We recently took a look at the massive line-up of films and TV series set to be released this year by Marvel Studios, and boy do they have a lot of goodies planned for 2021, but they’re not the only ones. This time we’re jumping across to the DC side of the fence and seeing what the folks over at Warner Bros. have planned for superhero fans this year.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (March 2021)
Every DC fan knows the story behind the 2017 ill-fated release of the much anticipated Justice League. Originally planned as the ultimate DC team-up, intended to put the DCEU on even footing with the enormous success enjoyed by the Avengers films, the mid-project departure and subsequent replacement of director Zack Snyder resulted in a final product that failed to capture Snyder’s original vision.
Almost as soon as the film was released, to much critical and commercial derision, rumours began to circulate of the existence of an original “Snyder Cut” and petitions were launched to allow the release of Snyder’s original version of the film. Finally, in March 2020, Warner Bros. announced that Zack Snyder would be getting the budget he needed to realise his original concept, which we later learned would clock in at over four hours, to be released on their HBO Max streaming platform in the US and syndicated internationally. Now, after years of rumours, petitions and endless internet chatter, the Snyder Cut is only a few short months away.
The Suicide Squad (6 August 2021)
When Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was temporarily let go from working on the planned MCU threequel in 2018, Warner Bros. was quick to swoop in and sign him up to work on his choice of projects. Much to every DC fan’s delight, he chose to pick up the sequel/soft reboot of David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad. With fan-favourite Margot Robbie returning for her third outing as Harley Quinn alongside former co-stars Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Joel Kinneman (Rick Flag) and Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), the composition of Task Force X is getting a lot of fresh new blood with John Cena, Idris Elba, Peter Capaldi, Alica Braga, Pete Davidson, David Dastmalchian, Michael Rooker, Taika Waititi, Nathan Fillion and Steve Agee all planned to join the crew.
Oh #@$%, It’s Peacemaker! (Late 2021)
Following in the footsteps of the MCU’s own Disney+ series, the DCEU will see its first officially connected TV series debut sometime later this year on HBOMax. Reprising his role as Peacemaker from The Suicide Squad, John Cena’s character is described as “a man who believes in peace at any cost, no matter how many people he has to kill to get it”.
Writer/director James Gunn, who penned the series during the 2020 pandemic, has described the character as “superhero, supervillain, and world’s biggest [beep].”
Whilst the original 2021 release date for The Batman has now been pushed back to 2022, marking the end of our feature-length inclusions, there’s still plenty of DC content in more episodic corners of the Multiverse planned for this year, including returning favourites and a few new goodies…
Superman and Lois
A new CW Arrowverse spinoff, this latest entry will see Supanova alumnus Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent) and Elizabeth Clark (Lois Lane) return to Clark’s hometown of Smallville to raise their two children after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Y: The Last Man
Based on the 2002 DC Vertigo comic series, Y: The Last Man follows the post-apocalyptic story of Yorick Brown and his pet monkey, Ampersand, who are the last males left on Earth following a cataclysmic event.
There’s also a plethora of established DC shows set to return this year with new seasons, including:
- The Flash Season 7
- Black Lightning Season 4
- Batwoman Season 2
- Legends of Tomorrow Season 6
- Stargirl Season 2
- Supergirl Season 6
- Lucifer Season 6
- Titans Season 3
- Pennyworth Season 2
- Doom Patrol Season 3
- Harley Quinn Season 3
- Young Justice Season 4
All in all, it’s looking like a great year to be a DC fan!
