DC Comics announces service shift while showing off new projects - The UpStream

DC Comics might be in a difficult position, with a large portion of its staff being laid off, but that hasn't stopped the company from making waves at its DC FanDome virtual event. From changes to the business to first looks at new films and games, DC seems to still be excited about its own future.

First, the company has announced that DC Universe, the company's self-branded streaming service, would be making way for the larger HBO Max streaming service, also owned by parent company WarnerMedia. All of the DC Universe exclusive content, as well as the rest of the DC content, will move over to HBO Max, though DC Universe will not be going away. Despite that change, DC still has a lot of content in the works. While some projects will be coming to HBO Max going forward, others are coming to theaters (assuming they ever reopen properly) and gaming consoles.

Suicide Squad

This franchise has a number of new products in the works. First is the next Suicide Squad film, helmed by James Gunn. During FanDome, James Gunn announced the lineup of characters, including Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Nathan Fillion as TDK, and John Cena as Peacemaker. A full character reveal reel was released, showing the entire character cast. Gunn has said that "It's going to be different from any superhero movie ever made" and, based on the behind the scenes video, it looks like it will be a good combination between the grit of the original film and the comedy of Guardians of the Galaxy.

In addition to the film, DC showed off a trailer for the new Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League! videogame. The game, which is from developer Rocksteady, will allow you to hunt for the characters you usually play as in a DC game - Batman, Superman, and the like.

Justice League

While the Suicide Squad game might have you hunting the Justice League members, HBO Max will be showing you anew side of the team. While the Justice League film came out in 2017, there has been a lot of interest in seeing the original film, directed by Zack Snyder before he left and handed the project over to Joss Whedon. HBO Max announced that it would release the Snyder Cut, and we've gotten our first look at what to expect, and it looks great.

Batman

The next film in the Batman franchise will show us a new Bruce Wayne in Robert Pattinson. There has been some concern over what his performance might look like. But, to be fair, there was concern over how Ben Afflec would perform in the role several years ago, and he turned out to be a great choice for the casting. Now, thanks to DC FanDome, we have our first look at the new version of the character. As Bruce Wayne, he looks a little too much like emo Peter Parker from Spider-Man 3, but as Batman, he seems a good fit. The car, however, looks sad.

Batman's allies also get some screen time, but on the small screen. Gotham Knights is a new co-op game in which Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood have to work together to fight the Court of Owls and others, after Batman's apparent death. This game gives us another chance to play in a known environemnt while playing as characters that we do not normally get to play as.

Wonder Woman

The only character with an upcoming film that we've seen before is Wonder Woman. We've seen trailers for the next installment, Wonder Woman 1984, but DC wanted to make sure she got attention at FanDome as well. Because of that, we got a new trailer for the film, and it looks like it will return the character to the epicness of her first film, and not the relative blandness of her appearance in Justice League (though that could change with the Snyder Cut). The movie is currently scheduled for October 2, 2020, but that is likely to change again thanks to COVID-19.