The DCU May Benefit From Delaying DC’s Most Anticipated Elseworlds Film

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The last decade has seen the DC franchise go in all sorts of different directions. Zack Snyder began to tell his own saga leading to the formation of the Justice League, but then Warner Bros. decided to change course. The result led to more films set in the DC Extended Universe with ranging tones from filmmakers. Good films came out of the new approach from DC Films president Walter Hamada with Shazam!, The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey stand out. DC Films would also begin to explore films outside the DCEU continuity with Joker and The Batman. However, despite some better-quality films, a series of box office flops made it clear DC needed a reboot.

Now, DC Studios is restarting the franchise under the DCU. Although, Matt Reeves will continue with The Batman Epic Crime Saga under the Elseworlds banner. Development on The Batman sequel has been a slow one, leading to plenty of restlessness among the fandom since it’s one of the most anticipated projects to come from DC Studios in the next few years. The Batman sequel was initially slated for an October 2025 release but has since been delayed twice and is now scheduled to release on October 1, 2027. A release date delay is never one that fans want to see, but given where DC is at right now, it could end up being a good thing.

Superman Can Become the Face of DC’s New Era

Classic comic book imagery of Superman will serve as the “MGM Lion” for upcoming DCU projects.

After years of Batman leading the DC franchise, it’s time for Superman to take over as its most prominent hero again.

For years, Batman has been the face of DC largely due to the success his films have had. While the Batman franchise stumbled a bit in the late ’90s, for the most part, it continues to be one of Warner Bros. and DC’s strongest properties, which was only reaffirmed with the success of The Batman. Despite Batman being DC’s most popular character, the new DCU will truly begin with James Gunn’s Superman, putting the character in a similar position Marvel Studios put Iron Man in. Iron Man’s success would ultimately make him the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a decade.

Superman was the first superhero created, but due to Batman’s success, he has taken a backseat on the big screen. With a new Batman film now years away, it finally gives Superman the chance to become the new face of DC and leads to a situation that works in the DCU’s favor because of how refreshing it would be for audiences. The DCEU also failed to center its cinematic universe around Batman by making him the one to form the Justice League when it should be Superman. DC Studios’ logo will also put Superman at the front of every DCU project, further indicating he should be the glue for the new shared universe.

DC Might Need To Take a Break From Elseworlds Stories

So far, The Batman sequel is the only confirmed DC Studios film that could fall under the Elseworlds banner, but others like Dynamic Duo and another season of The Penguin could also be part of it.

The DCU might need to become more established before DC Studios rolls out Elseworlds projects to avoid confusion.

It’s no secret the DC brand is not in a good place, with recent box-office performances backing this up. Therefore, some important things DC Studios needs to do quickly is distance itself from the DCEU and produce quality projects. So far, Creature Commandos is off to a good start, and Superman looks promising, but it will need to extend beyond that to convince audiences DC is a brand they can trust. DC Studios is also starting a whole new continuity that has already been confusing for some fans. Peter Safran and James Gunn have made it clear DC Studios will mark Elseworlds projects like The Batman as such when they come out, but so far, there’s been no label with a series like Harley Quinn, which also doesn’t take place in the DCU.

“I’m committed to both telling stories in the DCU and telling Elseworlds stories. I want the freedom to tell Elseworlds stories. We want to be able to tell a story about Superman [that’s different]. A Red Son story. Whatever. We want to be able to play with these characters in different ways. … I think that’s part of the fun of DC.” — James Gunn on DC Studios’ Elseworlds stories.

Marvel Studios didn’t start to introduce new labels such as Marvel Spotlight or special presentations until much later. The DCU has the chance to move a bit faster than the MCU did in certain areas like television, but introducing the Elseworlds label too soon could hurt the franchise. Audiences need a few years to become familiar with what the DCU is before Elseworlds projects start to come out. One of the biggest issues with DC is that it featured various live-action continuities stretching from the Arrowverse to the DCEU. Outside the Sony-Spider-Man projects, Marvel has been far more straightforward the last few years, which has worked to its benefit. DC Studios has a chance to do something similar, and rushing an Elseworlds project could get in the way of that if it comes out too soon. Now that The Batman sequel will be released in 2027, it gives DC Studios three years to get audiences invested in this new universe first, which has more at stake to succeed.

When the MCU began, Marvel Studios was only able to make films based on the characters they still owned. This meant Spider-Man, the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and other prominent Marvel properties couldn’t appear in the MCU. Since then, the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four have reverted to Marvel Studios and those properties will now play a major role in the MCU. So, while Marvel Studios could only make films on Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America and eventually lead to an Avengers film, it ultimately was the best thing for the studio. Iron Man and Captain America were major Marvel characters at the time of their first solo films, but not on the level of the ones Fox and Sony owned. With Marvel Studios releasing successful films based on lesser-known characters, it made the Marvel brand even bigger.

The Batman sequel and The Brave and the Bold‘s delays could lead to something similar with DC Studios and its DCU. With Gunn stressing the importance of quality, films like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and shows like Lanterns can give DC Studios more properties it can rely on. The DCU will need to bring in major Justice League characters like Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman eventually, but by exploring new corners the DCEU didn’t touch, DC Studios can follow a similar trajectory as the MCU.

Batman is a top-tier comic book character and one of the few DC characters who has received numerous iterations on the big screen that have brought success for Warner Bros. Matt Reeves’ The Batman was the latest to do this. Yet, development on a sequel has taken longer than expected. The Brave and the Bold will also introduce a separate Batman for the DCU and is also not coming out anytime soon. 2027 might seem like a long time for the next Batman movie, but it might be what the DCU needs.

The MCU thrived off using lesser-known Marvel characters, with Gunn being a major contributor to that. DC Studios has the chance to build out its DCU in a similar manner and make audiences wait for the next Batman film in a similar manner. It’s taken years for Marvel Studios to roll out its Fantastic Four reboot and excitement for the property has never been higher. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. moved quickly to reboot Batman after Ben Affleck exited the role. This time around, some delayed gratification until 2027 could allow the DCU to flourish early on and eventually become a juggernaut franchise once there is a new Batman film, whether it’s in the DCU or not.

“}]] The Batman sequel’s latest delay could end up being a good thing for the new DCU franchise.  Read More