DC gears up for standalone movies

By: Ram Christian Agustin and Rhosedel Grace Gabac

The DC movie universe seemed stalled after “Justice League,” but it rebounded last year with the success of “Aquaman,” which made over $1 billion worldwide.

With a shaky start for the DC Extended Universe from “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and underperforming “Suicide Squad”,  the heavily critiqued “Justice League” seemed to put the nain in the coffin when it turned out to be a flop despite the hype.

Luckily, the DC universe was able to bounce back with the success of “Aquaman” which raked $1 billion worldwide. This resulted in Warner Bros. steering away from rushing the connected movie franchise and running towards standalone movies with a deeper character story development.

Here are four upcoming movies from DC that aims to do just that.

SHAZAM! 
To be released on April 5 this year, the movie follows a young boy named Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel) who gains the ability to turn into an adult superhero (played by Zachary Levi) by shouting the magic word “Shazam.” Fans are hopeful that Black Adam, the former Shazam champion, will make an appearance.

JOKER
A standalone movie directed by Todd Phillips, will be an origin story of Batman’s greatest rival and will be released this year, October 4. It promises to be a gritty crime drama as to how the Joker ended up to his current disposition.

BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLET QUINN)
Margot Robbie is reprising her “Suicide Squad” role of Harley Quinn and she’s teaming up with an all-female crew of Gotham City vigilantes such as Huntress (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to take down the crime boss Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) next year on February 7.

WONDER WOMAN 1984
Wonder Woman is returning for this sequel set during the Cold War. Gal Gadot is also returning to the title role, as well as Chris Pine as Steve Trevor. Kristen Wiig will play the villain Cheetah. The movie was originally scheduled for this November, but was moved for next year on June 5. The first movie, which opened in June 2017, grossed $821 million worldwide and is the best reviewed DC Extended Universe movie yet with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes critic score.