Will DC’s latest superhero movie turn out to be yet another embarrassment at the box office? What does The Flash have in common with this 2022 blockbuster that may prove it’s worth all its hype? And finally, are the writers of Joker: Folie a Deux really going to change this key part of Harley Quinn’s identity for her new “origin?”
Shazam! Fury of the Gods may have a lower opening weekend than Black Adam
According to the analysts, it doesn’t look like Shazam: Fury of the Gods is going to turn out to be lightning in a bottle, at least not as far as the box office receipts are concerned. According to analysis shared by The Hollywood Reporter, the Shazam! sequel is only on track to make an anemic $35-$40 million over its opening weekend. This puts its earnings well below even the underperforming Black Adam which drew in around $67 million during its first weekend.
Even though Fury of the Gods was significantly cheaper than Black Adam to make (by nearly half the price) this still doesn’t bode well for the film’s potential earnings and makes it even more unlikely that we’ll be seeing the Shazam family sticking around for the new reimagined (and hopefully improved) DCU helmed by James Gunn.
Will The Flash be 2023’s Top Gun: Maverick?
It looks like The Flash may have something more in common with the Top Gun franchise than just “the need for speed.” The first official DCU title, which will officially bridge the old DCEU and the newer version, will debut in the same way that Top Gun: Maverick did — by being screened in its entirety at movie theater owners’ trade show CinemaCon, hosted at Caesar’s Place in Las Vegas.
The Flash has been touted as one of the best DC movies in years with DC Studios co-CEO Gunn calling it one of the best movies he’s seen in years. The choice of venue for its official debut at least indicates that the studio is quite willing to put its money where James Gunn’s mouth is, and willing to offer a first look at a much more discriminating audience that would be found at a more comics-oriented event.
This doesn’t necessarily mean The Flash will be on target as Maverick was, but it does indicate that the studio thinks it’s at least worth the bet.
Is Joker: Folie à Deux going to completely ignore Harley Quinn’s credentials?
The creative team on Joker: Folie à Deux may just be throwing out a huge curveball for fans of Harley Quinn, who is set to have her own reimagined origin story in the Joker sequel. And they may be alienating a lot of her fans in doing so.
While Harley has had her origin told and retold in a variety of formats with different writers and artists adding their own twists, at least one aspect of the character has always remained more or less canonical. Harley was once Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a psychiatrist at Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum who attempts to cure and later falls in love with Batman’s arch-nemesis, The Joker. Ironically, Quinzel ends up (sometimes purposely, sometimes accidentally) losing her own grip on sanity and becoming the Clown Prince of Crime’s best-known sidekick.
However, movie industry insider KC Walsh has claimed that Todd Phillips and Scott Silver plan to make Harley a fellow inmate of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker in the Elseworlds title, meaning for the first time in her history, the character will no longer possess her MD credentials. Many fans are already expressing their disappointment in the possibility, with the majority arguing that the irony of Quinzel’s transformation is part and parcel of what has made her one of the most popular characters in DC comics and movies. Perhaps Phillips et al may want to reconsider the story angle. After all, she didn’t go through med school just to end up as an anonymous inmate – even if she is played by Lady Gaga.