deadshot

RUMOR ALERT: This information is in no way confirmed or official, so take this with a grain of salt.

With the announcement that Walter Hammada has been made president of DC Comics movies at Warner Brothers, fans are awaiting news of what changes will be made to the proposed DC film universe.  When WB’s plans for this shared universe were announced, it seemed quite ambitious with films based on a vast array of DC characters.  And over time, the list only grew with more and more projects tacked on, with very little news of development on most.

Now it appears that two announced films are dead, at least according to the rumor mill– the Will Smith-starring ‘Deadshot’ and ‘Lobo’.

Rumors swirled that after Smith’s turn in ‘Suicide Squad’, his character Deadshot would either get his own movie or co-star with Ben Affleck’s Batman in a team-up.  At the time, that seemed perfectly logical.  But after the release of ‘Squad’, the only real breakout character was Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie.  Deadshot barely registered to most viewers.

There has been absolutely no news about ‘Deadshot’ since those first rumblings.  And with no measurable fan demand, it wouldn’t be surprising if WB had scrapped plans.  For his part, Smith is rather busy, currently filming ‘Aladdin’ in which he plays the Genie.  From there, he will lend his voice to animated film ‘Spies In Disguise’, plans to revive his ‘Bad Boys’ franchise, and just announced, he will reteam with ‘Squad’ director David Ayer for a sequel to their recent Netflix original film ‘Bright’.

This tweet (once again, unconfirmed) comes from DiscussingFilm:

 

A ‘Squad’ sequel is all but a given, with Gavin O’Connor locked in to direct and Adam Cozad writing the script.  We’ll still likely get another dose of Smith as Deadshot and depending on how that film does, a solo movie could still materialize eventually.

This follow up tweet comes from IGN and The Splash Report freelance writer Mario F Robles:

 

A ‘Lobo’ movie was first announced way before the DC Extended Universe, in 2009 with Guy Ritchie attached to direct.  It has evolved with additional directors and writers attached.  Ritchie’s version was going to be rated PG-13 (which would be terrible) but more recently the buzz was that it would be rated-R.

Unfortunately, Lobo is a character who was all the rage in the ’90s but has very little heat now.  When even the combined might of the ‘Justice League’ can’t score at the box office, The Main Man doesn’t have much of a shot.  (Plus, it would seem like WB was ripping off ‘Deadpool’.)

WB definitely has ‘Aquaman’, ‘Shazam!’ and ‘Wonder Woman 2’ on the way, with ‘Suicide Squad 2’ very likely.  Margot Robbie has recently stated that she intends to return as Harley soon but has been cagey about in which of the FOUR planned Harley films it will be.  Most likely ‘Squad 2’ along with Smith.

Also announced at some point, but uncertain now are ‘Batgirl’ (Joss Whedon is working on the script and plans to direct), ‘The Batman’ (Matt Reeves appears still attached to direct, with or without Affleck), ‘Birds of Prey’, ‘Black Adam’ (starring Dwayne Johnson), ‘Cyborg’, ‘Deathstroke’, ‘Gotham City Sirens’ (to be directed by David Ayer), ‘Green Lantern Corps’, ‘Harley Quinn’, ‘Harley Quinn and the Joker’, ‘Justice League 2’, ‘Justice League Dark’, ‘Man of Steel 2’ and ‘Nightwing’ (not definite, but likely with Chris McKay directing).

While some of these have shown some signs of progress, others have been announced but with no followup at all.

What do you think of the DC slate now?  Which movies would you most like to see become a reality?