It's no secret that the multiverse will factor heavily into the future of DC's films. Not only will projects like The Flash actively explore and interact with different realities within the DC multiverse, but other films like The Batman and Joker , which are disconnected from the main DCEU, can now peacefully coexist within their own pockets of the multiverse.
Justice League director Zack Snyder has already shared his thoughts on how the DC's live-action multiverse will factor into a new age of films that will allow for directors to work on various projects with more creative freedom, without the studio having to limit certain choices in order to maintain a cohesive shared universe. Now, a new report indicates that this is exactly what DC has in mind.
NEWS
A new article from the New York Times has revealed DC's plans for the future of their live-action universe, which will heavily utilize the idea of the multiverse in order to maximize the amount of films that are released over the next few years.
According to the NYT, the concept of the multiverse will soon be introduced in order to make audiences more comfortable seeing multiple iterations of the same character exist at the same time. As a result, films (and possibly series) will see a "sharp increase" in production.
The article states that DC is planning on releasing multiple films per year, citing that 2022 alone will see the debut of four movies, as well as two additional films per year to make their way onto HBO Max. Films like Joker , Shazam! , and Aquaman were financial successes for DC, and the article reveals that this is what pushed DC and Warner Bros. to find a way to produce more.
While DC executives and producers were reportedly faced with the options of either trying to have each new character and storyline coexist in the same world or starting it all over, the NYT reports that the multiverse was their answer, allowing the studio to keep characters like Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman to “continue their adventures on Earth 1,” while other characters like Robert Pattinson's Batman will “populate Earth 2.”
WHAT THIS MEANS
While DC's burgeoning multiverse has often been discussed by fans from a creative standpoint, it's interesting to see the concept through the eyes of the studios producing these films.
DC's new strategy for the future of their movie slate, which will stray away from interconnected storytelling and instead focus on singular films, needed a bold concept like the multiverse in order for it to work, and so it's even clearer now that films like The Flash will be just as important to the future of the studio as it will be to the world within.
With the increased rate of production for DC's films, it looks like Warner Bros. and DC are ready to take a lot more creative risks, introducing fan-favorite but obscure superheroes, and handing the reins of these projects over to new and exciting talent. And with HBO Max being used to release even more DC films in the next few years, the future of DC's on-screen content is certainly looking bright.
