DC has started off 2022 with a bang after the great success of the recently released Matt Reeves film, The Batman. They even decided last month to get fans excited for what’s to come in the realm of DC Films with a trailer for this year’s releases called “The World Needs Heroes.” The trailer boasts 2022 releases for The Batman (which is out now), as well as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Black Adam, and The Flash. It now seems that two of these will no longer be released this year, along with some other release schedule changes. No official reason was given, as of yet, for these moves, but many are speculating COVID-19 issues, as well as several of them being visual effects-heavy and possibly needing more time.
Here are all the upcoming changes to the schedule, along with my thoughts on what this could mean going forward:
First up is the animated film DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Keanu Reeves. Originally slated for release on May 20th, it has now been pushed back two months to July 29, 2022, the date previously held by Black Adam. I don’t think this will have much of an impact as it’s not connected to anything else. Moving it out of May, away from the Doctor Strange sequel, will hopefully help it in the long run.
Next up is the aforementioned BLACK ADAM, another Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson-starring DC film. This long-awaited Shazam spin-off is moving back three months from its previous release date of July 29th and will now drop on October 21, 2022. This one isn’t a significant change, as it’s still coming out this year, and is only delayed three months, and seeing as we’ve waited almost a decade for this movie, I don’t think three more months will be the end of the world.
The biggest move is definitely for THE FLASH. This is probably DC’s most highly anticipated upcoming film, and it is now getting pushed back six and a half months, from Nov. 4th, all the way out to June 23, 2023. The thing about this one, though, is that filming for The Flash has been wrapped since this past October, and they’ve been in post-production ever since. So I don’t know why post-production’s going to take them an extra six months to complete, but this is definitely worrisome. My hope is that they just really want/need more time to perfect the visuals and that it’s not some sort of studio meddling, as we’ve seen in the past.
This one also has the biggest impact, I think, as it may also affect the release of the upcoming Batgirl film. With Michael Keaton’s Batman making his return to the big screen in The Flash, it only makes sense to assume that since he’s also in Batgirl, this move will cause HBO Max to shift the release date of that film as well, which is currently in production.
Next up is AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM, the follow-up to the 2018 film, which is also being pushed back into 2023, albeit not as far as The Flash. The Aquaman sequel will be moving from its December 16th slot to March 17, 2023. This move officially shifts the release order, as it will be out prior to The Flash now.
I don’t foresee this move making a huge impact on the overall universe unless it has some sort of tie to The Flash that we don’t know about yet. In fact, it actually makes more sense if the rumors about The Flash acting as a complete reset of the universe are true, as it will allow these films to all come out prior to that.
https://youtu.be/7jLEVrH4Bhg
Last, but certainly not least, we have a little bit of good news as SHAZAM!: FURY OF THE GODS is actually moving forward six months, going from June 2, 2023, to the former Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom slot of December 16, 2022. This is actually the most promising thing to come out of this news, as it means we will get Black Adam and Shazam!: Fury of the Gods a mere two months apart. Hopefully, that means they will really tie in together and feel like two chapters of the same story.
No word, as I said, on how this will affect Batgirl, and nothing about Blue Beetle either. My assumption is, because these are both HBO Max exclusive releases.
Below is the complete schedule change in a simple format for all to see. Let us know your thoughts about all of these changes in the comments!
DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS – 7/29/22
BLACK ADAM – 10/21/22
SHAZAM: FURY OF THE GODS – 12/16/22
AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM – 3/17/23
THE FLASH – 6/23/23
