Warner Bros. Just Dropped Some Bad News About The DC Movie Slate

With the release of Matt Reeves' "The Batman" already a box office smash, Warner Bros. is primed to capitalize on the momentum of a DC property finding success with audiences. Following the critical acclaim of James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad," with "The Batman" hot on its tail (via Rotten Tomatoes), their slate of upcoming DCEU properties has fans filled with optimism.

Dwayne Johnson headlines the highly anticipated launch of "Black Adam," first announced in 2007 (via /Film). The film will also introduce the Justice Society of America, including Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Isis (Sarah Shahi), and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo). Johnson will also voice the lovable Krypto in the DC animated project, "DC League of Super-Pets." He is joined by Kevin Hart, who voices Ace the Bat-Hound.

Alongside these two new properties are a slate of sequels with returning headliners. Jason Momoa dons the scaled costume as the king (and hero) of Atlantis in "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom." Ezra Miller joins with Sasha Calle's Supergirl and two Batmans (that'd be Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton) in "The Flash." Finally, Zachary Levi returns as the titular hero in his superhero sequel, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods."

Even with all of these new features to look forward to, it isn't all sunshine and rainbows on the horizon for DC fans ready to head to the theaters. Led by Johnson's announcement on Instagram, Warner Bros. has announced a shake-up for the release dates for these films.

According to Variety, Warner Bros. has shuffled the release dates for its entire upcoming DC slate. While some are due to COVID-19-related complications and delays, others titles are delayed for unclear reasons.

"Black Adam" is being pushed back three months to the Halloween season, landing on October 21, making way for the animated "Super-Pets" to slide into the original release date of July 29. "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" and "The Flash" are the most impacted by the shuffle, with each pushed into 2023. The "Aquaman" sequel holds a new release date four months later than expected, landing in theaters on March 17, 2023. "The Flash" is delayed a whopping eight months, pushed to a summer release of June 23, 2023. Both of these films' visual effects have suffered delays contributed to the pandemic, per Variety.

It isn't all bad news for the DC slate, as the studio is electing to move the release date for one superhero team-up to the Christmas holiday. Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' president of domestic distribution, said in a statement, "We're thrilled to bring 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' to audiences as a Christmas gift this year. Families of all ages will really enjoy it." The Zachary Levi-led sequel was previously slated for release on June 2, 2023.

The Timothée Chalamet-starrer "Wonka" and the shark-fueled thriller "Meg 2: The Trench" were also impacted by the shuffle, with respective release dates of December 15 and August 4 now set for the features. With this scramble, DC fans still get a massive slate of superhero awesomeness to look forward to, with "Black Adam" as the next live-action film to hit theaters and "Super-Pets" as the next time they can see their favorite characters on the big screen.