DC FanDome: Watch Justice League Snyder Cut, The Batman and more unveiled

Virtual this year Comic-Con is in the books, but another virtual fan-convention is in full swing. DC FanDome takes place in two parts – the first runs 24 hours, starting at 10 a.m. PT this Saturday, August 22nd. The second half follows on 12 sept.

The event, aimed at DC Comics fans, includes online panels, cosplay, fan art and comics, as well as special events for children. The dedicated DC fandom will be especially excited to look at some long-awaited DC features, including the Snyder Cut of Justice League, Robert Pattinson as The Batman and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.

What is it?

Kinda like Comic-Con, but only for DC. So no Avengers (that’s Marvel). But if you’re a fan of DC characters like Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman and Aquaman, you will want to tune in. And this fandom event would have to go far beyond the big names. It will cover the entire DC world, from comic books, movies, TV shows and video games.

Unfortunately, the convention follows reports of mass layoffs at DC. Roughly one-third of the company’s editorial staff lost their jobs, according to The Hollywood Reporter, along with the majority of streaming service employees DC Universe as parent company Warner Bros. shifted its focus to the recently launched HBO Max.

How do I vote?

There are online video panels and teasers to watch, links to follow for games and shopping, and more. Warning: Unlike virtual Comic-Con, which is spread over days, DC FanDome is just 48 hours long, providing two jam-packed days of events. So if this is your thing, then make no other plans for August 22nd and September 12th.

“Just like a live event, the full DC FanDome experience will only be available for 24 hours,” warns the FanDome FAQ list. “If you do not see it within 24 hours, you will miss it (unless you have access to time travel).”

DC has announced that the center of the experience will be called the Hall of Heroes. The programming is an eight-hour block, which will run three times over the 24-hour timeline, allowing those in different global time zones to tune in.

Hall of Heroes will reveal programming, panels and content from all over DC. There will be smaller satellite worlds, like the KidsVerse, to which you can navigate. Programming will be available in Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.

Who will be involved?

DC announced a long list of hosts, presenters and special guests. The list includes Aisha Tyler, Venus Williams, Will Arnett, Idris Elba, Ezra Miller, Jason Isaacs, Kaley Cuoco, Matt Reeves, Michael Rooker, Robin Wright, Viola Davis and Henry Winkler.

Biggest event

You can read the full DC FanDome scheme online, but here are some highlights:

Wonder Woman: 1984

Stars of the Wonder Woman sequel, including Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, join director Patty Jenkins during a panel tour featuring a new look at the film along with a Wonder Woman 1984 trailer made her debut.

Gotham Knights

The developer behind Batman: Arkham Origins has revealed his new game, Gotham Knights, a co-op adventure starring Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl and Red Hood as they protect Gotham City following the apparent death of Batman. They will face a villainous group known as the Court of Owls and other members of the Dark Knight’s Rogue Gallery.

The Flash

The panel revealed Barry Allen’s new costume, which was made by Batman. Director Andy Muschietti and screenwriter Christina Hodson also confirmed that the speedster’s film will see Flash travel through time to change the DC Multiverse.

We also got hints that this opens up the possibility of re-watching classic DC movies, with Danny Elfman’s Batman Theme in the background. Concept art also let the Flash collaborate The Dark Knight version of Michael Keaton – the Batman logo of 1989 can be seen on his costume.

In a separate panel, Arrowverse boss Greg Berlanti also said he wants to include more DC movie characters in future TV show crossovers to Ezra Miller’s Flash met Grant Gustin’s version of the character at last year’s Crisis on Infinite Earths event.

The Suicide Squad

James Gunn revealed each character in his upcoming film, The Suicide Squad. Idris Elba played Bloodsport; wrestler actor John Cena plays Peacemaker; a Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson played Blackguard.

He also shared a new teaser consisting of some footage and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the flick.

Earlier this month, Gunn tweeted that “I can confirm that the Suicide Squad is 100%, zero interference, ME-not-holds-excluded, &, again, I can not wait for you guys to get a glimpse at DC FanDome. (Yes, I am FanDome pimps a lot, but that’s because I know how exciting it will be – even for my movie and other stuff!) “

I can confirm #TheSuicideSquad is 100%, zero interference, no-holds-barred ME, &, again, I can not wait for you guys to get a glimpse of it at #DCFanDome. (Yes, I pimp FanDome a lot, but that’s because I know how exciting it will be – for my movie and other things too! Ek) https://t.co/CClwKIi5nS

– James Gunn (@JamesGunn) August 4, 2020

The Suicide Squad, about a crew of DC villains, is set to come out in 2021. Gunn wrote and directed the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel, but after signing up for The Suicide Squad Marvel fired him briefly for tweets in color. Producer Peter Safran has said it is Suicide Squad not a direct follow-up to the original film of 2016 Suicide Squad, although the number of returning characters has been played by the same actors. The similarity of the titles is confusing, but the second film uses “The” in its title.

Sandman

An adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman was announced for Netflix last year, and the maker posted additional details during a Saturday panel. Gaiman’s confirmed work on Sandman for Netflix still remains and it will be “somewhat looser, yet faithful” to the books. Gaiman said the pandemic has allowed more work to be done on the scripts, along with further adjusting the story to suit a different time period.

“What we’re doing with Netflix is ​​saying, ‘OK, it’s still going to start in 1916, but the thing that happened in Sandman 1 – the point where the story starts – is not 1988, it is now,'” Gaiman said. More details about the Netflix adaptation can be found on our sister site GameSpot.

The Snyder Cut

The DC movie Justice League came out in 2017, but original director Zack Snyder stepped down during editing when his daughter died. Some fans were disappointed in the finished film that was taken over by Joss Whedon, and insisted on seeing what Snyder would have put together if he had had free rein. The Snyder Cut is that movie coming soon HBO Max – and the teaser trailer for DC FanDome gave a glimpse of that long-awaited version, which will run in four hour-long sections.

Black Adam

Dwayne Johnson pleaded his long-in-development Black Adam film, revealing that, alongside Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, we will see the Justice Society of America (JSA) debut in the film. Although no casting has been revealed, characters coming to the film will include Hawkman, Cyclone and Dr. Fate. More details can be found on our sister site GameSpot.

Titans

Titans, the marquee series of the streaming service DC Universe, had its third season placed during DC FanDome – and this time it goes straight to Gotham City, reports GameSpot. The third season of Titans will see Jason Todd (Curran Walters) become Red Hood after leaving the Robin identity. The show will also feature Barbara Gordon, former Batgirl turned commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, as well as Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow. Casting for those last two characters was not announced.

The Flash season 7

The Flash TV series is one of many that last season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, but a peek into the seventh season of the Arrowverse show made its debut on Saturday. The teaser picks up from season 6, leaving Iris West (Candice Patton) to a mirror universe and confronted with a choice between surviving or going crazy. More information can be found on our sister website TV guide, including Patton to discuss how, when you stand up for other people, being “bothered” is considered good – if that means stopping for what is good.

Aquaman

The Aquaman panel only provided a tease of what to expect for the eventual Aquaman sequel, with director James Wan saying the film will be “a little more serious, a little more relevant to the world we live in today.” The film is currently slated for a 2022 release date.

Shazam 2

Shazam FanDome Panel Reveals November 4, 2022 Title: Shazam: Fury of the Gods. The panel also included an extended appearance by Sinbad, and it’s hard to tell if he’s actually part of the film or was just there to pump up the panel’s humor. See the GameSpot cover for more details.

The video game The Suicide Squad

Want to know more about The Suicide Squad? Rocksteady Studios uses DC FanDome release a debut trailer for the new Suicide Squad video game. The British gaming company created the popular Batman: Arkham video game series. Will Arnett host it reveal.

The Batman

Matt Reeves, director of The Batman, has announced that he will share more about the film. The Batman stars Robert Pattinson of Twamight Girl, with Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman. Although the film has not been released until 2021, it already is got a spinoff performance about the Gotham Police Department, with Reeves producing.
Panel: Aug 22 17:30 PT, Hall of Heroes

What’s up with the September event?

On September 12, DC will host a second virtual event, beginning at 10 a.m. PT. It will be called DC Fandome: Explore the Multiverse, and instead of just a rolling scheme of panels, fans can choose their own scheme from the on-demand selection of panels.

How to stay informed

With the schedule out now, we have a lot more information than before, but we will continue to update this story as news is released. You can sign up at the official DC FanDome page for email about the event, and follow the Twitter account of DC Comics or click on Twitter hashtag #DCFandome for updates.

CNET’s Mike Sorrentino contributed to this report.