There Is No Reason To Watch The Next Two Years Of DC Movies
The next few years of DC movies can be ignored before James Gunn's personally developed movies are released. Nothing in the next two years has an announced follow-up, and the whole universe is being reset, so why bother?
Depending on your age, when it comes to very disappointing endings, you may think of Dallas revealing the previous season was just a dream or Roseanne pulling the same trick after the lottery-winning season. No one likes committing hours to a piece of entertainment only for a horrible ending that tarnishes everything that came before. This is why it’s great that Warner Bros. Discovery has already told us the next year of DC movies won’t matter, due to the new slate introduced by James Gunn.
Shazam: Fury of the Gods comes out in a few weeks, but the film won’t have any lasting impression on the next phase of DC movies, especially with Zachary Levi not under contract for any more movies. The first film was already very loosely part of the DCU, and even what should have been a likely tie-in, Black Adam, didn’t reference the light-hearted movie. If anyone missed Shazam, the only thing they missed out on was a pretty fun film; it came and went with no impact.
The Flash, for all of the controversy around Ezra Miller and the excitement over the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, is supposed to be a reset for the DCU. How much of a reset will the actual film be when already it’s been confirmed Supergirl is not coming back and Keaton’s future is up in the air? Instead of watching how the past DC movies will be wiped away and tossed into the dustbin of history, wait for, say, Batman: The Brave and the Bold or Superman Legacy and catch the new DCU from the beginning when it matters.
None of the upcoming movies or television shows mention Blue Beetle, a character that is even less well-known than Aquaman, which means the August film might as well not happen. Sure, there’s a chance James Gunn has gone back in and added small tweaks here and there to each of the films to include a wink and a nod toward the new status quo, but it won’t be enough to make up for the rest of the sound and noise signifying nothing.
This is a shame, as no matter how good The Flash ends up being, Sasha Calle is not the lead in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and there’s no second Flash film on the current DC movie slate. Instead, James Gunn will focus on re-establishing Superman and Batman as the pillars of the DCU, with Swamp Thing and The Authority as the shocking companion pieces. Who would have guessed Midnighter, Apollo, and Jenny Sparks would make it to the big screen before The Teen Titans?
Probably every long-suffering Teen Titans fan that read the New 52 run expected that, which leads to the only good reason to watch this year’s DC movies: fan service. Adapting Flashpoint is being done for fan service; any references in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, say Tempest or Dolphin, will be done to get cheers from fans. Those moments will likely still be amazing, but they can also be skipped.
Disney can be blamed for many, many problems right now, but one thing that they’ve done is make every film and show in the MCU feel important. Some can be skipped, and others are required viewing, but at no point has an entire year of movies been made moot months before release. Save some money, save some time, and skip the next year of DC movies if you want to.
Will the films be fun and a great time? Probably! Shazam was fantastic, Aquaman surpassed expectations, and The Flash trailer looked amazing! But will any of them be required to understand the Booster Gold television show? No, no, they won’t, just as nothing from Batman vs. Superman or Justice League has been required to enjoy the subsequent films.
Instead, sign up for the DC Universe comic app and start reading Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, then Keith Giffen’s Booster Gold comic from 2007 to 2011. Those will be more important to understand the upcoming DC movies than Blue Beetle.
