Suicide Squad 3(2017)
With James Gunn directing, the film saw the return of Will Smith as Deadshot, this time joined by Dave Bautista as Peacemaker, Isabela Merced as Ratcatcher 2. The team includes Dogwelder, Kite Man(including a few jokes about his real name being "Charlie Brown" complete with saying "Good Grief" after crashing into a tree), Deathstroke, Katana and others.. The team goes on a mission to Corto Maltese but in a twist, Starro the Conqueror, after his defeat by the Justice League is freed, even mind controlling Superman into fighting the Squad.
Justice League/Avengers(2017)
(summary is identical to one in Marvel Superheroes)
A mysterious entity is destroying universes in manner that alludes to the
Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Crime Syndicate Earth and the "Days of Future Past" Earths are shown being confronted by a being who asks them what the meaning of life is(one person jokingly says..."42?"). Not finding an answer that satisfies him the universe is destroyed, though the Superhumans from both universes are able to help their people escape in arks. The Crime Syndicate even comments on the irony that they enslaved the world and are now fighting to save it before they are destroyed.
In the DC Universe, Galactus attacks Earth, with the Justice League defeating him by sending him into the Phantom Zone. In the Marvel universe, the Avengers battle Starro the Conqueror, which they defeat when Vision conceived of an idea for Scarlet Witch to use her powers on one of Starro's starfish, leading the creature to flee in fear. In space, the being destroying universes arrives in the Marvel universe and is confronted by a group including the Collector, the Grandmaster and the Watcher, who are revealed to be brothers. The Grandmaster fight this new being, revealed to be Krona. His backstory is revealed. He is a guardian of the Universe who was exiled for attempting to discovery the origin of the universe. He saw a large blue hand holding a galaxy before the experiment causes an explosion that devastated the planet Oa. Krona was exiled to another universe and has been making his way back. The Collector, Grandmaster and the Watcher fight Krona but are defeated, just as they are about to be killed, the Grandmaster makes a deal, claiming he can take Krona to a being who saw the universe be made. They make a bet. If the Heroes of Krona's universe win(The Justice League) then the Grandmaster will take Krona to Galactus. if the heroes of the Grandmaster's universe(The Avengers), win than Krona will not destroy it.
The Watcher appears before the Justice League and Metron appears before the Avengers, both revealing the game and that the loser will have their universe destroyed. The game involves retrieving six items from each universe. In the DC Universe, this includes the Spear of Destiny, the Book of Eternity, the Orb of Ra, the Medusa Mask, the Bell, the Helm of Nabu, and the Green Lantern Power Battery of Oa. From the Marvel Universe the items are the Ultimate Nullifier, the Eye of Agamotto, the Wand of Watoomb, the Casket of Ancient Winters, the Cosmic Cube, and the Infinity Gauntlet. With the entire universe being threatened, both the Avengers and the Justice League inform the other Superheroes teams in their respective universes, effectively bringing in every single Hero in each universe into the conflict.
The Justice League travel to the Marvel Universe. Batman tells them to spy but not interfere. However each member of the Justice League violates this. The Hulk goes on a rampage, which Superman intervenes in, leading to a fight in which the Hulk is defeated. Batman breaks the rule himself to save mobsters from the Punisher, defeating him. The Flash finds that his powers don't work due to the Speed Force not existing in the Marvel universe, when he tries to save a mutant from a mob and is confused for one himself. While he makes it out, he is given a suit that stores the Speed Force energy within him. These experiences leads Superman, to view the Marvel heroes as failures, though he is shown to be manipulated by the villain the Psycho Pirate, who is wielding the Medusa Mask.
The Avengers arrive in the DC Universe and easily defeat a group of villains and are hailed as heroes. They notice that the DC Heroes are revered and the prejudice and distrust the Marvel Heroes has for mutants doesn't exist. They also research and find that the DC Earth appears to be bigger and has more locations. Psycho Pirate uses his abilities to make Captain America believe that the Justice League are dictators that force the people to worship them. Hawkeye makes a meta joke, trying to guess the name of their opponents. He guesses "Squadron Supreme". When the Justice League arrive, several fan favorite fights occur. Hawkeye tries to take the Flash out with a Boomerang arrow but he easily catches it, commenting he's used to fighting people with Boomerangs. Captain America and Batman fight before both agreeing to work behind the scenes, believing there is more going on than they were told. The Flahs also competes against Quicksilver, who becomes distraught when he realizes he's not fast enough to access the Speed Force in the DC Universe, vowing to find a way to reach it. Hawkeye and Green Arrow also have an amusing banter.
GA: Great I'm stuck with the guy in purple.
H:It's magenta.
GA: What's that? I can't hear you. you're purple's too loud.
........
GA: You have failed this city.
H: I don't even live here.
.............
There is also this exchange.
"I'm Batman."
"And I...am...Iron Man."
After their first battle, the heroes split up to gather the elements. It is revealed that the two Universes now occupy one space with the two Earths visible to each other and they will begin to merge into one world, threatening to destroy both unless one universe is destroyed according to the Grandmaster.
Of the items in the DC Universe, Doctor Doom invades the Legion of Doom headquarters where a group of villains are attempting to reform it as Lex Luthor, has cleared his name of his involvement with the Legion and is now running for President. Doom takes control of the Legion. An attack from the Avengers to get the Spear leads to Doom's time machine sending it back to World War II. Thanks to the merging, and the team sent back including World War 2 era characters and one psychic member. The Justice Society of America and the Invaders are both brought into the conflict before the Avengers side retrieves the Spear of Destiny and return to their own time.
Thor and Doctor Strange search for the Book of Eternity after using magic to find the Rock of Eternity. Strange is attacked by Doctor Fate and a battle ensues. Thor battles Captain Marvel, who grabs Thor and shouts "Shazam!" to try and use the lightning to shock Thor. This only makes Thor stronger and when he jokingly says "Shazam back while firing the lightning, he ends up turning Captain Marvel back into Billy Batson before covering his mouth to prevent him from saying the word again. Strange tries astral projection and enters into Fate's helmet, only to be overwhelmed as it houses the god Nabu. Strange is forced to tap into dark powers, leading to Fate exploding. This allows the opposite teams to obtain the Fate's helm of Nabu and Strange's Eye of Agamotto. Thor is also able to retrieve the Book of Eternity.
During this time the Grandmaster offers to switch teams with Krona so that if the Justice League wins the Grandmaster wins. The Orb of Ra is tracked down to Egypt with several Egyptian heroes such as Hawkman and Hawkgirl and Black Adam. Cheating, Krona revives the dead foe En Sabah Nur, who attacks the heroes, allowing the Orb of Ra to be taken in the distraction. With the Medusa Mask belonging to Krona's servant Psycho Pirate and he now having switched teams. Krona kills Psycho pirate and throws the Mask to the Avengers. Krona also arrives on Oa, devastating the Green Lantern Corps and exchanging words with Ganthet before destroying Oa, leaving the Green Lantern Power Battery to be found by the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Nova Corps. Darkseid and Thanos confront each other. In a metajoke, Darkseid called Thanos "a pale imitation of (himself)". The two fight, ending when Thanos appears to kill Darkseid only to discover that the true Darkseid is in reality na entity living in another universe. Leading Thanos to realize. He is not the most dangerous threat in the universe. Darkseid is. Thanos vows to return with greater power.
With Galactus defeated, the League obtain the Ultimate Nullifier from his ship, the Wand of Watoomb from the Sanctum Sanctorum due to Strange being absent. They also obtain the Casket of Ancient Winters and the Infinity Gauntlet from the remains of Asgard. However Darkseid attacks the League and obtains the Infinity Gauntlet. The Grandmaster decides to hide the fact that the Infinity Gauntlet the League found is fake. Darkseid discovers this when he tries using the Gauntlet and throws it aside. The Flash obtains it as Darkseid fires his Omega Beams at him. Flash is able to teleport away, though Darkseid believes the beams vaporized the Flash.
The last artifact is the Cosmic Cube, which is in Loki's possession. Loki is told of the bet from the Grandmaster and hands it over to him. All the Heroes are brought to the Savage Land to fight over the final item. In one instant, Thor begins to come down on Superman with his hammer only for Superman to catch it with his fist before knocking Thor out. Batman and Captain America's interference at a crucial time leads to the Justice League being declared the winner. Krona refuses to accept the item and attacks the Grandmaster, wounding him. The Grandmaster then sends Krona to Galactus. Krona angrily demands Galactus tell him about the origin of the universe. Galactus attacks Krona. Krona however easily kills him. There is a bright flash. The Justice League and Avengers awaken in a world that is a combination of both worlds. The Justice League have just defeated a scheme from Doctor Doom that led to him being merged with the Source Wall while the Avengers have recently defeated Brainiac. Other differences include Black Canary dating Hawkeye. The heroes begin to realize something is wrong before the Watcher finds them and brings them to the dying Grandmaster, explaining that the worlds were merged to spare them and they must defeat Krona. They are shown by the Watcher the worlds they will return to and decide to restore things despite all the hardships they will endure. The heroes attack Krona in a fortress built from the corpse of Galactus. Krona, summons an army of various villains. Superman at one point wields both Mjolnir and Captain America's shield. Waves beign sent across the universe alters the heroes and villains present leading to different costumes, alternate versions and of course cameos(Christopher Reeves Superman, Michael Keaton and Christian Bale Batman, DiCaprio Spider-Man, Japanese Spider-Man, and so on). Once Krona is defeated, the universes are split again and restored to normal. As the worlds separate, the Avengers and the Justice League say goodbye for a final time as they return to their own universes.
There are two end credit scenes. The first is Thanos finding the Infinity Gauntlet and vowing to retrieve the Stones, pledging to do so for his love: Death, who is represented by a stone statue of Death, specifically the version from Neil Gaiman's
The Sandman.
In the second, Batman is interrupted by Barry Allen's Flash, appearing before him, trying to tell him something.. A lightning bolt strikes a wall of the Batcave. Flash tries to tell him that a being has been manipulating everything since the beginning before disappearing. Batman approaches the wall struck by lightning. Commenting. "I don't know what's going on...but I have a feeling...like we're being watched". Batman then picks up something from lightning bolt that struck the wall. It's a smiling face pin with a red drop of blood on it. Another quick scene reveals that Krona survived and now vows that he will destroy everything as he uses his abilities to assemble himself an armor. Comic fans will recognize this armor as that worn by the Anti-Monitor.
Justice League Dark(2018)
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro. The film begins with a flashback of John Constantine and Jason Blood playing a poker game with the Demons Three. Both sides offer magical artifacts including the House of Mystery, but both are revealed to be cheating, leading to a fight where Constantine makes Blood transform into the Demon Etrigan, which makes him angry towards Constantine.
In the present, a series of violent murders take place committed by people who are made to see their loved ones as monsters. Zatanna is visited by the ghost of murdered Circus performer Boston Brand, who leads Zatanna to the house of Mystery where Constantine and the spiritual embodiment of the House of Mystery, Black orchid meet them. The group agree to find the cause of the epidemic, but Constantine first wishes to meet his friend Richie Simpson, where they find him under attack by spirits of death trying to claim his soul as Simpson has cancer. Simpson gives them the Keshanti Key, which views a past victim's memories, leading to an image of a mysterious figure, which emerges and attacks the group before being destroyed.
Constantine calls in Blood, who reveals that centuries ago the sorcerer Destiny used the Dreamstone to attempt to overthrow Camelot. Merlin summoned Etrigan to fight Destiny but then bounded him to Blood until Destiny was permanently destroyed, at which point the spell would be broken. Simpson is attacked before identifying the sorcerer Felix Faust as his attacker. The Group goes to Slaughter Swamp, encountering Swamp Thing where Faust is hiding, but he is revealed to be a red herring. This leads Constantine to realize Richie Simpson has the Dreamstone, which is keeping his cancer at bay. Simpson is possessed by Destiny, who's soul is inside the Dreamstone. Destiny then kills Black Orchid by destroying the House of Mystery. The group, now including Swamp Thing, unite to defeat Destiny. During the battle, Destiny, rips Alec Holand's corpse from Swamp Thing's body. Constantine is able to get Destiny to lower his defenses and be possessed by Deadman. This allows the group to destroy the Dreamstone and Destiny with it. With the purpose for his immortality gone, Etrigan vanishes back to Hell while Jason Blood dies, thanking his friends before he dies from his injuries. The gathered heroes form "Justice League Dark" to counter supernatural threats. Constantine refuses membership and holds onto the shattered Dreamstone, which has been reduced to sand. The Justice League Dark sets up in the newly built house of Secrets("The Difference between a Mystery and a Secret is a Mystery remains what it is the more you tell people about it.").
An End Credits Scene depicts a figure trapped in a ring of sand, hinting at an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's
The Sandman, soemthing hinted at throughout the film with elements such as the Dreamstone, House of Secrets and Destiny.
Legion of Super Heroes(2018)
Directed by J.J. Abrams. This film is set in the 30th Century where a United Planets exists but aliens face prejudice. A group led by Kirk Niedrigh claims to have discovered that Superman was not an alien but born on Earth. A group of teenagers including self proclaimed superheroes Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5, are able to obtain a time machine and travel back in time and meet a teenage Superman. They meet the young Clark Kent(played by Tom Holland), and bring him to their time with the promise to bring him back. Unfortunately they are attacked by Niedrigh's group of enforcers known as the Fatal Five. This begins the film's plot becomes to defeat Niedrigh and the Five and prove Superman's origins. Lightning Lad, not believing in the Legion's faith in the young Superboy, takes the time machine and brings Supergirl into the future. Brainiac 5 is horrified by this as Supergirl is known to have disappeared from history and he is now horrified that she will die on the mission, a fact he hides from her even as a romance develops between them. With help from his cousin, Superboy finds his courage and both learns how to fly and dons a Superman costume from a museum. A final battle then ensues where Superboy is able to convince the people of the truth and battles Niedrigh, who is revealed to be a rejected member of the Legion of Superheroes. Niedrigh ends up confessing the truth in public during a battle before he is defeated. In the aftermath, Superboy is sent back to his own time after saying goodbye, having his memories erased. Supergirl however, having fallen in love with Brainiac 5, elects to stay at least a little longer.
Batman Beyond(2019)
Beginning in 2019, Batman suffers a heart attack while stopping a crime, forcing him to pick up a gun and violate his rule of no killing to save a life. He retires as a result and vows never again.
In 2039, Terry McGinnis's father is murdered by a gang called the Jokerz. He confronts the gang. resulting in an intense chase scene that leads to Wayne Manor, where an elderly Bruce Wayne(played by Clint Eastwood), confronts the Jokerz. McGinnis becomes suspicious of the elderly Bruce Wayne and sneaks into his home to discover the Batcave, realizing Bruce Wayne was Batman. McGinnis at first tries to convince Wayne to return but he refuses. McGinnis then steals a Batsuit and goes into action. While initially locking down the suit, Bruce is forced to help McGinnis through a com link to save him. McGinnis confronts his father's killer, businessman and metahuman Derek Powers, in a final battle. Several lines are lifted directly from the series includes: "It's a little early for Halloween." "But jus tin time for fall." "You're pretty strong for some clown who thinks he's Batman." "I am Batman." "You killed my father." "...Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" and so on. Amusingly, Willem Defoe plays Derek Powers.
Crisis on Infinite Earths(2019)
The being Pariah witnesses the destruction of Earth 3. Lex Luthor of Earth 3 sends his son to another universe. On the main DC Earth, a being known as the Monitor gathers several people from across time and space. The Monitor reveals the coming threat of the Anti-Monitor and that it can be prevented with the use of large tuning forks he instructs the gathered to place in different eras of history. This includes the Wild West, where several Western era characters appear or cameo, being drawn to the massive structure, such as Bat Lash and Jonah Hex(Thomas Jane in a cameo). Something similar happens with a tuning fork placed during World War 2, with Sergeant Rock and the Losers making an appearance. Another tuning Fork is placed in the 30th Century, where the Legion of Superheroes agree to defend it, teaming up with the heroes.The Monitor realizes this will not be enough and sacrifices his energy to ensure the process. This causes several universes that the Monitor was trying to save to appear together in space, many of which are worlds from the multiple iterations of DC Characters, most notably a world with a Justice League made up Adam West's Batman, Linda Carter's Wonder Woman, George Reeve's Superman and others. Others such as The Watchmen universe andThe Marvel Universe is also shown to be present with characters cameoing. A team of heroes battles the Anti-Monitor. Supergirl is able to savagely beat the Anti-Monitor to save Superman's life but a blast hits her. The Anti-Monitor flees but Supergirl dies as a result.
As the heroes have a chance to breathe only for Lex Luthor and Brainiac to reveal that they have gathered an army of all supervillains, leading to a battle between the heroes and villains that is interrupted by Doctor Manhattan, who reveals that the Anti-Monitor is seeking to travel back to the beginning of time and destroy reality itself. The Heroes and Villains join forces to attempt to stop him. Fortunately, the Anti-Monitor is stopped seemingly by Barry Allen appearing from the Speed Force). The heroes return to their present time after Manhattan and the Anti-Monitor collide. The Anti-Monitor releases an army of shadow demons and the final battle begins, with many heroes being killed before Anti-Monitor finally falls and the remaining worlds merge into one, excluding the Marvel world which is separated.
Doomsday Clock(2020)
In the Watchmen Universe, On November 22, 1992, the world is in chaos. Adrian Veidt's hand in the destruction of New York City has been discovered from Rorshach's journal and nuclear war it about to begin. Adrian Veidt prepares a trip to another universe and find Doctor Manhattan to save his world, disappearing. He finds himself in the DC Universe as he traced Manhattan's signal there. He brings with him a mysterious new Rorschach(a brief glimpse of his ungloved hands reveals that he is black).
Veidt's ship, "Archie II" arrives in Metropolis and breaks into Lexcorp, where Lex Luthor appears and a battle ensues which is interrupted by the Comedian, who Veidt is surprised to see but manages to escape. Rorschach finds his way into the Batcave and is subdued by Batman, who hears him out before sending him to Arkham Asylum. It is revealed that the post 2000's DC movies take place after the events of Watchmen(something implied but not confirmed until now). The destruction of several major cities resulted in other Cities becoming massive hubs, such as the devastation of New York leading to the rise of Metropolis and Gotham. Veidt flees underground and encounters the Willem Defoe Joker only for the Comedian to arrive and a battle to occur between him and the Joker with a conversation between them about "Getting the Joke", the Comedian chases after Veidt but Batman intervenes, defeating the Joker and fighting Veidt in "Archie II", where the two also argue. Veidt believing Manhattan created the DC earth with the history of his world. Batman falls out of Archie II along with The Comedian, who he discovers is his father, Thomas Wayne, specifically from The universe Barry Allen visited. He was brought over by Doctor Manhattan and found himself in the body of an alternate version of himself, named Edward Blake. The two head back to the Batcave and contact their mutual friend, the Flash, who arrives followed shortly by Reverse Flash, who attacks them, after he is defeated by the Flash and the two Batmen, he is about to reveal where Manhattan is before he is killed, evidently by Manhattan.
The defeated Joker is thrown into Arkham Asylum where he meets the new Rorshach, who is revealed to be Reggie Long, son of Malcolm Long. After New York was devastated, he met Byron Lewis, the former hero Moth Man in what would become Arkham Asylum. Byron set fire to the Asylum and fled with Reggie. reggie headed to Veidt's Antarctica base but discovered that Veidt was dying of cancer and chose to spare him. The Joker, Reggie, and another patient, Imra Ardeen, escape the Asylum. Ardeen believes that the being she saw during the Crisis is responsible for their current world and placed her there to prevent her from revealing the truth. Ardeen, revealed to be Saturn Girl, uses her abilities to visit the surviving Justice Society of America members including Johnny Thunder and Alan Scott in a retirement home and recruit them. Ozymandias conducts an experiment that brings Doctor Manhattan to him and Manhattan reveals that he did indeed create the universe they reside in and included the events of his own universe to see if things could improve from that point on. However, he sees himself confronting Superman in the future and then sees nothing, leading him to believe Superman will kill him.
In order to draw Superman into a confrontation, Manhatttan causes several nukes to be fired, which is just barely averted but brings an army of superheroes to where he resides on Mars, leading to an intense battle in which Manhattan easily decimates. Manhattan contemplates that the DC Universe is in fact a Metaverse, or a massive multiverse that is constantly shifting and that Superman was at the center of it. Superman finally arrives and after a conversation with Superman, has his sense of humanity restored, leaving the universe and restoring things to normal. this causes Edward Blake to be brought back to the moment he died, as the mind of Thomas Wayne fades away, he encourages Bruce Wayne to not be Batman any longer.
Batgirl(2020)
Batgirl was greenlit due to the character receiving a mention in
Batman: Beyond, leading to a need to establish a version of the character to be active in that role. In the film Batman has retired and Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl while donning a costume as a masquerade ball crashed by the villain Killer Moth, who teams up with the villain Firefly, leading Batgirl to be forced to take them both down, while Bruce Wayne attempts to dissuade her from becoming a vigilante.
The Sandman(2021)
The Sandman is largely an adaptation of the
Preludes and Nocturnes. The being Dream is imprisoned and is able to escape after almost 100 years. He finds his kingdom has fallen into ruin and his three magical items have been scattered. one is the Dreamstone, which Dream recruits John Constantine to find after one of his girlfriends stole it from him. The second is in the possession of a Demon in hell which Dream had a unique battle of words with. Etrigan makes an appearance in Hell as does Lucifer Morningstar. The Final object is being used by the villain John Dee to torment people and Dream is forced into battle with Dee.
Green Lantern: Blackest Night(2021)
The being Nekron and his servant Black Hand form the Black Lanterns and begin resurrecting everyone killed in the Crisis as undead Blakc Lanterns. Green Lantern and Flash team up as the world is overwhelmed to track down and find Kyle Rayner(Brandon Lee), who is believed to be the one being capable of summoning the White Lantern to save the world. Unfortunately to do so requires gathering the rings from the other Lantern Corps across the universe, turning the film into a sort fo Cosmic Road Trip to save the world(I remind you this film stars Ryan Reynolds and Nathan Fillion in the lead roles).