Earlier this week, THR put a foot in the hornet’s nest with its story about the scrapping of “Wonder Woman 3” and the discussion of where things stand with “Man of Steel 2,” “Black Adam 2” and other projects at DC Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery.
New chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran are set to shake things up with their plan for an interconnected DC future, but that has led to understandable questions as to what it means for existing DC properties and actors.
In the wake of that report, some further details cropped up elsewhere, including more about Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” exit, Dwayne Johnson’s awkward defense of the “Black Adam” box-office, and the apparent scrapping of what could have been a Michael Keaton-led “Batman Beyond” adaptation.
Gunn himself even weighed in on the reports, saying some is true, some half-true, some not true, and some not even decided yet. Now, in a Friday newsletter briefing, THR have done a follow-up and revealed a few more details they’ve unearthed.
First up they confirm the “Man of Steel” sequel has “stalled out” and is not going anywhere at this point, even though it was moving before the Gunn-Safran hiring. They add that “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight penned a treatment for the film earlier this Fall, one that failed to excite Warners execs and so it wasn’t moving that much.
Next, they say there’s the former head of DC Films Walter Hamada who apparently had a long-range plan to return Cavill’s Superman to DC with cameos in “The Flash” and “Aquaman” to have teased what would’ve been a “Crisis on Infinite Earth” major tentpole film – one that would’ve seen Cavill fully returned as Superman.
Finally, the report confirms that Christina Hodson was indeed writing a “Batman Beyond” film which would’ve been a spin-off from next year’s “The Flash” (which she also wrote). Hodson reportedly pitched her take, which executives adored, and she got to work writing.
Then, two weeks after the hires of Gunn and Safran, she was told to stop. The real kicker though? That project was looking to resuscitate the romance between Keaton’s Batman and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman (it’s unclear if Pfeiffer would’ve returned).
For now, everything seems unclear ahead of Gunn and Safran’s presentation to the Warners execs next week of their major plans.
Source: THR
