Warner Bros. giveth, and Warner Bros. taketh away.
Just weeks after finally releasing The Snyder Cut, WB revealed that two anticipated DCEU films fromAva DuVernayandJames Wanwill no longer be moving forward. The studio and DC said in a statement, “As part of our DC slate, some legacy development titles includingNew GodsandThe Trenchwill not be moving forward. We thank our partners Ava DuVernay,Tom King, James Wan andPeterSafranfor their time and collaboration during this process and look forward to our continued partnership with them on other DC stories. The projects will remain in their skillful hands if they were to move forward in the future.”
New Godswould’ve featured Darkseid, one of the most formidable villains in all of DC Comics, who recently appeared as the primary (if mostly behind-the-scenes) antagonist ofZack Snyder’s Justice League. DuVernay had been developing the project with King, a prominent comic book writer, and shared a heartfelt post on Twitter in response to the news:
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Meanwhile,The Trenchwas intended to be a spinoff of Wan’s 2018 hitAquaman, exploring the monstrous creatures dwelling in a grim abyss at the bottom of the ocean. That project was being developed by Wan and Safran, from a script written byNoah GardinerandAiden Fitzgerald. Wan is currently still attached to directAquaman 2, which is set to begin filming this year.
It’s interesting to note that Warner’s statement indicates that DuVernay and Wan will be welcomed back to their respective projects should they be picked back up in the future. So, there’s still a chance we could seeNew GodsorThe Trenchsomewhere down the road, although that possibility seems unlikely for now. (Then again, we did just see The Snyder Cut, so who knows?)
It’s unclear whether either project was considered for release directly on HBO Max, Warner Bros. premiere streaming service. The studio made the controversial decision to simultaneously release its entire 2021 slate of films in theaters and on the streaming service for an exclusive one month period, with its most recent blockbusterGodzilla vs. Kongdebuting earlier this week. If, for example, there was concern thatThe Trenchmight cannibalize some ofAquaman 2’s audience, why not push the former as an HBO Max exclusive? And considering Darkseid just made his movie debut inZack Snyder’s Justice League, another HBO Max exclusive that isn’t even considered to be part of the official DCEU canon, why couldn’t room be made for DuVernay’s take on the New Gods?
It’s also unclear whether Warner’s decision to pull the plug onNew Godshad anything to do withDarkseid getting absolutely embarrassedin his introductory scene inZack Snyder’s Justice League, but it is my responsibility to assume that it did.
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