DC cinematic universe

The first critic reviews of Batman vs. Superman hit the web last night and early word was…not kind. The film currently sits at 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. By comparison, the divisive Man of Steel had a 56%. Even The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had a 53% and that film was so bad it single-handedly killed a franchise. Our own critic, Matt Singer, called it a “a burdensome 150-minute slog” in his review. Other reviews have called it “an holy mess,” “a near-total drag” and “a deeply disappointing experience.” Perhaps most importantly though is this sentiment from GQ, which seems to be a recurring theme amongst negative reviews: “The wider problem is that [Batman vs. Superman] doesn’t make you want a Justice League film.” Studios are used to bad reviews, but if the overwhelming sentiment is that the Dawn of Justice doesn’t make you want to see Justice arrive, Warner Bros. has a supersized problem.

For anyone who remembers the days when just one Spider-Man movie seemed an impossible dream, the above infographic is an astonishing representation of how comic book superheroes now dominate popular entertainment. ComicsAlliance’s own graphics maestro Dylan Todd put together this timeline that reveals what the next six years of superhero movies look like, with some dates and titles still to be announced. The graphic will be updated as new information is released.

"Whitewashing," the practice of casting of white actors to play characters who were other ethnicities in the source material, has been a highly controversial Hollywood practice over the past several years. But what about when the reverse happens, and someone who isn't white is cast to play a character who has long been portrayed as white? Well, at minimum it can help correct an historic imbalance in superhero comics; in the specific case of Aquaman, it may also make him a lot cooler. The actor who plays Aquaman in DC's upcoming slate of superhero movies is Jason Momoa, who was born in Hawaii and is of partly Polynesian descent -- and Momoa fully intends to embrace his Polynesian heritage in his portrayal of the character.

The Warner Bros. announcement on Wednesday of ten upcoming movies based on DC Comics properties neatly fills in a calendar of dates that the studio previously provided -- and help flesh out an extraordinary timetable of DC and Marvel superhero movies over the next six years from Warner Bros, Marvel Studios, Fox, and Sony Columbia. ComicsAlliance's own graphics maestro Dylan Todd put together a timeline that reveals what those six years look like, including 29 confirmed release dates between now and the end of 2020, with several dates and titles still to be announced. For anyone who remembers the days when just one Spider-Man movie seemed an impossible dream, it's an astonishing representation of how comic book superheroes now dominate popular entertainment.

It appears that the dawn of justice will happen a little bit earlier than originally predicted. DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. have moved up the release date of director Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice from the traditional summer-movie territory of May 6, 2016 to March 25 of that year. The move means DC's big franchise film won't directly compete with one of that year's Marvel films, Captain America 3, which is also slated for that date. Along with the news of the Batman V Superman move, Warner Bros. also announced a list of release dates for projects through 2020, but with no titles.