DCEU: 5 Major New Details You Need To Know About Warner Bros.’ Pre-DCU/DC Studios Plans

A new slate of DCU films is being put together by DC Studios, but recent days have seen some shocking revelations come to light about what Warner Bros. had planned for the DCEU before James Gunn was hired!

Prior to Warner Bros.’ merger with Discovery, the DCEU looked set to continue down the same path it’s been on for several years now. While we began seeing signs of improvement (Michael Keaton’s return as Batman and Peacemaker, for example), it was clear the franchise would continue to struggle without proper leadership.

Walter Hamada was trying his best, however, and with DC Studios now looking to reboot the DCU under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran, scrapped DCEU plans are beginning to come to light. 

It’s been revealed that the executive hoped to build to an epic event story, all while releasing films and TV shows that would have helped this DC franchise move on from what’s been dubbed the “SnyderVerse.” None of these concepts are likely to be revisited by DC Studios, and we can’t help but feel even a little sad about that. 

Find out what might have been for the DCEU by tapping on that all-important NEXT button.  

5. Michael Keaton’s Return Culminated With Batman Beyond

Michael Keaton reprises the role of Batman in The Flash next summer, but there had once been plans for his Dark Knight beyond that. He was first set to serve as a mentor to Barbara Gordon’s vigilante in the now-scrapped Batgirl movie and even shot a cameo for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Clearly eyed to be the DCEU’s new permanent Caped Crusader, all of this was going to culminate with a Batman Beyond movie. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson was penning the screenplay, but the plug was pulled once Warner Bros. Discovery enlisted Gunn and Safran to take charge of DC Studios. 

With Robert Pattinson playing Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ The Batman franchise, it would have made perfect sense to have the DCEU’s Batman pass the mantle to Terry McGinnis.  

4. Henry Cavill Was Set To Lead A Crisis On Infinite Earths Movie

Dwayne Johnson has led us all to believe that he was solely responsible for Henry Cavill’s Superman return in Black Adam. He makes it sound like there was no other choice than to go around studio brass to make it happen, but Walter Hamada had how own very important plans for the Man of Tomorrow. 

While The Flash would end with Superman being written out of reality (and replaced by Supergirl), the endgame was for Cavill to make his grand return in this event picture, Would it have been a “welcome back” or permanent “farewell,” though?

We don’t know, but either option seems likely. Hamada clearly set out to reboot the DCEU, and with plans for a Black Man of Steel, chances are Cavill’s Supes was going to take centre stage in this movie before making the ultimate sacrifice, probably taking The Flash’s place from the comics.  

3. More Than One Man Of Steel Sequel Was Rejected

There’s a great deal of confusion surrounding when all these DCEU plans changed. However, we now know Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson was responsible for going around Walter Hamada to bring Henry Cavill back as Superman much sooner than planned. 

That happened late summer/early fall, and with the actor back in the fold, Warner Bros. started mulling over Man of Steel 2 ideas. Man of Steel producer and writer Charles Roven pitched a follow-up to former DC Films executives Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, but they weren’t keen and chose to wait for the new leadership at DC Studios to be appointed. 

A separate Superman movie pitch from Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) was also considered, but the studio was similarly unsure about his approach to the character, leaving poor old Kal-El in limbo.  

2. Batman And Catwoman’s Romance Revisited

As if a Batman Beyond movie wasn’t already a perfect way to end Keaton’s tenure as this iconic character, one idea considered for that was for his Bruce Wayne to rekindle his romance with Michelle Pfeiffer’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman. 

Having these two share the screen again would have delighted fans. Regardless of whether it was them being reunited after decades apart of the revelation that The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover was correct when it teased their marriage, it’s a crying shame we’re now unlikely to see this play out in the DCU. 

How close did it come to happening? Batgirl may well have set the stage for this relationship to be revisited, while Pfeiffer has said on multiple occasions that Catwoman is a role she would be open to reprising if offered.  

1. A Justice League Sequel Was Being Considered

Warner Bros. is said to have shot a number of cameos for The Flash prior to DC Studios being formed, though it will now be down to Gunn and Safran to decide what ends up being used. 

With conflicting reports about the original Justice League actors sticking around as part of the new DCU (hence why there’s chatter about Aquaman actor Jason Momoa being recast as Lobo), there had been plans for a sequel to the 2017 movie. This could have been Justice League 2 or Crisis on Infinite Earths, but we know at least one more team-up was planned. 

We wouldn’t bank on Zack Snyder ever being considered for any sort of active role in the scrapped sequel, with it likely planned as a fresh start for the team of “SnyderVerse” heroes. We’d have been curious to see what form the film took and who was brave enough to consider following in Joss Whedon’s footsteps.