DC comics seems to have dropped a brick on the accelerator pedal when it comes to building their on screen universe. With two movies already planned for next year and the third already filming, Warner Brothers is apparently already looking past the massive Justice League team up toward multiple future films for several of their characters. One of the expected pieces in the future puzzle is a solo outing for Ben Affleck’s Batman. Although, now it’s looking like it won’t be an entirely solo movie after all. Ben Affleck may be sharing the screen with Will Smith.
Next summer we’ll be introduced to Will Smith’s character, the master sniper Deadshot, in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad movie. Now it looks like they’ve begun to plot out that character’s future. The word is that Will Smith is signed on to a multi-movie deal to play Deadshot going forward and he wants to be very involved in the future of the DC universe. According to Latino Review, the current plan for the next Batman film, or the first, depending on how you count, is to include a team-up between The Bat and Deadshot.
While Deadshot is traditionally a member of Batman’s rogue’s gallery of villains, what we’ve seen of the Suicide Squad version of the character in trailers appears to have at least a few redeeming features. Still, it won’t be a teaming up of two heroes. The scenario is being compared to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly which would imply that it’s a partnership of necessity rather than choice.
This appears to be just another step in DC’s film strategy, which could be summed up as "there’s no such as a standalone movie." Rather than build each character up on their own, as Marvel did previously, DC seems to think the best way to build their universe is to put multiple characters in every film in their series. Wonder Woman is joining Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Batman in turn will be seen in Suicide Squad. There’s also a rumor that Affleck has a cameo role in Wonder Woman. It’s certainly a very different approach than that of Marvel, which is probably good, as we’ve already seen that approach. Filling each movie with multiple characters may very well make the world feel more connected much faster than it did with Marvel. Time will tell.
The idea is not set in stone it appears, as getting two actors like Will Smith and Ben Affleck on the same schedule will be a difficult enough chore as it is. We’ll have a better idea of how good an idea this is once we actually see Smith’s version of Deadshot on screen in Suicide Squad. For now, what do you think?
