Comics
WB Pictures pulls the plug on DC Comics’ “New Gods” and “The Trench”
Hint of a DC plan or caving-in once more to a hashtag?
No sooner than Zack Snyder’s Justice League has come into being, we have seen the ushering in of an age of other DC film directors angling themselves to receive a re-edit reup. Followed violently by the birth of a new spammy hashtag about restoring the Snyder-verse.
Now news has surfaced that sees wholly-planned DC projects being offed and thrown to the wayside like, say, refuse in the waterways or antiquated religions.
Ava DuVernay’s New Gods and James Wan’s horror-tinged The Trench – the Aquaman spin-off is no longer being pursued. Deicide and genocide in one fell swoop.
DuVernay has been working with the comic writer Tom King, developing the film script since 2018, and judging from Ava’s statement she was not at all too happy with the news. Understandably:
Tom, I loved writing NEW GODS with you. I’m upset that the saga of Barda, Scott, Granny, Highfather and The Furies ends this way. Diving into Kirby’s Fourth World was the adventure of a lifetime. That can’t be taken away. Thank you for your friendship. And remember… #DarkseidIs pic.twitter.com/XyyIjcB8Wv
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 1, 2021
Wan’s The Trench would also see a divergence from the current Snyder-led DCEU, as the film was meant to be, in all appearances, a DC film dabbling in the genre of monster horror. This is now also not happening.
Both DuVernay and Wan are still involved in DC projects despite Warner Bros. pulling the proverbial rug from under the directors. Wan is still set to direct Aquaman 2. DuVernay is still involved in the CW+ DC series Naomi.
Snyder’s Justice League, but existing, has done an injustice to Duvernay’s planned ode to Jack Kirby – the New Gods movie. That injustice? Giving us our first live-action Darkseid. Imagine if Marvel was going to introduce Thanos in Infinity War but then they decided to reveal him in S.H.I.E.L.D.? Whether this was intentional by Snyder to spur on his hive to add pressure to DC to have him continue his run or not, the results are all the same. Hell, it worked before, why not again?
It feels more apparent than ever that DC is reactionary more than proactive. Albeit, this could be a sign that the powers that be have actually begun thinking long-range and New Gods and The Trench don’t fit in the scope of their new plans. To think, though, that this decision could be the result of a spammy bot hashtag is more disturbing and shows just where DC’s heading.
Nevertheless, we are likely to hear another announcement from the DC/ Warner Bros. Pictures camp that will show what DC and Warner Bros. intend to do. Hopefully, they show some backbone.
