DC Weekly Round-Up: SDCC, ‘The Penguin’ Details and ‘Joker’ Trailer

Welcome to Feature First’s DC Weekly Round-Up! This ongoing newsletter will occur weekly and round up every bit of DC news for the prior week. In this issue, we will recap news from Sunday, July 21 until Saturday, July 27. Enter below for updates on Superman, Joker: Folie à Deux, and The Penguin. 

‘The Penguin’ Marketing Heats Up

Marketing for The Penguin has been heating up! Colin Farrell, alongside the crew of the HBO series, recently talked to Entertainment Weekly. In these interviews, we learnt quite a few things, including a behind-the-scenes name for the universe, “Batman Epic Crime Saga” (BECS). 

Furthermore, the series has been confirmed to take place one week after 2022’s The Batman and, according to showrunner Lauren LeFranc, will lead directly into 2026’s The Batman Part II. We were also  granted two new looks at the show, courtesy of HBO and Entertainment Weekly. Reeves and Clark, producers on the show, also confirmed that they are looking at other possibilities for spin-off shows within the BECS. The series was also confirmed for a September 19 release. 

The Batman marketing asset rataalada.com also returned this week to advertise The Penguin. The fictional Gotham PD seized the site following the events of The Batman, but now it seems The Riddler’s (Paul Dano) goons have taken it back. When you open the site, coordinates for San Diego Comic Con’s Hall H are shown, as well as a link to tickets (which have now sold out) for an experience at The Iceberg Lounge. 

A new trailer for the series was also released, as part of San Diego Comic-Con celebrations. New footage confirmed Mark Strong had been cast as Carmine Falcone in the series, a recast from John Turturro, who played the character in The Batman. 

New ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Trailer Confirms Harvey Dent’s Involvement

The first official trailer for Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux was released on Tuesday, and with it came many more looks at the upcoming film. Intriguingly, a subtitle from the trailer reveals our first audio from the Batman character Harvey Dent. In the comics, Dent most famously becomes the villainous Two-Face, but at this point of his career in the movie, he is the Gotham District Attorney. It is currently unconfirmed who voices the role, but fans speculate he is played by Harry Lawtey. 

Joker: Folie à Deux has also been confirmed to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in competition, giving audiences faith in the quality of the sequel. The Venice Film Festival site also revealed a finalised runtime for the film, which we confirmed was 2 hours and 17 minutes.

Marketing has begun ramping up for the film too! With three new exclusive images from Empire Magazine being released, as well as two covers for the magazine. Joker: Folie à Deux releases worldwide starting October 4th, 2024.

DCU’s ‘Paradise Lost’ Gets Two Writers

A new report from Matthew W. of Nexus Point News suggests that the upcoming DC series has found two writers. The writer has learned from his source that Kira Snyder and Janet Lin are circling roles on the writing team. Snyder is best known for her work on The Handmaid’s Tale and The 100, while Lin is best known for her work on Netflix’s Bridgerton. The series currently is in production for Max. 

‘Superman’ Is Super Close To Wrap

In a new series of Threads posts, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has given a few new tidbits regarding the upcoming Superman film. When questioned about the size of Lex Luthor’s (Nicholas Hoult) role in the film, James Gunn revealed that the Mad Max: Fury Road actor is very much the primary antagonist of the film. What’s more interesting however, is the additional information that there are only a few days left for filming and only two actors have not wrapped their time on set. 

In more news for Superman, María Garbiela de Faría (The Engineer) recently did a Reddit AMA for her movie The Duel. She dropped various tidbits regarding Superman but did confirm she was still on set hanging from wires as of Wednesday. Superman releases worldwide beginning July 11, 2025. 

‘Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow’ & ‘The Batman: Part II’ Secure IMAX Releases

In an investor call on Thursday, IMAX revealed their plans to release the DCU film Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow in IMAX, as well as Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman sequel. 

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is directed by Craig Gillespie and is expected to arrive in theatres on June 26, 2026. 

‘Constantine 2’ Receives An Update From Keanu Reeves

Early this week, John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves, gave an update on the sequel to 2005’s Constantine. Appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Reeves mentioned that his 2021 interview with Colbert kick-started a green light for the show. He continues to say that right now he is “waiting on a script.” 

A few days later, Akiva Goldsman spoke to Steven Weintraub at Collider’s Producers on Producing event at SDCC. There, he commented on the script for the film, saying, “It’s going fine. I’m writing a script about Constantine 2. It’s good. I hope to have a script for my partners soon.”

Currently attached to Constantine 2 are Keanu Reeves, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, and director Francis Lawrence.

‘Creature Commandos’ Gets A Trailer And With It… A DC Studios Logo

The first project in the DCU is also the first with official footage, with the teaser trailer for Creature Commandos being released. The trailer doesn’t give much insight into the plot, but rather the premise. A poster was also released. You can find the poster below.

The trailer also showcased our first official look at the DC Studios logo which slightly alters the 1976 logo of the comics branch of the company. Creature Commandos arrives on Max this December. You can watch the trailer below.

‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ Unveils New Villains And A New Clip

Ahead of the show’s August 1 release on Prime Video, Batman: Caped Crusader has announced several new villains. DiscussingFilm exclusively revealed that Tom Kenny will voice Firebug, Toby Stephens will voice Gentleman Ghost, Mckenna Grace will voice Natalia Night/Nocturna, Dan Donohue will voice Clayface, and Reid Scott will voice Onomatopoeia. 

The series also premiered the first episode of the series for audiences at SDCC, while the first press reactions for the show debuted online. A clip was also released for the series, which you can watch below. 

‘Superman & Lois’ Shows Two New Trailers Ahead Of Final Season

Ahead of the show’s fourth and final season, a few pieces of footage were released. The first confirmed that the show would be adapting the Death of Superman comic arc for the series, following the shocking finale last season. 

At SDCC, it was revealed that Tom Cavanagh will not be reprising his role of Reverse Flash in the series, but instead a different character. It was also revealed that there will be a cameo in the series finale. 

Superman & Lois Season 4 begins streaming on The CW on October 17, 2024. You can watch the latest clip here and a new poster below.

‘The Batman Part II’ Gets Exciting Updates At Comic-Con

On top of the confirmation by IMAX that the film will get an IMAX release, it was revealed at SDCC that Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot will be involved in the film, which is our third casting for the film following Robert Pattinson’s Batman and Andy Serkis’ Alfred Pennyworth. 

Matt Reeves, the director of the upcoming sequel, has also confirmed that the film will begin production and principal photography next year (2025). It was also announced that the original plan for Part II would incorporate Oswald taking over the crime scene in a flooded Gotham, a plot that was then removed and made into The Penguin series on HBO.  

The Batman Part II is directed by Matt Reeves and is scheduled for release on October 2, 2026.

DC Animation Rocks SDCC

DC Animation had quite the presence at SDCC over the weekend with announcements for the third season of My Adventures With Superman and Harley Quinn Season 5. 

For Adult Swim’s hit series, My Adventures With Superman Season 3 was greenlit in February and is almost halfway written, with four and a half episodes being finished. Voice recording for the premiere has been completed. In terms of plot, Kara will really join the group in the third season and Lex Luthor will lose his hair. 

As for Harley Quinn’s fifth season, the series will release in November 2024. In footage shown at SDCC, it is revealed that Harley and Ivy will be moving to Metropolis and interacting with the likes of Lex Luthor and other Superman villains. Dean Lorey, who serves as an executive producer on the series, says that the events of Kite Man: Hell Yeah! Season 1 will play into the events of Season 5 even if Kite-Man will be staying in Gotham. 

Finally, for the only DC animated feature to receive coverage at SDCC, Watchmen: Chapter 1 received a new clip at SDCC. The movie will be released to digital platforms on August 13th, 2024. Watch the new clip below. 

‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Gets A New Director & A New Cast Member

As the production ramps up for the second season of Max’s hit series Peacemaker, a new director has joined the crew. Peter Sollett, a little-known director and screenwriter, joined the team of Peacemaker and confirmed he has been shooting for the last week. 

He wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday, “Just wrapped my first-week directing @Peacemaker! Huge gratitude to @JamesGunn and Peter Safran for inviting me aboard. This is one exceptional cast and crew! Thank you @JohnCena, @TheDanielleBrooks, @SteveAgee, @JoelKinnaman, @real_timmeadows, @solrodr and Frank Grillo for the warm welcome! 🕊️🦅 #DCUniverse @DCStudios #peacemaker @StreamOnMax”

You read that right, the director did indeed @ Joel Kinnaman, who has not yet been officially announced to be part of the cast. In the DCEU, Kinnaman played Rick Flag, the leader of Task Force X and was slain by none other than Peacemaker himself. 

Last week we saw set photos depicting a new suit for Peacemaker (John Cena), a new suit for The White Dragon (Robert Patrick) and a new character entirely. It led many to believe that the revised timeline of the DCU may include a resurrection for Robert Patrick’s character, following his death in the first season. And now, we may have Rick Flag back too, or at least in a flashback. The Instagram post has since been edited to remove the name.

Peacemaker Season 2 is directed by James Gunn, Greg Mottola and Peter Sollet. It stars John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Danielle Brooks, Tim Meadows, Sol Rodriguez, Freddie Stroma, David Denman, and Frank Grillo. It is currently in production. 

Next Week In DC

As for the week of July 28, 2024, to August 4, 2024, a few DC television shows are currently airing. 

Kite Man: Hell Yeah! will be airing its fourth episode on Max at 12AM PST on Thursday, August 1. 

Suicide Squad Isekai will be airing its eighth episode on Hulu and Max at 12AM PST on Thursday, August 1. 

Batman: Caped Crusader premieres all ten episodes on Prime Video at 12AM PST on Thursday, August 1 also. 

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