In theory, Warner Bros. Pictures should be basking in the spotlight of The Batman‘s impressive opening weekend, secure in the knowledge that three other big DC films are coming this year. However, those plans received a major shake-up today, as two of this year’s marquee superhero films have been pushed all the way back into next year.
Via Variety, The Flash movie, which was previously slated to race into theaters on November 4, will now arrive on June 23, 2023. Meanwhile, the Aquaman sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, is not set to be released on March 17, 2023, three months after its former date of December 16.
Dwayne Johnson’s long-awaited Black Adam movie was originally going to be arriving on July 29, but that movie is also getting pushed back. Johnson made the announcement himself that Black Adam will now smash its way into theaters on October 21. However, Warner Bros. will still use the July 29 launch date for Johnson’s other DC movie, the animated DC League of Super-Pets.
There is a silver lining in all of this. The Shazam! sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, is actually moving up in the release schedule. While it was originally slated to arrive in mid-2023, Fury of the Gods will now premiere on December 16, 2022. Since Black Adam and Shazam both draw their power from the same mystical source, it may benefit both films to arrive close together to establish that connection.
The DC movies aren’t the only WB films with new dates on the schedule. Timothée Chalamet’s Willy Wonka prequel, Wonka, was delayed to December 15, 2023. Meg 2: The Trench will now wash up into theaters on August 4, 2023.
