All Of The No-Shows That Didn’t Make The Warner Bros Panel At Comic-Con

Warner Bros. brought the DC Cinematic Universe to San Diego Comic Con, but pending productions — The Batman, Shazam!, Gotham City Sirens, Suicide Squad 2, Nightwing, and more — were nowhere to be found.

Warner Bros. has big plans for DC Films’ cinematic universe: Shazam! is next in line to head in front of the cameras with Lights Out director David F. Sanberg, War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves is set to direct Ben Affleck in The Batman, Suicide Squad director David Ayer is teaming Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn with Catwoman and Poison Ivy in Gotham City Sirens, Dwayne Johnson will join the DCU as Black Adam, Batman’s protege Dick Grayson will star in Nightwing from The LEGO Batman Movie director Chris McKay, The Shallows director Jaume Collet-Serra is likely to direct Suicide Squad 2, and The Avengers director (and Justice League cleaner-upper) Joss Whedon will begin work on Batgirl in 2018.

But that’s not all. The darker side of the DCU will come together in Justice League Dark, Justice Leaguer Victor Stone is poised to get his own solo, Cyborg, in 2020, a year which will also see the arrival of the Green Lantern Corps, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle director Matthew Vaughn is reportedly interested in helming that often-talked-about Man of Steel sequel. Oh, and Warner Bros. is also said to be eyeing a second Suicide Squad spinoff, Harley Quinn vs. The Joker.

Whew. While DC fans have a lot to look forward to in the coming years, only a handful of upcoming productions made it to Hall H at San Diego Comic Con last weekend: as reported by Comicbook in our SDCC17 live blog, Warner Bros. made a splash on day three, bringing new footage from James Wan’s Aquaman, a new poster and extended trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and reveals for the Wonder Woman sequel and the new title of the Flash movie, Flashpoint. (Warners also presented flashy new footage from Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One and Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049.)

And that was all. (That sounds spoiled.)

There were a lot of great reveals: the new Justice League sneak peek was awesome and full of great moments, the Aquaman footage looked promising, we finally know when to anticipate the next solo feature starring our favorite Amazonian warrior, the apparent adaptation of the Flashpoint storyline sent the internet into a tizzy, giving fans lots to talk about, and Ben Affleck publicly addressed rumors that he was out as the Dark Knight in the best way possible, declaring his role as Batman as “the coolest f***ing part in any universe,” sharing he’s “thrilled” to star in The Batman for director Matt Reeves.

Warner Brothers made no mention of the rest of their packed DC Comics slate, which is prepping and planning films starring everyone from Billy Batson to Pamela Isley. Some, like Shazam!, The Batman, Gotham City Sirens, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Suicide Squad are confirmed to be on the way and have directors attached. Others, like Flashpoint and Black Adam, have a handful of talent involved, but aren’t as tangible (yet). Others still, like Cyborg and Green Lantern Corps, have tentative release slots in 2020, and due to Superman’s status as the most recognizable comic book character, we can assume that Man of Steel sequel will get up, up, and away eventually.

Fans may have anticipated some cast reveals for Gotham City Sirens or bigger developments for the Flash movie than just a title, but for now, it’s clear Warner Bros. is focused on the immediate future. More information on the continuing future of the ever-expanding DC Cinematic Universe will be available as Shazam!, The Batman, Suicide Squad 2, and those Batman and Suicide Squad spinoffs get rolling in the coming months. The fifth entry in the DC Films canon, Justice League, hits theaters November 17th.

In Justice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists newfound ally Diana Prince to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes — Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash — it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder, from a screenplay by Chris Terrio, based on a story by Snyder and Terrio, Justice League stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Ciarán Hinds, Amy Adams, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, and J. K. Simmons.