episode VIII (Disney/Lucasfilm)

June 23, 2017

Untitled DC Project

July 24, 2017

Fantastic Four 2 (Fox)

July 28, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (Marvel)

November 3, 2017

Untitled Marvel Project

November 17, 2017

Untitled DC Project

2017 (unknown)

Venom and/or female Spider-Man spin-off (Sony)

 March 23, 2018

Untitled DC Project

May 4, 2018

Untitled Marvel Project

Summer 2018

Star Wars Spin-off #2 (Disney/Lucasfilm)
The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (Sony)

July 6, 2018

Untitled Marvel Project

July 13, 2018

Untitled Fox Project

July 27, 2018

Untitled DC Project

November 2, 2018

Untitled Marvel Project

April 5, 2019

Untitled DC Project

May 3, 2019

Untitled Marvel Project

Summer 2019

Star Wars: Episode IX (Disney/Lucasfilm)

June 14, 2019

Untitled DC Project

April 3, 2020

Untitled DC Project

June 19, 2020

Untitled DC Project



It is worth noting that a lot of the 2016 and 2017 releases are no doubt close to official announcements (cough, Justice League, cough) but for now we just have the dates reserved with the studios. Looking at this full schedule you can really begin to see how ridiculous this is getting. I love superhero movies and all, but damn.

Batman v Superman release changes again

It appears that Marvel has officially won the battle of the release date. Warner Bros. announced that the release date for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has now changed for the third time to March 25, 2016.

BvS previously shared the release date of May 6, 2016 with Captain America 3. The studios have been battling for months over this release date and Marvel refused to budge. Warner Bros. obviously thought their best plan of attack would be to move the date again and grab audiences 6 weeks prior to the release of Captain America.
In addition to this release shift, Warner Bros. has also announced untitled dates for 9 films and 2 "event films" that haven't received titles yet.

The current WB/DC Comics schedule is now:

August 5, 2016
June 23, 2016
November 17, 2017
March 23, 2018
July 27, 2018
November 16, 2018 (event film)
April 5, 2019
June 14, 2019
April 3, 2020
June 19, 2020
November 20, 2020 (event film)


One plus side for WB is that, as of right now, none of these dates are shared with a Marvel project. That will avoid more problems like BvS has experienced. Either way this is a very ambitious schedule and I highly doubt any of these dates will stick if people don't like Batman v Superman and/or Justice League. There is no way.

SDCC: Wonder Woman revealed during BvS panel

We received our first glimpse at Gal Gadot as the DC hero Wonder Woman today during the Warner Bros. panel today. It is a similar photo to what we saw of Superman a couple weeks ago and many are already talking about the different costume.

In addition to this peek at Wonder Woman, guests were shown a small bit of footage. Here is a description via Matt Goldberg:

"It’s pouring down rain in the night sky. Batman is an armored suit, his eyes glowing, and standing next to the Bat-Signal. He pulls down a switch and powers it up. The Bat-Signal (bearing the new Bat-Symbol) blasts into the sky. We pan to follow the light, but in the sky, floating in front of the signal, is Superman. His arms are crossed. His cape billows in the wind. Batman, with his mask’s glowing eyes, stares down the Man of Steel. And the Man of Steel stares back. His eyes begin to glow red. Cut back to the Dark Knight. He is unmoved. Cut to black."

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is currently scheduled for May 6, 2016. 

SDCC: New image of Ben Affleck as Batman emerges

I hate admitting this. Like, I really hate it... but Ben Affleck looks pretty awesome as Batman.

There. I said it.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has a panel in Hall H on Saturday, so it is expected that we will get something. It's a bit early for a trailer but Warner Bros. might show some footage so far. BvS is currently set  to go head to head against Captain America 3 on May 6, 2016.

First image of Superman from Batman v Superman

And it looks a lot like The Dark Knight Rises posters. I am disappoint.

Familiar or not, this image does tease Superman's arrival in Gotham. The bleak surroundings kind of give it away. It leaves the curiosity of whether the next poster will be Batman in Metropolis.

Standalone Batman film rumored for 2019

It looks as though we will have to wait another 5 years to see another Batman film.

Latino Review claims that Warner Bros/DC are continuously trying to model themselves after Marvel Studios in the sense of looking ahead. Disney and Marvel already confirmed that they are working on plans through the year 2028 while Warner Bros. and DC Comics plans seem to end just in the next couple years. We recently received a possible leak of the studios' Comic-Con plans to announce films through 2018, but that still puts them 10-years behind the curve.
Apparently there are whispers that Ben Affleck will suit up on his own for a standalone Batman film in 2019. If the Comic-Con leak is true it would be the next release after Man of Steel 2 is 2018. It would also make Affleck the oldest actor to portray Bruce Wayne as he will be 47 in 2019.

If this is true (keep in mind this is a rumor) it would give a potential filming date of 2017 after Justice League is released. It would also be the first standalone Batman since Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises was released back in 2012.
We will see Batman next in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which is currently set for release on May 6, 2016.

Jason Momoa to play Aquaman in Batman v Superman

Game of Thrones veteran Jason Momoa is rumored to have been cast to play Aquaman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The role will apparently expand into Justice League and maybe more.

Momoa was previously rumored for the role of Doomsday in the DC Universe, so I don't know if I would take this too seriously just yet. The plot that is circling around states that Lex Luthor (to be played by Jesse Eisenberg) will attempt to turn Metropolis against Superman after the destructive events in Man of Steel. Aquaman (aka, Arthur Curry) comes in after his irritation about General Zod's destruction in the Indian Ocean with the World Engine

I personally think Momoa is an interesting choice for Aquaman. By interesting I mean weird. He doesn't resemble the comic character one bit and I just don't think he's the right fit for this specific character. This is how we are used to seeing Aquaman:

 

Now, take a look at Jason Momoa:

The guy was previously rumored for the role of Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy, but that role went to Dave Bautista. He has also starred in the rather terrible reboot of Conan the Barbarian along with shows like Game of Thrones, Stargate: Atlantis, and Baywatch.
I think he would probably suit Green Lantern a bit better than Aquaman.