DC Comics is home to many of the most famous and iconic superhero characters of all time. Ranging from the heavy hitters like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman to more obscure characters like Swamp Thing and Mr. Miracle, the depth of DC characters and stories that exist is almost endless. DC has had a longtime partnership with Warner Bros that has led to numerous outstanding DC movies, such as Superman: The Movie, The Dark Knight, The Suicide Squad, and more. In that time, there has also been a myriad of other DC movies, like Catwoman and Black Adam, that left audiences scratching their heads in confusion more than anything else.
However, for every DC movie that makes it to the big screen, there are countless others that are lost to the pits of development hell. Whether it be any of the canceled Batman and Superman movies from over the years, or the slew of films from the DCEU and Snyderverse that failed to get off the ground, the world of DC films has more canceled movies than it does completed projects. There are various reasons for these films never seeing the day. Some of them were lost in the shuffle of company mergers; some conflicted with other plans DC had for their film universe, and others had to deal with unexpected outside forces that made their development impossible. Regardless of why they never happened, here are 21 canceled DC movies that we would have loved to see on the big screen:
21 Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max
Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max was a standalone Green Arrow film that would have followed Oliver Queen as he was imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit. From there, the film would have been a superhuman take on a prison break story. Queen, who would have been out of his Green Arrow ensemble for most of the film, would have come across a myriad of DC villains in the Super-Max prison. While recognizable villains such as The Riddler, Lex Luthor, and The Joker were set to appear briefly, there would have been a more significant focus on B and C-level DC villains, such as Icicle.
The film was written by David S. Goyer and Justin Marks in 2007 and 2008. At the time, Goyer was coming off a number of other superhero scripts he had written and co-written, namely Blade II, Blade: Trinity, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight, the last of which he only has a “story by” credit on. There has been little talk about Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max in the 15 years since it was written. The likelihood of the project happening was likely diminished after Stephen Amell’s version of the Green Arrow became a big hit in the CW series Arrow. In 2015, Goyer discussed the film’s cancelation with Den Of Geek, saying “It was ahead of it’s time, to be quite frank. The executive on it was really visionary, but the higher-ups, none of whom are at Warner Bros anymore, just thought at the time, “You know, we just want to make Batman and Superman movies. We don’t want to make any other characters.’”
20 Christopher Nolan's Original Dark Knight Sequel
It’s true, the version of The Dark Knight Rises that was released in 2012 was not what Christopher Nolan had originally intended his third Batman film to be. However, the reasoning for the film’s change was not studio interference, developmental issues or any other business hangups. The original plan for The Dark Knight Rises was that the film would bring back The Joker, played by Heath Ledger, in a key role. Understandably, these plans were changed as a result of Ledger’s tragic passing in 2008, before the release of The Dark Knight. After Ledger’s passing, elements of The Dark Knight were changed in order to avoid directly setting up the planned story for the sequel. The film would have featured The Joker’s trial in Gotham City, with Michael Jai White’s Gambol, who wasn’t intended to die in The Dark Knight, also playing a larger role in the sequel. Nolan made the decision not to recast the role of The Joker, out of respect for Ledger, and the third Batman film was restructured and re-written until it eventually became The Dark Knight Rises.
19 Nightwing
In February 2017, The LEGO Batman Movie was released to a surprising amount of critical acclaim and love from DC fans. Almost immediately, DC and WB signed the film’s director, Chris McKay, on to write and direct a live-action film centered on the Batman-adjacent character Nightwing. The film would have followed an adult Dick Grayson as he was living in Blüdhaven and embarking on his own crime-fighting journey after serving as Batman’s first Robin in his youth. McKay has stated that the film would have depicted Grayson's struggle to grow past his relationship with Batman, who had been a dark and perhaps not-so-great mentor for him.
The film’s announcement came at a time when the DCEU was still struggling to gain a foothold, as the three films in the franchise so far (Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad) had not been the universal hits DC and WB had hoped for. After the failure of Justice League and the multi-year squandering of the DCEU that followed, the Nightwing project was put on hold. In the summer of 2021, long before James Gunn’s restructuring of the DCEU into the new DCU, McKay spoke openly about his hopes that Nightwing would still happen. He said, “I wouldn’t say it’s 100% dead in the water. It’s a movie that I still want to make. It’s a character I love. And then it’s a world that I’m passionate about.” There has, as of yet, been no word that Nightwing has officially been canceled, but the silence surrounding the project speaks volumes about the likelihood that it is still happening.
18 Man of Steel 2
A sequel to 2013's Man of Steel was one of the films most demanded by fans of the Snyderverse over the years. While there seemed to be some positive momentum for the sequel on several occasions, it is now about as far away from happening as possible. The sequel was first announced as part of the DCEU slate unveiled in 2014. Over the years, several directors had serious discussions with WB about helming the film, but none of them sealed the deal. Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn was in talks for a while, and Mission: Impossible’s Christopher McQuarrie has also talked about a pitch he brought to WB for a Henry Cavill-led Man of Steel sequel. J. J. Abrams was also in talks at one point. After years of no word, a sequel seemed the most likely after Cavill’s cameo at the end of Black Adam in 2022, as WB said they were actively looking for writers to take on the film. However, Man of Steel 2 is another project that met its end with the hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran to lead DC Studios, as they are now developing a rebooted Superman film titled Superman: Legacy.
17 Batman vs. Godzilla
The concept for this movie is pretty much exactly as it sounds based on the title. Back in the mid-1960s, there was early work done on a film that would’ve seen the iconic caped crusader going toe-to-toe with the most famous kaiju of Japanese cinema, Godzilla. The film was first proposed in late 1965, shortly before the debut of the Batman television series, starring Adam West, in early 1966. The idea for the film came from Shinichi Sekizawa, who had previously written films in the Godzilla series such as Mothra, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Mothra vs. Godzilla and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.
As incredible as it would’ve been to see West’s Batman go up against Godzilla, it’s likely that Sekizawa did not have West in mind to play the role when pitching Batman vs. Godzilla, considering the show had not yet premiered. What we do know is that the film would have also featured other characters from the Batman comics, such as Commissioner Gordon, Robin and Batgirl. It’s unclear at what point in development Batman vs. Godzilla stalled, or whether DC was ever actually approached for the project at all. However, the concept of a ‘60s film with Batman fighting Godzilla is just too wild not to give at least some recognition to.
16 Plastic Man
Another DCEU film that has, as of yet, failed to get off the ground is the live-action Plastic Man film that has been in development since 2018. There have been many attempts to bring Plastic Man to theaters dating as far back as the early ‘90s, but none of them have come to fruition. The DCEU’s attempted Plastic Man was first announced in late 2018 when Amanda Idoko came aboard to write the film’s script. Nothing about the film was announced for a couple of years until Idoko was replaced as the film’s writer in late 2020. At that point, Cat Vasko joined the project and began rewriting the film essentially from scratch. Vasko’s film would have centered on a new female lead taking on the mantle of the comedic hero. There has been no more news about the Plastic Man film in the years since, and with the recent changes at the DC offices, the movie has become yet another entry in the long list of canceled DC movies.
15 Justice League: Mortal
Justice League: Mortal is one of the most infamous of DC’s canceled projects, as it is likely the one that came closest to becoming a reality. The Justice League film was in development in the late 2000s and was originally set for release in the summer of 2009. George Miller, of Mad Max and Happy Feet fame, was set to direct the film; a script was completed, and most of the key roles were already cast. The film would’ve been the start of a new DC franchise, with the characters of Superman and Batman recast from other recent films Superman Returns and Batman Begins. D.J. Cotrona was to play Superman, Armie Hammer was going to be Batman, and Megan Gale was set as Wonder Woman. The rest of the superhero team was rounded out with Common as John Stewart/Green Lantern, Adam Brody as The Flash, Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter, and a version of Aquaman that was never cast. Other cast members of Justice League: Mortal included Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul and Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord, the film’s villain.
Nearly everything was set and ready to go for Justice League: Mortal, but the film’s production ended up being delayed several times. One of the first delays was the result of an industry-wide strike from the Writers Guild of America, which lasted from late 2007 into early 2008. After that, the movie was supposed to begin filming in Australia in mid-2008, but production was delayed again when WB did not receive the tax rebates they expected from the Australian government. The film’s production was then going to be moved to Canada. However, with the massive success of The Dark Knight that summer, WB instead decided to refocus their DC efforts on solo film outings. Then, just like that, Justice League: Mortal was killed, and DC instead moved forward with Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, and new takes on classic DC characters with 2011’s Green Lantern and 2013’s Man of Steel.
14 New Gods
As part of the ongoing DCEU franchise in the 2010s, director Ava Duvernay was hired to direct a feature film based on the New Gods comics. She was writing the film along with comic writer Tom King. The film was going to be a massive science-fiction epic and was set to feature many of DC’s most powerful and godlike characters, such as Mr. Miracle, Darkseid, Big Barda and more. However, development of the film was suddenly canceled in 2021 following the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Duvernay has spoken about the film’s cancelation, saying that her New Gods film featured a few DC characters that WB was not wanting to focus on at that moment. The odds are that the film was canceled as part of DC’s attempt to sever their film franchise from the “Snyderverse,” as Zack Snyder’s Justice League prominently featured several of the same characters, namely Darkseid and Granny Goodness.
13 Batman Continues
Tim Burton is largely responsible for transitioning Batman from a campy hero to a dark, more serious character in the eyes of mainstream audiences. His take on the character, played by Michael Keaton in 1989’s Batman and 1992’s Batman Returns, is one of the most well-known and beloved versions of the Dark Knight to ever hit the big screen. However, Burton was only ever allowed to make those two films, as the box office and audience response to the director’s eclectic Batman Returns was not nearly as positive as WB and DC had hoped for. While Burton had been planning on a third film, tentatively titled Batman Continues, the studio instead opted to ditch the director in favor of Joel Schumacher for the third outing, which became Batman Forever.
Batman Forever incorporated many of the same elements that Burton had envisioned for Batman Continues, such as the introduction of Robin, The Riddler, and Two-Face. Burton had even gone as far as casting the roles, with Marlon Wayans set to play Robin, Micky Dolenz was going to be The Riddler and Billy Dee Williams was to reprise the role of Harvey Dent/Two-Face from ‘89s Batman. Michelle Pfeiffer was also going to return as Catwoman. WB and DC thought the script was too dark and too similar to Batman Returns. The reaction to Returns had spooked the studio, and so they chose to say goodbye to Burton and Batman Continues and take the Batman franchise in a more light-hearted and “family-friendly” direction.
12 Lobo
As with many other DC characters, there have been several attempts to bring a Lobo movie to life over the years. The first attempt was in 2009 when Snatch and Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie signed on to direct a film based on the alien mercenary. Dwayne Johnson was eyed to star in the film, but by 2014 the movie was no longer moving forward. Several other directors have been attached to the project over the years. One of the most famous filmmakers that circled the project was Transformers director Michael Bay, though that deal never solidified. At one point, San Andreas director Brad Peyton was signed on to the movie, though he stated that DC moved on from the film in order to focus on other core characters. Recently, there have been rumors that Gunn and Safran would like Aquaman star Jason Momoa to shift roles and portray Lobo in a standalone film instead, but there has been no confirmation of that as of yet.
11 Batman Beyond
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HBO Max
This is one of the most recently canceled DC movies on this list, as the news that a Batman Beyond film was in development hadn’t even broken before the movie was axed. Christina Hodson, who was a writer on the DC movies Birds of Prey, Batgirl and the upcoming The Flash, had written a Batman Beyond script that would have starred Keaton as the older Bruce Wayne and seen Pfeiffer return as Catwoman. The film would have been an adaptation of the fan-favorite animated series, which is set in a future world where the role of Batman is taken over by the hero Terry McGinnis. The film was another project that was canceled by Gunn and Safran after their hiring as DC Studios co-chiefs in late 2022. Hodson has since joined the writers' room that is mapping out the future of the DCU, so it’s not impossible that the film makes a reappearance in some form moving forward.
10 Cyborg
In 2014, WB and DC were actively attempting to establish their new DCEU, spun-off from 2013’s Man of Steel, to compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As part of this effort, there were 10 new DC films announced that were to serve as the first chapter of the new DCEU. While most of these films did happen, in one way or another, with The Flash movie finally hitting theaters this summer almost ten years later, there were also a few movies that fell by the wayside. One of these films was a standalone Cyborg film starring Ray Fisher in the titular role, set for release in 2020. As the DCEU continued to grow, it ran into more trouble than success. 2017’s Justice League was a disaster, both critically and financially, which caused the entire franchise to enter a state of further disarray.
Over the following years, there was little news regarding Cyborg. Joe Morton was confirmed to reprise his role as Silas Stone, Cyborg’s father, in 2017. On several occasions, Fisher discussed the film and his hopes that Snyder would return to direct it. However, there was never a filmmaker officially attached to the project. The chances of the film happening continued to dwindle, as Fisher began speaking out about his negative experiences with DC, specifically executive Walter Hamada and Geoff Johns, surrounding the production of Justice League. Fisher, who was praised for his performance in Zack Snyder’s Justice League in 2021, stated that he would not be involved with a Cyborg film as long as Hamada and Johns were with DC Films. Now that Hamada and Johns have been replaced with Gunn and Safran, things could have been looking up for Cyborg. However, Gunn and Safran’s decision to reset the DC universe and move in a new direction likely means that a Cyborg film won’t be happening.
9 Black Canary
Jurnee Smollett’s Dinah Lance/Black Canary was one of the best parts of the 2020 Birds of Prey movie, so it makes sense that WB and DC would want to continue that character’s journey in the DCEU. In 2021, a standalone Black Canary film was announced with Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green writing the script. The film was intended to be an HBO Max original film, alongside other projects like the Batgirl movie. As of June 2022, the film was still in development, according to Smollett, who was excited about the project and the opportunity to work with Green again. However, the cancelation of HBO Max’s Batgirl likely did not bode well for Black Canary. There has been no news about the project since, and it was not mentioned in Gunn and Safran’s unveiling of the new DCU’s first chapter.
8 The Trench / Black Manta
This is one of the more interesting DCEU projects to be canceled in the last few years. When the film was announced, it was said to be an exploration of the creatures of The Trench, who were introduced in 2018’s Aquaman. James Wan was on board as a producer for the film, which was pitched as a horror film that would have had a much smaller budget than most other DC films. It was originally meant to release before the Aquaman sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is set for release this December. However, along with New Gods, the film was canceled in the aftermath of the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, though notably, WB said that it wasn’t impossible that the film could be revived at some point. Later that year, when asked about the project, Wan stated that the film was announced as The Trench in order to hide the fact that the movie was actually a secret Black Manta spin-off film.
A Black Manta film, produced by Wan, that would have embraced the horror genre and explored more of The Trench actually sounds pretty interesting. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s portrayal of the character in Aquaman was one of the highlights of that film, and the actor has already proven himself to be a great leading man in films like 2021’s Candyman and last year’s Ambulance, on top of his other outstanding performances in The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Us. The actor is a great performer that has been on the edge of stardom for a while now, and a solo Black Manta film could have been what finally elevated him to that status. While it’s unfortunate that this Black Manta film likely isn’t going to happen at this point, fans can still be excited as Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta will be returning in a prominent role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
7 Static Shock
Static Shock is a lesser-known DC character that was introduced in the ‘90s, but received a wider audience through the Static Shock animated series in the early 2000s. A standalone live-action Static Shock movie was announced at DC Fandome in 2020, as filmmaker and comic-writer Reginald Hudlin, who directed films such as 1990’s House Party and 2017’s Marshall, discussed the development of the movie. Several months later, Michael B. Jordan came aboard the project as a producer. By the following March, Randy McKinnon was hired as the film’s writer. Unfortunately, very little has been heard about the movie since, and it has now joined the long line of DC movies that have failed to make it out of development and into production.
6 Ben Affleck's The Batman
Another one of the most frequently discussed of DC’s canceled movies is the Batman movie directed by and starring Ben Affleck. The film was announced among the slate of DCEU films that were unveiled in 2014, and Affleck spent several years working on the script. The film would have included Deathstroke, played by Joe Manganiello, as the film’s primary villain. Affleck’s Batman was an aging take on the character, and his appearance in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice heavily implied histories with Robin and The Joker. This backstory likely would have been explored in some detail in Affleck's version of The Batman.
After Affleck worked on the film for a few years, rumors began circulating that the actor was looking to exit the role and would no longer direct the film. Eventually, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves was hired to direct the movie. Reeves initially intended to direct Affleck’s script, with the actor still playing the lead role. The director has since described Affleck’s version of the movie as being very action-heavy and a “James Bond-ian” take on the mythos that was thoroughly connected to the rest of the DCEU. However, he said that he didn’t particularly connect with the script and that he wasn’t sure Affleck was still on-board with it either. Eventually, the decision was made to rewrite the film with a new actor and world in mind. This version became The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, which was released in 2022.
5 Harley Quinn vs. The Joker
After the release of 2016’s Suicide Squad, it was clear that Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn was a hit, even if the movie itself wasn’t the most well-received. As a result, there were several films put into development in the following years that would have served as starring vehicles for the character. One of the most interesting was a film titled Harley Quinn vs. The Joker, which was announced in the summer of 2017. Glenn Ficara and John Requa, the duo behind 2015’s Focus, were hired to write the film, which would have served as a deeper exploration into the relationship between Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Jared Leto’s Joker. While the script for the film was finished within a year, the movie itself never came into being and was canceled before the release of Birds of Prey in 2020.
4 Gotham City Sirens
Another Harley Quinn project that was in development following 2016’s Suicide Squad was a Gotham City Sirens film. The film would have focused on the trio of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman, and Suicide Squad director David Ayer was attached to the film shortly after its announcement. As time went on, Gotham City Sirens continued to sit in development. Eventually, the decision of which Harley Quinn film would continue came down to Birds of Prey and Gotham City Sirens. Obviously, Gotham City Sirens lost that battle. Robbie stated when doing press for Birds of Prey that she still hoped to return to Sirens after Birds, but the lack of a strong response to the film doomed any chance of that happening.
3 Batman vs Superman
Yes, there was a Batman v. Superman movie released in 2016, which served as the dawn of the DCEU franchise. However, there was also a Batman vs Superman movie in development as far back as the early 2000s, when WB wasn’t sure what their long-term goals for the DC characters were. While there were various individual Batman and Superman movies in various stages of development at the time, the studio was particularly excited by a pitch from Andrew Kevin Walker that would’ve brought the two characters together. The script for the film was finished in 2002, and it would’ve explored the dynamic between a very dark and aging Batman and a younger, more optimistic Superman.
There were numerous actors considered for both the roles of Batman and Superman in the film. Specifically, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, James Franco, Christian Bale and Josh Harnett were all in the running to play lead roles in the movie. The film, which was being eyed for a 2004 release, ended up being canceled as the result of other projects that enticed the studio more. Specifically, Nolan’s Batman Begins and a J. J. Abrams Superman movie titled Superman: Flyby were deemed better bets, the latter of which eventually became Superman Returns. Akiva Goldsman, who served as a writer on the Batman vs Superman film, included a brief reference to the project on a billboard in the background in one of his later films, 2007’s I Am Legend.
2 Tim Burton's Catwoman
Although the overall reception to Burton’s Batman Returns was not great, and the director was replaced with Schumacher for Batman Forever, Burton’s relationship with DC and the world of Batman did not end there. For several years after Schumacher was hired for the third Batman film, Burton and WB were still actively working together to develop a standalone film for Pfeiffer’s Catwoman, whom audiences had loved in Batman Returns. Development of the film continued for a while, with Burton even considering directing the film himself throughout much of its development. However, the movie never really got off the ground. Burton and Pfeiffer both moved on to other projects in the meantime, while the film stalled. Eventually, the Catwoman film was rewritten and became 2004’s Catwoman, starring Halle Berry.