Just a few weeks ago, Warner Bros. completely changed up its upcoming slate of DC Comics projects. Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam was shifted into later this year and both The Flash and Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom were pushed into 2023. Shazam! Fury of the Gods got the long end of the stick, and instead of being bumped, was pulled into December of this year.
Now, instead of 3-4 more live-action projects for 2022, fans are only looking at two. It's a sad change for many, but on the bright side, at least they didn't all get pushed into next year. But what caused the entire shift in the slate?
There are likely a few different reasons behind it, but at least part of it lies with Johnson's Black Adam, the first of the bunch actually to have been delayed.
Now, movie pundit John Campea has revealed at least part of why the upcoming project about the leader of Kahndaq was pushed in the first place, and surprisingly, it's directly related to James Gunn's The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The (Partial) Reason for Black Adam's Delay Revealed
During The John Campea Show, the host revealed part of the reason why Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam got delayed into October from its original July 29 debut.
Campea reported that it all came down to how "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3... [was using] almost every soundstage at Trillith [Studios]" in Atlanta, Georgia, where Black Adam not only conducted its initial production but also the location where its reshoots were planned to take place:
"Black Adam was originally supposed to do its reshoots in February at Trillith Studios in Atlanta where they did principal photography last year, but almost every soundstage at Trilith will be at use until the end of April for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Other smaller projects have been able to move into Trillith, but Black Adam needs more significant stages that Guardians of the Galaxy are currently occupying and striking. So, the reshoot timeline is nothing drastic, just a mishmash of schedules between different productions at the time. That's why the movie got delayed in March. The reshoots were already planned, Warner Bros. just couldn't find the time and or space to do them until May."
The Guardians of Trillith
Both DCEU and MCU projects occupy the same sphere of entertainment, so they are bound to get each other's way at some point, whether that be at the box office, a division amongst fans, or vying for the same storytelling gimmicks (ala the Multiverse). But vying for studio space against each other isn't the type of conflict one would predict.
One has to wonder why Black Adam couldn't have simply done its reshoots in a different location. It's a practice that Marvel Studios does all the time. It doesn't matter where the initial production was; reshoots can happen in an entirely different state if needed.
Recently, thanks to the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery, there's been talk of a complete overhaul of its DC Comics division. If this goes in the direction that many fans across the world want it to go, the future could see a proper MCU equivalent web of connected projects—one far more organized and cohesive than the DCEU is right now.
In theory, this could vastly increase the number of projects happening at one time. If there's already a scheduling conflict between Black Adam and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 like this, what will the future hold? It seems like there will be some far greater struggles for studios space in the future.
Only time will tell how everything will play out, but hopefully, the fans will win out no matter what happens.
Black Adam releases on October 21 later this year, while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters next year on May 5.
