As part of the MCU’s exhilarating Phase 4, the animated What If..? series premiered on Disney+ last year. As the title states, the show’s premise explores anything and everything that doesn’t happen within the main timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For example, Peggy Carter becomes the first Avenger instead of Steve Rogers, and a virus from Ant-Man’s quantum realm turns most of our beloved heroes into flesh-eating zombies. With an ongoing storyline that’s praised by fans worldwide, What If..? has a second season premiering soon and a third season already in development. With this kind of avenue opening up stories otherwise impossible, these alternate universes could very well be a part of the new and improved DCU too.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Earlier this month, James Gunn answered a fan’s question on Twitter by revealing that some sort of cinematic project is happening within DC’s Elseworlds. At what stage in development this feature is currently in is unknown though. As short as his answer was, this has set DC fans into a frenzy wondering what the Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad director has in store for the future regarding this familiar branch of the DC universe where like Marvel’s What If…?, storyline possibilities are literally endless.
Superman Gone Evil
DC Comics
Considering the fact that the storyline is still hugely popular due to the video games that are still actively played in the fighting community as well as the animated film’s success with comic book fans, a live-action depiction of Injustice: Gods Among Us has to be a contender for this mysterious title. In this Elseworlds story, the Joker goes one step too far and tricks Superman into thinking he is fighting Doomsday. In actuality, the son of krypton ends up killing his beloved Lois Lane. This ends up sending him into a frenzy, establishing a villainous stronghold on the world that will stop any adversity against what he sees to be the right path. With Zack Snyder’s version of Justice League teasing this storyline as an end-credit scene, audiences already know the dark and gritty tone that this Elseworlds story can bring to the big screen.
Putting aside what’s currently trending, it seems that Gunn himself might already have an idea in mind for this undertaking. In November, the new head of DC tweeted an image from the Kingdom Come comic miniseries. Set in the distant future where our heroes such as Batman and Superman (and some villains) have to come out of faux retirement to take Earth back from a batch of new-age heroes who kill without giving the action a second thought, the epic showdown saw Superman face off against Shazam with the whole world on the brink of disaster. Released over twenty-five years ago but still referenced today, this story about heroism and morals will definitely strike with any generation.
Jumping on the superheroes turning into zombie motifs as of late, DC Comics came out with its own spin on the sub-genre in mid-2019 titled DCeased. This story could be used in the DCU as a vessel for the reintroduction of Cyborg, as he is the catalyst in bringing a corrupted version of the Anti-Life equation back to earth after being tortured by the denizens of the planet Apokolips. With the infection running rampant through technology (mainly anything with a screen), lots of deaths continuously shocked readers like Shazam and the big bad Darkseid right at the start of the miniseries. There is no doubt that a live-action retelling of this Elseworlds story would rush comic book fans into movie theater seats.
A Different Version of Batman
Certainly last in these mentions but not least, the Elseworlds story titled Batman: White Knight goes about switching the identities of hero and villain in a series that was originally released as an eight-issue series in 2018 and was praised by readers and critics alike. A supposedly cured and clean Joker, now known by his real name of Jack Napier, dons an all-white Batman costume and fights alongside an also redeemed Harley Quinn against a new and more chaotic clown prince of crime.
This story comes to show that no matter how much you try to run from your shadow, your dark counterpart will always be attached regardless of the distance made between them. In today’s world of blurred lines, this theme would surely strike the chords of anyone watching.
DC Comics founded the Elseworlds publication line in 1989, creating a pathway for many writers and artists to come up with hero chronicles that at one time could only exist in fans’ dreams. With many stories now penned to paper and released to the public, James Gunn has a plethora of non-canon tales that would certainly amaze and awe both comic book fans and casual moviegoers alike through the big screen.
