For years, DC movies tended to be just Superman and Batman, with an occasional one-off cult hero like Swamp Thing or Constantine getting a film here or there. Yet since 2010, plenty of DC characters, including Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Jonah Hex, Shazam, and The Suicide Squad, have gotten their own feature films. But for every movie that made it to theaters, there were plenty that remained stuck in development hell. Some even had big press announcements that never materialized.
While there have been plenty of unmade Superman and Batman titles over the years, this list is focused more on the heroes who have yet to make it to the big screen, with one exception: a take on the iconic Justice League that would have created a shared universe years before the MCU. Other titles, like Sgt. Rock and Metal Men, still remain in consideration in James Gunn’s DCU.
These are the top 10 DC films that never got made.
‘Plastic Man’
Plastic Man certainly feels like an odd pick for DC to follow up their run on Batman and Batman Returns, but in 1992, Warner Bros and Amblin Pictures teamed up to develop a film based on the stretchable hero. Bryan Spincer (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie) was originally in talks to direct, as was Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers).
In 1995, Lana and Lily Wachowski were hired to pen the script. In 2009, following Speed Racer‘s bombing at the box office, the Wachowskis tried to revive the project after it had lain dormant for 14 years. Keanu Reeves, who previously worked with the Wachowskis on The Matrix trilogy, was reportedly set to play Plastic Man, but the actor denied any involvement with the project.
Attempts at a Plastic Man movie were revived in 2018 as the DCEU was in a state of creative overhaul following the box office disappointment of Justice League and the overall critical and audience reaction to Zack Snyder’s films like Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Amanda Idoko was set to write the script, but in December 2020, screenwriter Kat Vasko was hired to rewrite Plastic Man with the direction to feature a female lead hero.
Separately, Clerks director Kevin Smith had pitched an animated Plastic Man movie to Geoff Johns, likely in 2016 to 2017. Smith’s pitch was set to feature Jim Parsons as the voice of Plastic Man, though the project never materialized. Plastic Man is a character who has had some big names attached to his feature film over the years, but none have been able to bring him to the screen.
‘Cyborg’
In 2014, Warner Bros. and DC films made an ambitious slate announcement for what would be the DCEU following Batman v. Superman. Many titles, like Wonder Woman, Shazam!, and Aquaman, would all make their release dates, while The Flash would eventually make its way across the finish line. However, one title that was announced but never came out was Cyborg. While the COVID-19 pandemic would have kept Cyborg from meeting its initial release date, conflicts behind the scenes during the reshoots of Justice League ultimately doomed the project.
Cyborg was set to star Ray Fisher and would have spun off from the events of Justice League. When Zack Snyder departed Justice League and Joss Whedon came on to do reshoots, Fisher’s Cyborg scenes were largely cut down. Fisher accused Joss Whedon of unprofessional behavior and Walter Hamada, then head of DC Films, of enabling it. In 2021, around the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Fisher revealed he would not reprise his role as Cyborg as long as Walter Hamada was in charge of DC Films. Even with Hamada having since moved on and James Gunn in charge, the new DCU reboot seemingly nails the coffin shut on Ray Fisher’s Cyborg movie.
‘Wonder Twins’
The Wonder Twins, who originated in The All-New Super-Friends, are often treated as joke heroes among fans, which led many to be shocked when, in February 2022, it was revealed that the heroes would be getting their own HBO Max Original Film. Adam Sztykiel, who was the screenwriter on Black Adam, was set to pen the script and make Wonder Twins his directorial debut. The project moved along quickly with KJ Apa (Riverdale) and Isabel May (Scream 7) cast as Zan and Jayan, respectively.
Wonder Twins was envisioned as part of a slate of smaller-scale films that would be released exclusively on HBO Max, which would also be connected to the DCU. Other titles in this list included Batgirl and Blue Beetle. Yet one month after Apa and May were cast, Warner Bros.’ new head, David Zaslav, pulled the plug on Wonder Twins, citing the $75 million budget and shifting away from expensive original HBO Max films.
‘Blackhawks’
Steven Spielberg has been trying to make a DC film for years, and for some reason, Warner Bros. is not fast-tracking it. The Blackhawks are a fictional group of diverse World War II pilots that operate out of Blackhawk Island, who were one of the most popular comic book series of the 1940s and 1950s. In 1980, Steven Spielberg planned to follow the box office flop 1941 with a feature film adaptation of Blackhawks starring Dan Akroyd. Spielberg (thankfully) decided to direct Raiders of the Lost Ark instead, but he seemed keen to revisit Blackhawks.
In April 2018, Warner Bros. revived the Blackhawks project. Spielberg signed on to direct and produce, and brought on War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull writer David Koepp to pen the script. Spielberg originally seemed interested in Blackhawks as his follow-up to West Side Story, but the COVID-19 pandemic not only delayed the remake of the classic musical but also prompted the director to look back on his life and develop the script for The Fabelmans.
In 2022, screenwriter David Keopp said he was still working on the script, though Spielberg’s status remains up in the air due to other commitments. Blackhawks was not set to be part of the DCEU, and if revived with Spielberg at the helm, would likely not be part of the new DCU.
‘New Gods’
Two of Jack Kirby’s most groundbreaking sci-fi reimaginings, DC’s New Gods and Marvel’s Eternals, were thrust into the spotlight with feature film adaptations directed by acclaimed filmmakers: Ava DuVernay for New Gods and Chloé Zhao for Eternals. Eternals was released in November 2021, and while it might have been the MCU’s first critical misfire, it was an ambitious swing that actually managed to make it to theaters. DuVernay’s New Gods was not so lucky.
DuVernay joined New Gods in 2018, shortly before the release of A Wrinkle in Time. The script was originally written by Kario Salem, but after his critically acclaimed Mister Miracle comic, Tom King joined the project as a screenwriter. The New Gods film was canceled in April 2021, two weeks after Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released on HBO Max and featured Darkseid, who was a major part of DuVernay and King’s New Gods script.
King is now developing his Mister Miracle miniseries as an animated project for DC Studios, but it is unrelated to DuVernay’s New Gods project. The idea of a visionary filmmaker like DuVernay directing a comic as important and influential as New Gods was an exciting prospect that, sadly, never saw the light of day.
‘Justice League Dark’
In 2012, less than a year after Justice League Dark debuted in the comics, Guillermo del Toro was set to write and direct a feature film adaptation based on a supernatural team of heroes. Del Toro’s pitch included Constantine, Swamp Thing, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, and Zatanna as part of the team, with characters like The Phantom Stranger, Etrigan the Demon, The Spectre, Zatarra, Sargon the Sorcerer, and the Floronic Man as part of the story. In 2015, del Toro dropped out and was soon replaced by Doug Liman, best known for directing Swingers and The Bourne Identity.
Liman would soon drop out of Justice League Dark, though Warner Bros. seemed committed to the idea, as the team was part of DC Films’ 2017 San Diego Comic-Con slate of films. In 2020, J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot production company sought to adapt Justice League Dark into a series of films and television shows featuring the individual heroes. Despite work on a Constantine and Madame Xanadu television series, all projects were scrapped in 2023 following James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over DC Studios. So far, there is no word about a Justice League Dark film in the DCU, though Swamp Thing will get his own feature film.
‘Zatanna’
Zatanna is DC’s most famous magic user and has the potential to be a breakout star character. In 2005, Hadley Davis (The Ice Princess) was hired to write an action-comedy Zatanna film that would have focused on the character as a teenager. After that, any attempt to adapt Zatanna into a feature film was in the aforementioned Justice League Dark titles. Then, in March 2021, Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell was hired to write the script for a Zatanna movie, possibly being eyed to direct.
Zatanna would have been produced by J.J. Abrams alongside a few other Justice League Dark-related projects. Like Batgirl and Wonder Twins, Zatanna was greenlit as an HBO Max streaming film. That ultimately was the film’s downfall, as Zatanna was canceled in 2022 following David Zaslav’s takeover of Warner Bros. and the appointment of James Gunn and Peter Safran as heads of the newly formed DC Studios. Hopefully, a version of Zatanna materializes in the DCU.
‘Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max’
In 2008, the year that the superhero movie genre entered into a new era with the dual release of Iron Man and The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. began developing one of its most ambitious and out-there concepts: Super Max, later retitled Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max.
Written by David S. Goyer (Batman Begins) and Justin Marks (The Jungle Book), the movie would have centered on Oliver Queen/Green Arrow. Instead of being an origin movie, it would follow an established Green Arrow being apprehended by the police for a crime he didn’t commit. He would be unmasked and sent to a prison full of superpowered criminals, many of whom he had put there. Green Arrow would have to team up with these villains to break out.
The script reportedly featured Lex Luthor and The Joker. It has never been confirmed why Warner Bros. didn’t move forward with the film, but given Heath Ledger’s then-recent iconic performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight, they likely didn’t want to recast the character so soon, while also wanting to save Lex Luthor for their planned Superman reboot.
Green Arrow would later get to headline his own series, Arrow, which actually adapted many elements from the Super Max script in Season 7 when Oliver Queen is sent to prison. With James Gunn’s DCU featuring a lived-in DC Universe filled with supervillains and heroes being established, now might be the time to dust off that Super Max script once again.
‘Justice League: Mortal’
Justice League: Mortal is one of two high-profile DC movies that never happened. Justice League: Mortal is so big that we’ve already written an entire article about it and how it eventually impacted both the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises.
In 2007, Mad Max creator George Miller signed on to direct Justice League: Mortal. The film was to be disconnected from Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, as well as the recently released Superman Returns. The goal was for Justice League: Mortal to be its own standalone project that, if successful, would be spun off into spin-off films. The movie drew heavily from the “Tower of Babel” Justice League storyline as well as Countdown to Infinite Crisis.
Production moved quickly, and the movie seemed like a real possibility, with casting including the likes of Armie Hammer as Batman, Jay Barchuel as Maxwell Lord, Teressa Palmer as Talia Al Ghul, and future Shazam! stars D.J. Cotrona and Adam Brody as Superman and The Flash, respectively.
The movie was scheduled for release in July 2009, but faced several delays. First was the 2007-2008 WGA strike, but the film quickly resumed pre-production in February 2008 before facing a different hurdle. The film was originally set to shoot in Australia, but the Australian government denied WB a tax incentive, citing that it didn’t cast enough Australian actors despite most of the crew being Australian. Filming was pushed back to July 2008, with production beginning in Canada. Yet in July 2008, The Dark Knight was released, becoming a $1 billion hit. Warner Bros. quickly pulled the plug on Justice League Mortal to avoid interfering with Christopher Nolan’s Batman films.
‘Batgirl’
When it comes to DC movies that never happened, Batgirl is easily the most infamous, given that it was filmed and finished but will never be released. Directed by Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and set to star Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl and Brendan Fraser as Firefly, Batgirl was intended to be part of the DCEU and released on HBO Max. Filming took place between November 2021 and March 2022 and even included Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman as part of the original DCEU plan to have him be Batman following the timeline reset of The Flash.
Yet on August 2, 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made the unprecedented and controversial decision not to release Batgirl. The movie, which was set for release on HBO Max in 2022, became a tax write-off. The cast and crew were unaware of the decision until the story broke in the press.
Warner Bros. leadership tried to spin the cancellation of Batgirl as a positive, saying the movie would have done damage to the DC brand, which became ironic following the box office and critical disappointments of Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom that followed. Unless some data leak happens and the film manages to make its way online, Batgirl will remain the greatest what-if in DC film history, considering how close it came to happening, and the fact that it is just sitting in a vault somewhere.
