7 Canceled DC Movies That We Really Wanted To See (& 8 That We’re Glad We Won’t)

Now that the cinematic landscape is all things superhero, it’s interesting to go back and see all of the once-potential films from the DC Universe.

You Are Reading :7 Canceled DC Movies That We Really Wanted To See (& 8 That We’re Glad We Won’t)

To the new generation, Marvel might seem like the big dog of the comic book movie genre, but those of us a little older will remember it was DC who ruled the scene until the mid-2000s. There were dozens of projects in line to be produced from this universe, but ultimately a lot of them were scrapped.

Now that the cinematic landscape is all things superhero, it’s interesting to go back and see the films from the DC Universe that might have been common knowledge. Some of these were good ideas that were unlucky not to be realized, while the others are those we’re very glad never got to the production stage.

Updated by Saim Cheeda on February 12th, 2020: The DC film landscape has seen a surprising surge in popularity and critical acclaim thanks to diverse productions like Joker and DCEU films such as Shazam!, Aquaman, and Birds of Prey. A whole variety of films are set to be released in this decade, but there have been equally as many cancelled in the preceding years.

That said, it’s worth taking a further look at the potential films that could have seen the light of day, so, in order for you to get in the mood for Birds of Prey, we’ve updated this list.

15 Glad We Won’t: Batman Vs Godzilla

This is no joke, as there really was a genuine idea from Godzilla series writer Shinichi Sekizawa for Batman to fight the monster. The story would have seen Batman and his sidekicks being called to stop Godzilla’s rampage around the city.

The plan was to use special effects to give off the impression that Batman was using his gadgets in the fight, but considering how laughable the 1960s technology was, we have no doubt that the film would have come across more of an unintentional parody than an actual superhero movie. Besides, the whole premise sounds over-the-top to begin with.

14 Wanted To See: Batman: Year One

Bruce Wayne’s progression into Batman has generally relied on either flashbacks or montages as a framing device, but how awesome would it have been to see it play out in a full film? This is what Batman: Year One would’ve detailed.

The movie had director Darren Aronofsky at the helm in 2000, but differences between him and the scriptwriter over the execution of Batman’s dark aspect led to several delays, before all parties decided to walk away entirely. It’s a shame, though, as watching Bruce Wayne figure out his superhero side and the limits to where he could take his vigilantism sounds great.

13 Glad We Won’t: Superman III: Supergirl

It’s not the worst thing to have a change from the norm, but to make two characters traditionally portrayed as cousins into being love interests? Now that just sounds too weird. Superman III: Supergirl had, for some time, been taking this route.

The story treatment had also taken a stab at Brainiac being the father of Supergirl, while Mister Mxyzptlk was meant to be prominently featured as well. All this was just too mismatched to be a believable story, and we’re glad WB pulled the plug on this one.

12 Wanted To See: Batman: Assault On Arkham 2

The film continuation of the Batman: Arkham game was a chilling story that featured one of the best interpretations of the Joker. Unfortunately, the sequel to this film couldn’t materialize, despite director Jay Oliva claiming at one point that he would be at its helm.

With Assault on Arkham being perfectly willing to show the horrifying side of the Joker and Batman being at his brutal best, the film deserved a follow-up, but we’ll have to contend with the Arkham games to get the feel of this grisly series.

11 Glad We Won’t: Aquaman Animated Film

Before the DCEU Aquaman arrived and revitalized interest in the character, the only version of Aquaman that was as cool as Jason Momoa’s was the DCAU Aquaman. However, Adam Green’s animated movie meant for release had a heavy involvement from the studio, which hindered the screenplay throughout.

According to the filmmaker, the studio wanted him to cut out a majority of the underwater scenes, which sounds like the soul of the character would’ve been stripped away. This makes us glad we didn’t get any rehashed version of Aquaman, and it was worth waiting for the DCEU interpretation.

10 Wanted To See: Justice League – Part Two

That all sounds like an incredible premise, but DC panicked at Dawn of Justice’s bad reception and sacked Snyder during Justice League’s production, resulting in an uneven film that was half-serious and half-comedy. The payoff for Snyder’s version would most definitely have made Justice League – Part Two worth a watch. Looks like we’ll just have to imagine what that would’ve been like.

9 Glad We Won’t: Batman Unchained

Batman & Robin made a mockery out of the Caped Crusader, and the silliness was meant to continue with Batman Unchained. Joel Schumacher was set to return as the director to ham up Batman with more Bat credit cards before Batman & Robin’s failure shelved all plans.

The plot would’ve seen Batman fight Scarecrow, prompting the superhero to see the Joker in hallucinations. While this doesn’t sound bad, you can bet all the focus on Batman’s rear and over-the-top Gothic antics would’ve made this more of a parody akin to the Scary Movie films. We still got the Scarecrow years later, and in a superb movie called Batman Begins. Let’s just leave the “unchained” things to Django, shall we?

8 Wanted To See: Batman Beyond

Batman Beyond never gets its due credit for being a great successor to the mainline Batman series. The animated show has been forgotten due to the two decades since its release, but the story of Terry McGinnis is something we all need to know in a mainstream light.

While Batman Beyond was still running, there was talk of making this iteration the next one to be shown in film. But, like with Batman Unchained, the reputation of the Dark Knight was just too bad – critically and commercially – to make Batman Beyond a viable option for release. We hope there’s room for it in the DCEU because this is one story worth producing.

7 Glad We Won’t: Superman VI

Superman and Superman II were the films that defined the superhero genre—there’s no question about it. However, Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace became so ridiculous that Superman started feeling like a parody of himself.

This was why we saw such a long gap between sequels until Superman Returns came by, and unfortunately, the series still wasn’t very engaging. Another sequel wouldn’t have had anywhere to go either, seeing as Clark Kent could never be with Lois, and the story about him having a child was pretty bad in any case. We’d have also seen Brandon Routh reprise the role; the guy just wasn’t captivating to hold our interest.

6 Wanted To See: Robin Spin-Off

Yes, Batman & Robin made the Boy Wonder out to be a joke, but that’s not to say he would’ve continued being that way in his own movie. With Robin being the center focus, we might have seen him grow into his own hero, and perhaps even turn into Nightwing.

There was a lot of potential with this character, especially because the actor was very good in his performance. All that was needed was getting the right director who would’ve carried Robin into heights that went with his characterization. A director like Christopher Nolan would be more than capable of making Robin a legit hero in his own right. It’s a shame the planned spin-off was canned.

5 Glad We Won’t: Joker And Harley Quinn Film

More than anything else, the failure of the Harley Quinn and Joker dynamic in the DCEU is mainly the fault of the awful portrayal of the Joker. The guy came across as a glorified gangster wearing green hair for no reason and huffing around trying to seem crazy.

The relationship between him and Harley is an abusive one in the animated series, but here we saw the Joker be some kind of pathetic lover boy. Their solo film would’ve only further made them out to be some lame, crazy couple, and Harley’s characterization will be much better in the upcoming Birds of Prey, where she’s free of the Joker’s influence on the movie.

4 Wanted To See: Batman 3

Tim Burton’s version of the Batman series was great as long as it lasted, and Batman Returns presented us further insights into Bruce Wayne, as his love for Catwoman was an intriguing premise.

What Burton wanted to look further into was Catwoman’s potential, and a third Batman film from the director would’ve focused on the feline turning into a superhero. The chemistry between the stars made Batman Returns a success, so the idea was one that might have had substance. Although Batman Forever wasn’t as bad as people remember it to be, Batman 3 was a much better option to go with.

3 Glad We Won’t: Green Lantern 2

When you’ve got the star of the movie himself making fun of his time as the superhero (full with Deadpool shooting Ryan Reynolds in his movie), then we can all agree a Green Lantern 2 would’ve been doubly awful than the first part.

There was a sequel hook in Green Lantern as well, with the turn of Sinestro into the villain in the works. Thankfully, better sense prevailed, and the sequel was canceled in light of the film underperforming at the box office. More so than commercial numbers, it’s the fact that almost literally no one liked the first film that the sequel never became a reality.

2 Wanted To See: Batman Vs. Superman

No, we’re not talking about Dawn of Justice—we mean the original Batman and Superman match-up. By the late 1990s, both superheroes ruled the roost in the genre, and Batman & Robin even had the Caped Crusader mention Superman being active, thereby placing the Man of Steel in the same universe.

The plot was interesting, too, with the film seeing Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne starting out as best friends until Lex Luthor killed Bruce’s wife and Bruce blamed Clark for her death. It might have been as campy as the earlier Batman and Superman films we’d seen, but not witnessing a team-up between these two tentpole superheroes in the 1990s seems like a missed opportunity.

1 Glad We Won’t: Superman Lives

Yes, that’s actually Nic Cage as Superman and not a bad photoshop we found on the internet. Nic had a screen testing as the Man of Steel in a film that was set to be directed by Tim Burton. With a lot of big names butting heads over production, the idea was scrapped as Burton went to direct Sleepy Hollow and Nic went to star in seemingly thousands of films we’ve seen him in since.

While Nic isn’t a bad actor when he’s in good films, there’s just no way anyone can believe him playing Superman—he just doesn’t have the look for it. No matter what the story might have been, there was never going to be convincing anyone this was the same version as the one played by Christopher Reeve.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/canceled-dc-movies-wanted-to-see/