Should everything go to plan under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s watch, then we could be talking about 2022 as the year that saved the DCU from itself, something that seemed unfathomable when the clocks struck midnight to ring in the end of 2021.
It’s been a typically messy annum for a franchise that always seems unsure of what the other hand is doing at any given time, and that was compounded by a shambolic 12 months that saw virtually every element of Warner Bros.’ marquee universe stripped down, torn apart, rebooted, canceled, or given a fresh coat of paint in one way or another.
On January 1 of last year, the scheduled lineup consisted of Peacemaker, The Batman, Black Adam, Batgirl, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Flash. Fast forward less than 14 months, and it would be an understatement to say that the DCU is almost completely unrecognizable thanks to the new co-CEOs sweeping in and trying to wipe as much of the slate clean as possible.
Batgirl was scrapped altogether after being deemed so bad it could have actively hurt the brand, while Black Adam ignominiously wound up as a one-and-done effort that saw both Dwayne Johnson and Henry Cavill cast out of their respective roles. Peacemaker had a second season announced but we won’t be seeing it for a while after Viola Davis’ Waller was given precedent, The Flash still hasn’t released, while Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is being subjected to rumors that it needs to be salvaged to avoid taking a critical bashing.
It’s been a weird, wild, and wonderful time, but having suffered through a decade of constant chopping and changing, ringing in 2023 with a brand new approach on the table to map out the next decade couldn’t have happened at a better time.