Yesterday Warner Bros. revealed their once-unknown DC Comics lineup, as well as some additional movies that make for a "six-pack" attack that is both ambitious and somewhat leaving me wondering, "who will be interested in superheroes after 2020?"
I had guessed some of the movies, and was right about some of the ones to expect. Starting with Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 25, 2016), the universe takes off with Suicide Squad (August 5, 2016). 2017 will officially bring Wonder Woman to her own movie (June 23) and the end of the year will bring the much-anticipated Justice League - Part One (November 17), 2018 brings The Flash (March 23) and Aquaman (July 27), while 2019 will have Shazam and Justice League - Part Two and 2020 Cyborg and a Green Lantern reboot.
In addition to that, Warner Bros. announced 3 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for releases in November 2016, 2018 and 2020. Finally, 3 LEGO movies were confirmed. Ninjago debuts September 23, 2016, LEGO Batman on May 25, 2017, and The LEGO Movie 2 the following May (delayed a year).
DC is trying to beat Marvel here. And they are pulling out all the stops. But the superhero market is becoming way too crowded. Marvel and Fox's X-Men franchise are all over the place, while Sony's Spider-Man franchise is retreating in the face of the competition. 2016 will see at least one entry from all four competing studios, as Captain America 3, X-Men: Apocalypse, Doctor Strange and The Sinister Six are all releasing in addition to the two DC flicks. 2017 and 2018 aren't looking as crowded, but they still bring two untitled Marvel movies each as well as The Fantastic Four 2 (the first is out next year) and The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
But honestly, who can keep up? I had to go to Wikipedia and look at it several times to write all this down. Superhero movies are clearly the go-to movies right now, and everyone is trying to get in on the action. And despite X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 each earning over $700 million worldwide this year, they couldn't hold a candle to that of The Dark Knight Rises or the juggernaut that was The Avengers, which earned $1.1 billion and $1.5 billion respectively.
The most surprising one here is The Flash, as that character just premiered his own TV show (a very entertaining one at that) last week. Assuming that show doesn't last very long, we have to see how the movie fares here. Shazam is confirmed to star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the titular character, while Ray Fisher will be Aquaman. And that's not everything, Warner Bros. confirms that we likely will see another solo film each for Ben Affleck's Batman and Henry Cavill's Superman by 2020. It just goes on and on and on.
If Americans aren't tired of this by 2020, then I don't know who will. The genre has got to give in at some point, despite all the excitement. As for LEGO, its' franchise is exploding faster than any animated franchise I have seen. In less than two years (September 2016 to May 2018), how in the heck are you going to make three movies to the big screen? I guess bring Peter Jackson on board (LOL).
Making more sense is J.K. Rowling's book adaptations (in fact Rowling is writing the screenplay for the first movie) spaced out in a decent 2-year timeframe per movie. Harry Potter has been one of the most successful movie franchises ever, and waiting 5 1/2 years to restart seems like the right amount of time. While the main characters probably won't be there, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them should still prove to be huge, taking over the mid-November craze from The Hunger Games movies which will end in 2015.
So, Warner Bros. may actually have solidified themselves as the studio to beat for 5 years in a row. Or have they? What does everyone else have to say about that? Only time will tell.
