Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, events such as pop culture conventions and film festivals were cancelled. Disappointed fans had to wait for film, tv, and pop culture news for the upcoming fall season and new year. Events such as San Diego Comic-Con found homes online and other companies used this avenue to interact with their fans. DC Comics did just that, delivering trailers for upcoming films, new seasons for their current shows, and even some video games this past weekend.
The main convention was held online on Saturday, August 22, as “DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes”. The free virtual fan experience was 24 hours long, granting fans from around the world to participate in virtual panels and see new announcements and trailers for a variety of upcoming DC films, TV series and video games.
Virtual panels included the cast and creators of many current and upcoming DC projects and I will say that I was surprised by the content that we received. So, let’s jump into our first trailer!
Wonder Woman 1984 – October 2
Presented by director Patty Jenkins and the cast of the superheroine’s sequel, including Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, the virtual audience was treated to a new trailer. We were gifted see new footage of Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) and her reunion with her love interest, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) in 1984 but we also saw Kristen Wiig’s villainess, Barbara Minerva/Cheetah.
The Suicide Squad
On a controversial break from Walt Disney and Marvel, Director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1 and 2) was picked by Warner Bros to write and direct The Suicide Squad, a soft reboot and standalone sequel to the 2016 original film. Starring returning actors Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), and Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag) and bringing on an ensemble of new actors including John Cena and Idris Elba, this entry looks to be a fun and exciting mission for our favorite team of antiheroes.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League
#TheSnyderCut. Many fans have been clamoring for this director’s cut of 2017’s Justice League. While the original was lackluster at best, fans wondered what Snyder’s original vision was for DC’s united superhero team. A four hour movie that will be divided into four one-hour long episodes on the streaming service, HBOMax, we’ll see Snyder’s vision come to life as DC’s Trinity of Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck), and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) lead a team of heroes to save the world from Steppenwolf and, potentially, Darkseid.
Black Adam
While Shazam!: Fury of the Gods, the sequel to the 2019 film, awaits to start filming, fans were gifted an inside look into Black Adam. Black Adam is a spinoff film with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson playing the title character in the origin story of an ancient antihero that seeks to wreck havoc upon the world after awakening from a 5000 year exile. Other DC characters were announced as Justice Society of America members Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone have been confirmed. Here’s to hoping this film will be awesome to watch as we know Black Adam will meet Shazam in the near future.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
I don’t usually review video games here, but I felt this was too good to pass up. Taking place in the same continuity of the Batman: Arkham game series, this co-op game focuses on the antihero team’s attempt to stop Brainiac while also facing a controlled Superman. Could other Justice League members go up against Harley Quinn (voiced by Tara Reid) and the rest of the squad? Got to wait until 2022 to find out!
Gotham Knights
Another game getting the cinematic movie trailer experience was Gotham Knights. Set some time after Bruce Wayne’s apparent death and a rise in crime in Gotham City, Batman’s former proteges – including Dick Grayson/Nightwing, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Tim Drake/Robin and Jason Todd/Red Hood – as they work to continue Batman’s legacy while going up against villains like Mr. Freeze and the dreaded Court of Owls. I’m still more excited about the Suicide Squad game, but this could be worth looking into.
The Batman
Speaking of DC’s Caped Crusader, Robert Pattinson has been cast in the reboot of the Batman franchise. Directed by Matt Reeves, Batman (Robert Pattinson) is in his second year of crime-fighting and begins exploring the levels of corruption in Gotham City. I was not expecting to get a trailer to this movie that hasn’t finished filming yet. I personally like the idea to see a Batman who is not fully complete yet as a superhero. He’s still raw, haunted by the trauma of his past. I had my reservations about Pattinson putting on the cape and cowl, but this trailer has changed my mind. Also starring Zoe Kravitz, Jeffery Wright, Paul Dano, and Colin Farrell, this film is probably my most anticipated movie for 2021 at this time.
DC made the right move by holding their own fan event, offering it freely to fans around the world to enjoy the content that Warner Bros and DC have is store. It offered the distraction from the current status of the world and providing audiences with something to look forward to grace our eyes and get lost in the superhero world.
Did you get a chance to watch DC’s FanDome’s “Hall of Heroes” on Saturday? Are you going to watch Part 2 on September 12, “DC’s FanDome: Explore the Multiverse”?
Leave your comments and don’t forget to give some love to the Facebook page! Until next time!
One Scene at A Time 