While all the attention is on Marvel coming off of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the upcoming “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” DC Comics recently dropped a teaser revealing their movie slate for 2022. While DC is streaming “Peacemaker” on HBO Max (which is currently one of the most-viewed shows in the world), they also have four upcoming films before the year ends.
Titled “The World Needs Heroes,” the trailer gives us looks at different heroes, some of which will be making their big-screen debut. Let’s take a look at everything the trailer revealed.
The Batman
Out of every movie represented in this trailer, “The Batman” is the one we see nothing new from. Perhaps it was a smart move, considering there have already been three trailers for the movie and it comes out in just over two weeks.
The trailer includes dialogue from Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman as she speaks to Robert Pattinson’s Batman. There are also shots of Pattinson in the Batman suit, and the cinematography is gorgeous. These are, however, all shots we have seen in previous promotional material, and beyond that, we don’t see any more from this movie. That’s okay, though. We’ll see everything “The Batman” has to offer when it hits theaters on March 4, 2022.
Black Adam
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been cast as the DC anti-hero Black Adam since 2007. Now, 15 years later, the movie is finally being made, and it looks like it will be worth the wait. A chilling first look trailer was released back in October of 2021, and with this new trailer, we have more footage to look at.
We see Johnon in the Black Adam suit, noticeably missing a cape that the character traditionally wears in the comics. Either way, the suit looks awesome. The setting of the scenes we see Black Adam in appear to be Ancient Egypt, implying that we’ll possibly see some jumps between time.
The big headline, however, is that the film will introduce the Justice Society of America, DC Comics’ first-ever superhero team before the Justice League. Classic DC superheroes will be making their big-screen debut. Aldis Hodge plays popular hero Hawkman, a hero with wings and a mace. Quintessa Swindell will play Cyclone, a hero who can create tornadoes. Noah Centineo will suit up as Atom Smasher, a hero with the ability to grow larger at will, making him stronger. Finally, the one and only Pierce Brosnan will play Doctor Fate, a sorcerer who was one of DC’s earliest creations (and for those of you who didn’t know, he came before Doctor Strange was even an idea).
The JSA’s suits look incredible. At the very worst, the suits are “good.” Cyclone’s isn’t anything outstanding, but is still a high-quality suit nonetheless. Hawkman embraces his majestic side, while Atom Smasher looks slick as he runs next to buildings. Doctor Fate’s suit is my personal favorite. I was surprised to see the helmet without eyeholes, but it doesn’t matter. Between these four suits and Johnson’s Black Adam suit, what’s not to love?
We’ll see these five heroes (and possibly more) when “Black Adam” comes out on July 29, 2022.
The Flash
After being stuck in development hell for nearly eight years, Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen will finally have his own standalone film. The trailer didn’t show many stills that weren’t from October 2021’s trailer, but there’s a lot to take away from the shots we get of “The Flash.”
We see a shot of Miller in the Flash suit, and yellow lenses cover the eyes of his cowl. The suit itself, in my opinion, is cool. However, the cowl looks like a biker’s helmet. Maybe it’ll look better in action, but as of right now, I’m not as impressed with this suit as I am with the ones from “Black Adam.”
The parts of DC’s teaser that featured the Flash were narrated by none other than Michael Keaton, who will be reprising his role as Batman from the iconic 1989 film. From the narration, we can conclude that the movie will involve the Flash messing with time travel and/or the multiverse- a concept that opens the door wide open for DC.
There recently were rumors that this movie will serve as a soft-reboot for the entire DC Extended Universe and create a new world for DC’s heroes to live in. Given the information we have so far, I’d say this theory is a solid one. While Keaton will return as Batman, he won’t be alone. Ben Affleck will also don the cowl, but he’s gone on record to say this is the last time he’ll play the role. The film also introduces Sasha Calle as Supergirl.
With no Henry Cavill as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman after this movie, what will come of the DCEU, primarily the Justice League? We’ll still have some familiar faces, but with Calle as Supergirl and an upcoming Batgirl movie with “In the Heights” star Leslie Gordon, it appears Superman and Batman may be replaced after this movie.
We’ll find out the state of the DC Multiverse when “The Flash” comes out on November 4, 2022.
Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom
The final DC movie of 2022 will be the second solo outing for Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry, codenamed Aquaman. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is briefly shown in the recent DC video, but no one is seen beyond Momoa himself.
We get two incredible shots of Momoa, and in each one he is wearing a different suit. The first suit (pictured above) is a darker take on the classic Aquaman suit. When looking at the comic books, we see that Momoa is wearing a version of Aquaman’s stealth suit. What does he need to be stealthy for? We’ll find out.
The second suit is the classic orange and green Aquaman suit. We saw Momoa don this outfit at the end of the first movie, and it looks like it’s returning for the sequel. Both suits look incredible, and I can’t wait to see both of them in action.
Little is known about the plot of the second Aquaman movie. However, the majority of the cast is returning. Alongside Momoa, Amber Heard will return as Mera, Patrick Wilson will return as Ocean Master, Willem Dafeo will return as Vulko, Nicole Kidman will return as Atlanna and Yahya Abdul-Matten II will once again play Black Manta, who is confirmed to be the film’s villain.
We’ll see Aquaman and Black Manta’s rematch in “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” on December 16, 2022.
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