The San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) that took place from July 21 till July 24 had a lot of surprises in store for the fans, especially in regards to the lineup for upcoming Marvel movies in its 5th & 6th phase.
DC, on the other hand, announced only 2 of its movies despite having multiple movies on its roster for 2022 and the first half of 2023. After the success of The Suicide Squad in August last year, as well as a spinoff that was followed by the movie, (the Peacemaker TV series on HBO Max), fans of DC movies can expect to catch Black Adam in theatres this October.
Dwayne Johnson, who will play the titular character appeared in SDCC in Black Adam’s full costume with a brand new trailer.
Not only that but fans got to see the first official trailer of Shazam! Fury of The Gods, which fans can catch in theatres this Christmas.
And, that was pretty much about it. Given the huge scale of the SDCC event, it’s truly a huge surprise for DC to only focus on two of its upcoming movies during the 4-day event.
Where is Aquaman, The Flash, & Batgirl?
According to Collider, Batgirl is expected to be released in late 2022. Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom will follow on March 17, 2023, and The Flash, ironically, despite its super speed, will reach theatres the last – June 23, 2023.
Fans who expected to hear updates on these 3 movies were left disappointed.
A report by The Mary Sue suggested that the absence of updates on Aquaman 2 and The Flash was particularly due to their actors.
Amber Heard & Ezra Miller
Amber Heard, who played Aquaman’s love interest Queen Mera, found herself in deep controversy this year due to the defamation trial with her former spouse, Johnny Depp.
Amber Heard herself also confirmed that her screentime in the anticipated sequel to Aquaman was greatly reduced following the pressure from the audience to cut her off from the movie.
On the other hand, Ezra Miller, who plays The Flash in Zack Snyder’s Justice League last year is expected to reprise his role as the Scarlett Speedster in his solo movie The Flash, which will be released in 2023, after multiple delays. However, Ezra’s off-screen behaviour is suspected to be the main cause of the movie’s absence in SDCC.
The same report from Mary Sue highlights the actor’s multiple arrests for harassment and disorderly conduct, as well as alleged accusations of abuse.
At the time of writing, Ezra Miller has yet to respond to all the allegations and the movie is still scheduled for release next summer.
Ezra Miller will appear alongside Ben Affleck who continues to don the cape as Batman, as well as Michael Keaton, who will reprise his role as an older Bruce Wayne/Batman, 32 years after his last portrayal of the character in Batman Returns.
The absence of these two movies during SDCC 2022 has certainly sent fans into a series of questions.
Debunked rumours
One of the fans’ disappointments came true when Henry Cavill, the actor who played Superman did not make it to the SDCC despite the rumours.
Cavill was said to make an appearance alongside Dwayne Johnson and talk about his possible cameo appearance in Black Adam, as well as the potential sequel to Man of Steel, which came out almost a decade ago in 2013.
However, none of that happened. It’s like the disappointment of expecting Tom Cruise to appear as a variant of Iron Man in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Cavill then continued to portray Superman in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder’s Justice League before his fate in playing the character again was left hanging.
While we’re certainly excited for the lineups of Marvel movies, the absence of major DC movie updates is definitely worrying. What do you think may be the cause of the no-show of The Flash, Aquaman, and Batgirl in the SDCC?