Predicting DC's 2020 Release Slate

The year 2020 figures to be a pivotal one for DC's troubled cinematic shared universe, with a number of potential releases dates still unspecified. After enjoying its greatest success - Wonder Woman - and greatest failure - Justice League - in 2017, DC will only see one film released in 2018, with a December debut of Aquaman. There are two scheduled for 2019 - the much anticipated Wonder Woman 1984 and Shazam! - and while it's still possible another film could sneak into the back half of that year, 2020 is going to be the target for several long-simmering projects.

It's become something of an easy joke that Warner Bros. has more rumored DC films than they could ever conceivably produce, especially for a franchise that has so far lagged behind Marvel in popularity and box office power. 2020's slate may, in fact, be the turning point in the franchise if Aquaman, Shazam, and Wonder Woman are as good as they look. But even midway through 2018, there's an open question as to which films will hit the silver screen in 2020. It seems unlikely that Warner Bros. would release more than three in a year, or would necessarily have the resources to properly promote and coordinate more than that.

Of the announced projects, a handful have creative teams attached and appear to be in active development. The likes of Green Lantern Corps (writer/producer Geoff Johns), The New Gods (director Ava DuVernay), and Nightwing (director Chris McKay) all seem highly probable to get made at some point in the future if the DCEU continues on, but hitting a 2020 release date seems unlikely for each. The true wild card, appropriately, is the Joaquin Phoenix starring, non-DCEU Joker solo film, which features massive behind the scenes talent in Martin Scorsese and Todd Phillips and, due to its place outside of shared universe continuity, could go into production very quickly. There's a very real possibility that movie could also see a release date in 2020, but for the sake of this piece, we're going to focus strictly on the DCEU properties that could arrive in 2020.

There are three films that stand out as the likely defenders of the DC universe in 2020. Let's break down where the production of those films currently stand, and how they likely figure into the greater scope of DC's shared cinematic universe.

The Fastest Man Alive has had a rocky road to the big screen. Ezra Miller's scarlet speedster has cycled through several directors and production false starts; it was eventually posited that it would be less a solo film and more a spin on the alternate reality sci-fi epic Flashpoint. After Miller's endearing turn in Justice League, Game Night directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein signed on to helm the film, which they say will take its inspiration from Back To The Future, suggesting Flashpoint's time travel shenanigans could still be something of a factor.

Daley and Goldstein proved they're a creative team on the rise with the surprise success of Game Night, and Miller is clearly a star in the making. If The Flash ends up being a timey wimey romp through the DC universe with Miller's charmingly goofy energy at its center. Daley has hinted that a 2020 release is the goal, and if anybody can sprint to a release date in time, it's Barry Allen.

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