Right now, Warner Bros. and DC Comics are working to build something akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Multiple movies have been announced to come out over the next five years, and each of them will give us an in-depth look at a character that's actually part of a much bigger world full of heroes. Beyond just the shared universe, however, one important aspect of this kind of world-building is the idea of having all of the various plot points and characters heading towards an interesting goal. At this point, that "big plan" hasn't exactly revealed itself just yet, but Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice star Henry Cavill has promised that there is something big to which everything is leading.
Cavill is currently out promoting the release of his new movie, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and it was while sitting down for an interview with Uproxx that he hinted about the future of the DC Cinematic Universe. Discussing the "lore" of the franchise, and prompted to talk about the connections between the end of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the actor disclosed that the filmmakers behind the big comic book movies have something very interesting in store for us in the next few years. He explained,
There’s a big plan in place at WB for the whole DC franchise. So, all of this stuff ties in. They’re not thinking from movie to movie, they’re thinking from a big tent pole type thing and each story has its own story, which is attached to the major issue. Yeah, there’s a big plan.
When discussing big plans in a cinematic universe, it's impossible to not talk about what's going on over at Marvel Studios. Since 2008, the company has been working on a plan that will eventually see the various heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe go up against the greatest threat the universe has ever seen: the Mad Titan, Thanos - who acquires the power of a god after managing to assemble a powerful weapon known as the Infinity Gauntlet. From one perspective, everything that has been done to this point has been a lead up to what will go down in the final act of Joe and Anthony Russo's The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 in 2019.
Knowing this, we're immediately left to speculate what the DC Cinematic Universe could present on the big screen to compete. Really, the most obvious answer is Darkseid, a supervillain introduced to DC Comics in 1970 who has aspirations to conquer the entire universe. It's a character that fans have been wanting to see portrayed in live-action for years... but there's one little problem. Thanos is actually a character whose creation was actually directly inspired by Darkseid, and Warner Bros. waits too long to adapt for live action, there could be some ultimately unfair comparisons made between them. The good news is that there are still powerful DC villains like Starro, and Brainiac, so in reality there are many directions in which to turn.
We'll get our first chance to preview how the DC Cinematic Universe will unfold when Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice arrives in theaters March 25, 2016.
