DC FanDome 2020 News Recap: Know Your DC Universe (Part 2)

Another DC adventure awaits! More to come, more to receive.

DC FanDome Part 2 is now accessible only on DC FanDome website. The 24 hour fan event has another detailed and exciting news to offer the audiences starting from September 12 at 12.00 am PST (00.00 WIB, Sept. 13). From cosplay competition, filming insights, behind the scene, Fan QnA, graphic novel & comic masterclass, and still many more – they are all here, ‘standing’ right in front you.

This exclusive event is divided into two parts. The first part, called as “Hall of Heroes” of the exclusive fan event was held on August 22 and recorded around 22m viewers all over the world. With all the great participation and enthusiasm from the fans, I’m pretty sure this DC FanDome will become an annual convention #fingercrossed. A very big thanks to the whole crew to make this DC community’s yet largest event possible.

To see the news recap of DC FanDome Part 1, click here, while the 2nd part is what we currently get right now. If you want to check the schedule for today’s panels, click here.

The 'islands' of DC FanDome: WatchVerse, InsiderVerse, YouVerse, FunVerse, Hall of Heroes, KidsVerse

The Six Islands of Multiverse:

1. WatchVerse (mostly about DC tv series panels, including Harley Quinn animated series, Stargirl, Doom Patrol, Black Lightning, Batwoman)

2. InsiderVerse (discusses DC films-related news and concepts, including the preview of Junkie XL’s Justice League score and Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy backstory)

3. YouVerse (Fan QnA sessions of DCEU films like WW84, The Flash, Aquaman, Shazam!)

4. FunVerse (DC virtual theme park)

5. Hall of Heroes (DC FanDome Part 1 event. All panels from August 22 are available to watch here)

6. KidsVerse (DC Lego movie, Teen Titans Go! related news, drawing comic characters tutorial)

There are so many panels in this 2nd part event and I cannot watch them all. However, I tried my best to sum up some necessary informations on certain panels I’ve watched. These panels are ALL amazing and I wish I can watch them one by one. Once again, kudos to the whole crew. I don’t know how to thank them, really.

1) DC’s Stargirl (WatchVerse) 

The positively-reviewed DC’s Stargirl will have more to come in the future and is currently working on its Season 2. For those who haven’t read or watched this series, Stargirl aka Courtney Whitmore is a superhero created by Geoff Johns, in tribute to his sister who died in a plane crash. The series, even though mainly focused on Stargirl itself, also gives more nods to the superhero team Justice Society of America (JSA) and the villainous team Injustice Society.

**SPOILER ALERT**

The tv series is very popular for having surprisingly a ton of interesting easter eggs in each episode, and honestly I always struggled to find each of them. Discussing about Season 2 during the virtual panel, actress Brec Bassinger teases the introduction of Jakeem Thunder, a black superhero who will take the mantle of Johnny Thunder with his iconic pink pen.

More to offer, there will be more powerful and dangerous villains coming up in the second season, which were hinted during the Season 1 finale. They are Richard Swift aka Shade; a shadow manipulator villain, and Alex Montez aka Eclipso; a dark energy-possessed supervillain.

2) DC’s Doom Patrol (WatchVerse)

This critically acclaimed DC television series based on superhero team of the same name always own its popularly weirdness to present. Doom Patrol previously aired in DC Universe streaming service for its 1st season (2019) and on HBO Max since its 2nd season (2020). During the DC FanDome panel, head of HBO Max Sarah Aubrey announced that the series indeed will be renewed for Season 3, in which we will get to see more of the weird, crazy, and unique developments.

“’Doom Patrol’ came to HBO Max with an already deep and passionate fan base and has risen to the top as one of the most watched Max Originals on the platform,” she said. “The series sits well in our portfolio and we are glad to greenlight a third season to continue this distinctive style of storytelling that resonates so well with critics and fans alike.”

Doom Patrol season 3 will dive into HBO Max in 2021. 

3) Junkie XL’s Justice League score preview (InsiderVerse)

If you are a huge supporter of Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Junkie XL’s works, this panel will give you everything you want to know about. For those who are not familiar with the movie’s long progress, Justice League was released in theatre back in November 2017 and unsurprisingly got many negative comments from the fans itself after it was revealed that Joss Whedon, who replaced Zack Snyder at that time, did several reshoots and created a ‘new’ story, thus changing almost the whole movie’s concept and story. In mid-2017, composer Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL, who previously worked for Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman, was also replaced by Danny Elfman.

Fair enough, the SnyderCut eventually has its end after the fans’ ‘protest’ #ReleasetheSnyderCut on many platforms. The director’s cut is scheduled to be released in 2021 on HBO Max, containing 4 episodes (each with 1-hour-long episode), with the score of its original composer: Junkie XL. In this panel, we get a preview of his (probably) main theme, which sounds a lot more triumphant than the 2017’s Justice League. Listen here:

4) The Flash (YouVerse)

The Flash solo movie is definitely in the good hands right now. Director Andy Muschietti and producer Barbara Muschietti enthusiastically explained more about their upcoming project during a QnA session.

“My Flash is not gonna be light or dark in tone, it’s going to have everything,” Andy Muschietti teases what the movie’s tone will look like, in which it shares resemblance to his It and It Chapter 2 movies. “What you will see in Flash is a very deep emotional story, but it's also gonna be very funny and a great epic adventure at the same time, and also terrifying sometimes.”

Meanwhile Barbara Muschietti gives us a hint regarding the film.

“Flash is the superhero of this film because he is the bridge between all of these characters and timelines. And, in a way, it restarts everything and doesn’t forget anything.”

With the current situation of the DC Universe, the Flashpoint story certainly offers a good take to explore its big multiverse, not to forget it currently has three Batmen already (Keaton, Affleck, and Pattinson) and another universe of Reeves’ The Batman movie. The Flash streaks to theatre in 2022.

5) The Suicide Squad (YouVerse)

This one exciting 11-minutes-long panel hints more at what will be featured in the upcoming movie The Suicide Squad. Directed by James Gunn, the movie is going to be a standalone sequel to its previous film 2016’s Suicide Squad.

What to expect in this movie? The panel featuring the ensemble cast of The Suicide Squad did a QnA session regarding the movie. Actor Jai Courtney who portrays Captain Boomerang aka Digger Harkness said that his iconic pink unicorn named Pinky will also appear in this film and certainly comes with a bigger role for him.

“Will we be seeing more of him? Well, some things you just can't reveal, because they're so integral to the story that I wouldn't want to give something away,” Courtney teased. “Fingers crossed, I certainly hope we see more of Boomerang and Pinky as well.”

Joel Kinnaman described this movie as a “full of chaos” and “shooting and firing everywhere”. Meanwhile James Gunn, the director, said in the previous exclusive look that this movie is “his largest project yet”. Regarding the genre, he referred to it as an “epic war” style movie.

As what we know so far, the movie will feature an extra-terrestrial supervillain called Starro the Conqueror. To describe what Starro does and looks like, just imagine the Alien’s facehugger. The character shares similar power and concept with the facehugger, except its physical appearance is a starfish.

Other casts like Margot Robbie (“Harley Quinn”), Idris Elba (“Bloodsport”), Alice Braga (“Sol Soria”), Peter Capaldi (“The Thinker”), John Cena (“Peacemaker”), Flula Borg (“Javelin”), Nathan Fillion (“TDK” aka “Arm-Fall-Off Boy”) also expressed their huge excitement working in this project. The Suicide Squad is slated to be released in August 2021 in theaters.

6) Wonder Woman 1984 (YouVerse)

Now moving on to be released on December 25, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 shares some insightful discussion during their panel at DC FanDome. The main story focuses on the bond and friendship between Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince and Kristen Wiig’s Barbara Minerva, which does not work out well in the end.

Portraying the formidable friend-turned-foe and archenenemy of Wonder Woman known as the Cheetah, Wiig revealed that the friendship between these two is very complicated. Based on the trailers we got, we knew that somehow both Diana and Barbara used the help of vile inventor Maxwell Lord to grant their wishes. Barbara’s wish is obviously to “become an apex predator” alias Cheetah, whereas Diana’s wish is likely to resurrect Steve Trevor who seemingly died in the previous film.

“The connection between Diana and Cheetah, they work together and they’re friends at the beginning of the movie,” Wiig explained. “Barbara Minerva, who becomes Cheetah, she really looks up to Diana and wants to be her. Diana really loves being around Barbara. it makes the relationship a bit more complicated and interesting as Barbara starts to change…The rest, you’ll have to see.”

Another highlight about the movie is the more background story of the amazing Amazon women. Director Patty Jenkins told that the ensemble cast for Amazonians was a diverse cast from the United States, England, New Zealand, Finland, and other locales. All of them also came from extensive backgrounds; dancers, actors, models, and stuntwomen.

7) Shazam! (YouVerse)

The sequel of Shazam movie, which now has the official title of Shazam 2: Fury of the Gods, is currently in the good work of director David F. Sandberg. What we have learnt so far from this panel, Sandberg promised that the audiences will get to see more about the interesting Shazam family members who each yield the power of SHAZAM (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury): Freddy Freeman, Mary Bromfield, Pedro Pena, Eugene Choi, and Darla Dudley.

However, when getting the question about the upcoming villain, Sandberg could not tell the entire hint of who they are gonna be, but he teased that the villain “will surprise people”.

“I can't really talk about villains or villain,” he told. “But I think a lot of people will be surprised. It's gonna be a little unexpected.”

If we stick to the mid-credits scene where Mr. Mind the talking caterpillar offers an alliance with the imprisoned villain Dr. Sivana, there is a possibility he will be featured more in the sequel. Shazam 2: Fury of the Gods will hit theatres in 2022 and expected to begin filming in spring 2021, with Shazam actor Zachary Levi said that they have to start filming as soon as possible because the child actors are “growing up too fast”.

***

OK, I think that’s all from the DC FanDome Part 2. The future of  DC’s multiverse is indeed very interesting to learn about. Feel free to leave comment below about how you think about these DC stuff.

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