The world of DC movies has been through a lot over the past four years. While Marvel started the slow build of its Cinematic Universe back in 2008, reaching 22 hugely successful movies by 2019, the film progression of its comic book rivals DC has been more faltering. With Christopher Nolan’s final Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises ending that particular run of blockbuster DC cinema in 2012, the studio turned its attention to trying to replicate the massive success of the MCU by creating its own interconnecting cinematic universe.
But while the MCU developed organically over the course of a decade, DC clearly didn’t want to wait. The keys were handed to Zack Snyder, who scored massive financial success with Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, but found little of the critical praise that Marvel was enjoying. David Ayer’s Suicide Squad was also a box office hit, but terrible reviews and stories of behind-the-scenes conflicts didn’t help, and the 2017 movie Justice League was a notorious debacle that ended the idea that a DC universe could match what Marvel had achieved in the same way.
But, of course, DC’s superheroes are among the most popular pop culture creations of all time, so it didn’t take long for the studio to find its feet once more. It largely abandoned the idea of making every movie connect, and has instead focused simply on making good movies. Aquaman and Wonder Woman were big hits, both critically and commercially, and Shazam showed a comedic side sorely lacking from Snyder’s films. And the dark, R-rated Joker was both a record-breaking box office success and–almost unheard of for a comic book movie–an awards success.
Like all studios, DC’s parent company Warner has had to readjust its release schedule because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the next few DC movies have moved back. But there’s plenty on the way in 2021 and beyond. We’ve listed all the upcoming films we know about so far–some of these have finished shooting and will arrive next year, others are currently in production. There are movies yet to start filming that have set release dates, and others still in early development. And of course, not all might happen, but nevertheless, there’s a ton of great superhero content for DC fans to enjoy in the coming years.
