10 Most Promising DC Movies That Were Tragically Canceled

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The DC cinematic universe is full of frustrating missed opportunities for films that might have been some of the franchise"s best, only to be cruelly canceled for one reason or another. The best movies starring DC characters prove how valuable the comic series is for film adaptations, with plenty of intriguing movies yet to be mined from the source material. It"s a shame so many brilliant ideas for films utilizing the DC universe remained trapped in development limbo before eventually falling through.
Many intriguing concepts for DC movies that never got made would have revolved around popular characters with expansive movie franchises already to their name, such as Superman or Batman. However, some represent bitter missed opportunities for interesting DC characters yet to have a live-action film, a chance to finally bring them to life on the silver screen. So many films in development that were ultimately scrapped under the DC banner were brimming with potential.
10 Batgirl Locked away in Warner Brothers' vault

It"s bad enough when an interesting idea for DC movie is planned, but never finishes or even begins filming, leaving fans to forever wonder what might have been. But in the case of Batgirl, an entire movie was actually filmed and edited, only to be canned at the last second, cursed to languish in obscurity as forgotten content. Batgirl allegedly starred Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon, playing opposite J.K. Simmons" Jim Gordon from the DCEU. Michael Keaton was also slated to reprise his role as Batman, and Brendan Fraser would have been introduced as the villain Firefly.
Considering Batgirl"s only live-action rep in movies has been the final act of the disastrously bad Batman & Robin, Batgirl would have certainly been a breath of fresh air. Despite the film being nearly completed, Warner Brothers" reasons for shelving Batgirl aren"t enough to assert that the film would have been bad. In fact, considering the cast, Batgirl had the potential to be a major hit for the DC universe.
9 Batman Unchained Joel Schumacher's failed attempt number 3

Speaking of Batman & Robin, studio execs at Warner Brothers were allegedly blindsided by the film"s poor reviews, impressed enough by the film"s production to bring Schumacher back on board for a third film, which would have been the fifth entry in the original Batman franchise. This film would have introduced Scarecrow as a major villain, using the fear toxin as an excuse to bring back Jack Nicholson"s Joker. Harley Quinn was also scheduled to appear, re-worked as Joker"s daughter seeking revenge on Batman for her father"s death.
Admittedly, the Joel Schumacher films are far from the best Batman movies, leaving a lot to be desired with their campy zeal. But it can"t be said that they aren"t entertaining, and Batman Unchained may have been worth watching just for how absurd it would have gotten with the freeing premise of Scarecrow"s fear toxin. Nicolas Cage was also approached as the one to play the fearmongering villain, which would have been an amazing choice considering the actor"s success in horror.
8 Superman Lives Perhaps the most infamous canceled DC project ever

Speaking of Nicolas Cage, a Batman villain was far from the only character the actor was once approached to play in the DC universe. Enter Superman Lives, an infamous canceled Superman movie meant to release in 1998 that would have posited Cage as the Blue Boy Scout himself. In this story, Superman would have contended with Kevin Spacey"s Lex Luthor and Christopher Walken as Braniac, who send Doomsday to Earth to kill him, re-enacting the infamous Death of Superman comic.
The film would have ended with Superman resurrecting thanks to advanced technology, fulfilling the promise of the title. Eventually, Nicolas Cage"s Superman would finally appear on screen thanks to a cameo in The Flash, fighting the giant spider monster originally meant to wow audience"s in the finale of Superman Lives. The script may have gone through many revisions, but all of them are intriguing enough to make me wonder what could have been.
7 Justice League Dark A gloomy take on the typical Justice League

It"s surprising that a Justice League movie took as long as it did to manifest, considering the ubiquity of the team"s legacy compared to Marvel equivalents like The Avengers and the success of the animated series in the early 2000s. Interestingly enough, a spin-off version of the Justice League team with precedence from the comics almost got a movie of its own way earlier than the DCEU"s Justice League. Enter Justice League Dark, which would have brought the eponymous team to life in the 2010s.
A supernaturally-themed version of the Justice League starring magical characters like John Constantine and Madame X, Justice League Dark was to originally be written by supernatural horror visionary Guillermo del Toro. Eventually, the project evolved into a vision which gave a separate solo show to multiple characters before bringing them together into a movie. Sadly, the idea was scrapped in favor of developing a sequel to Keanu Reeves" Constantine.
6 Justice League: Mortal A fascinating take on DC from a brilliant director

If there"s one canceled Justice League project that"s truly disappointing, it"s George Miller"s planned Justice League: Mortal. From the Mad Max franchise to Happy Feet, the films of George Miller are always creatively ambitious, and it would have been amazing to see his ideas for a superhero film. Justice League: Mortal was meant to kickstart a new DC series in the mid-to-late 2000s, competing with the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to Iron Man in 2008.
The idea was for younger actors to be cast as various famous DC heroes, allowing them to grow into their roles over time. Notably, underrepresented heroes like Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and John Stewart"s Green Lantern were meant to star, facing off against villains like Maxwell Lord and Talia al Ghul. However, Warner Brothers canceled the film in the wake of The Dark Knight"s success in 2008, resulting in a huge missed opportunity for the company as much as it was for DC fans.
5 Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max Could have finally given Green Arrow a feature film

Green Arrow is a character whose lack of film representation continues to be surprising, despite the success of his live-action CW show inciting an entire DC universe on TV. Essentially a more charismatic version of Batman, the Emerald Archer has tragically never gotten a chance to shine in a feature film, let alone one centered on him. Yet that"s exactly what almost came to pass thanks to Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max, a film that was developed around the same time as Justice League: Mortal.
Developed by David S. Goyer and Justin Marks, Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max was meant to be a prison escape movie that would have stranded Green Arrow in a high-security prison after being framed for crimes he didn"t commit. Names like the Joker, Lex Luthor, and the Riddler were thrown around for the prison"s other inhabitants Green Arrow would have faced. Though the film was scrapped, elements showcasing just how great it might have been made their way into the seventh season of Arrow.
4 DCEU's Lobo The franchise's chance for a killer anti-hero movie

Custom image by Richard Craig Lobo has always been a popular DC character due to his crass sense of humor and bloody antics, making him a prime candidate for a rated-R superhero movie a la Deadpool. A script for a Lobo film was in development as early as 2009, though the project went through many major revisions over the years. By the time the project was close to beginning filming in the mid 2010s, Michael Bay was signed on as a director, a match-made in heaven for the low-brow violent alien.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was initially meant to star as the bike-riding bounty hunter, but his name eventually fell out of consideration as the project continued to stall. As recently as 2022, Jason Momoa revealed that a "perfect" Lobo project was scrapped with his involvement, despite already playing Aquaman in the DCEU that the film would have been a part of. At least Jason Momoa will finally get to play Lobo in the upcoming DCU film Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.
3 DCEU's Booster Gold And Blue Beetle A perfect buddy-cop duo

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle aren"t the highest-profile DC heroes, but the two have surprising potential as a cinematic duo. Not to be confused with the version bonded with an alien parasite in the eponymous DCEU film, the original Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, is a wisecracking gadget-based hero. Meanwhile, his partner, Booster Gold, is a simple security guard from the future who steals advanced technology and time-travels back to the modern day to become a superhero himself.
A Blue Beetle and Booster Gold movie was almost developed in the DCEU in the 2010s, written by Zack Stentz of Thor and X-Men: First Class fame. The project was envisioned as a buddy cop comedy, perfectly capturing the two color-based heroes" dynamic in the original comics. While the DCEU sadly collapsed before the idea could come to fruition, the project has allegedly been recycled into the upcoming Booster Gold DCU series.
2 Guillermo Del Toro's Deadman A spooky DC hero in the perfect hands

Justice League Dark wasn"t the only DC project once eyed for the capable hands of director Guillermo del Toro. At one point, del Toro announced interest in producing a solo project for a spectral hero usually associated with the team, Deadman. In the comics, Deadman was a circus trapeze artist who is murdered in the middle of his act, only to be resurrected as a ghost with the powers to possess the living in order to seek revenge on his killer.
Nikolaj Arcel, known for A Royal Affair and the failed Dark Tower movie adaptation, was eventually slated to direct the project. Sadly, Deadman"s solo movie seems to have completely fallen through, never announced to have been scrapped but subject to death by the omission of any updates in years. It"s a shame fans never got to see how Deadman might have fit into Guillermo del Toro"s filmography.
1 DCEU's Wonder Twins Could have legitimized the Hanna-Barbera heroes

The Wonder Twins have an interesting legacy in the DC universe. Originally, alien hero twins Zan and Jayna premiered in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon The All-New Super Friends Hour, fighting crime alongside popular DC heroes. Eventually, the superhero siblings were canonized in the DC comics, and even nearly had a live-action film made about them in the DCEU, still in development as recently as 2022.
Made to be released for streaming on HBO Max, little is known about the planned Wonder Twins movie, though KJ Apa and Isabel May were apparently set to star. The film was a casualty of the Warner Brothers-Discovery merger, which axed it at similar projects to focus on theatrical releases. Considering the twin powers of hydrokinesis and animal shapeshifting, this may have been a great loss to the DC Universe"s theatrical slate.
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