DC Plans Up to Four Films a Year in Theaters & Two On HBO Max, Introducing Multiverse Concept

DC is planning an ambitious film slate, with plans to release up to four superhero films a year in theaters and two on HBO Max, with the multiverse becoming official to boot. The New York Times spoke with DC Films president Walter Hamada, who told the outlet that the plan is to release their most expensive movies (up to four a year) in theaters with an additional goal of two a year on HBO Max starting in 2022.

The HBO Max films would likely be focused on “riskier” characters, with the Times naming the planned Batgirl and Static Shock films as possible contenders. Those films would be exclusive to the streaming service. In addition to those, DC Films will work with filmmakers for potential offshots from the films that would run on HBO Max and connect with the theatrical films. Hamada said, “With every movie that we’re looking at now, we are thinking, ‘What’s the potential Max spinoff?’”

Hamada told the site that DC Films will officially introduce the concept of the multiverse to audiences. Comics fans will be familiar with the multiverse, in which there are parallel worlds that feature different versions of the same characters. This will allow DC to make films such as The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight, at the same time that The Flash will have Ben Affleck as the DC Extended Universe version of Batman. In fact, The Flash will go a long way toward introducing the multiverse as it will feature both Affleck and Michael Keaton as Batmen of different worlds.

The strategy from DC is to ramp up production on films. By comparison, there were two (Shazam and Joker) in 2019 and just Aquaman in 2018. 2020 saw two films in Birds of Prey and the just-released Wonder Woman 1984, which was released day-and-date on HBO Max for 31 days and in theaters.

Hamada noted that the plan also involves DC becoming much more collaborative thanks to AT&T mandating more synergy across the company since it took over in 2018, saying, “In the past, we were so secretive. It was shocking to me, for example, how few people at the company were actually allowed to read scripts for the movies we are making.”