Warner Bros. Discovery’s disaster control strategy with Batgirl and The Flash is off to a good yet shaky start whereas word on the street on Black Adam movie including Henry Cavill’s Superman gets another interesting update from a credible insider. Over at Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige seems to have found his director for Fantastic Four in Matt Shakman.

(Superhero weekly recap consists of highlights of news reports from trade outlets and rumors from industry insiders on DC Extended Universe and Marvel Cinematic Universe. The below article offers a recap of the exciting announcements that readers may have missed this week.)

WBD CEO David Zaslav’s restructuring has already hugely impacted the earlier leadership’s plans that were in motion for DC Comics-based properties. Several industry experts were shocked by reports that the studio plans to sell off Matt Reeves’ Batman: Caped Crusader animation project on to another streaming platform. So far, Apple, Hulu and Netflix have shown “special interest” in purchasing the series.

It’s an unprecedented yet financially motivated move that would see the Batman IP for the first time featured on a service not owned by Warner Brothers. But the studio has done strides in its PR damage control by announcing Reeves’ multi-year first look picture deal. On the bright side, the Reevesverse has the greenlight to flesh out its world-building while Todd Phillips’ also gets to do the same with Joker 2.

Speaking of damage control, Ezra Miller seems to have come to his senses after learning WBD was considering scrapping The Flash entirely. Going by THR’s source, The Fantastic Beasts star was “apologetic and affirmed their commitment to both getting care and to the production.” Miller and his CAA agent met with Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, the execs currently overseeing the DC Film division.

The leadership’s recent business approaches have sailed steadily except for the shocking Batgirl shelving. The studio held a funeral screening for the cast & crew, a topic that was widely discussed by Fandango’s Erik Davis and The Wrap film reporter Umberto Gonzalez in a Twitter podcast. According to veteran scooper El Mayimbe’s inside source that was present for the funeral screening:

“The consensus that I’ve been getting is that, yeah, a source of mine said I saw batgirl. Certainly not the worst superhero movie but I Ultimately, I understand why they took the right down (tax write-off) and I’m like, oh, and I asked this individual to elaborate a little further and was told it’s basically essentially an expensive CW pilot,” said Gonzalez in the Twitter podcast to host Davis.

Thanks to everyone who tuned in for today’s convo w/ @elmayimbe. We covered:
– #Batgirl screening reactions
– Dan Lin’s DC future
– #BlueBeetle footage reaction
– A small #Superman tease
– #MagicMike3 going to theaters in Feb 2023?
Listen to the replayhttps://t.co/t1TRfo2Pah

— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) August 26, 2022

Last I heard, It was just a headless cameo but Umberto's comments make me think that something has changed…

— BSL 🔜 #TIFF22 🧩 (@bigscreenleaks) August 26, 2022

“The Heroic Hollywood founder further added, “Which is what I heard it was, but I have to agree so, and I’ve heard that before today, it plays like a very expensive CW pilot. It’s not really a strong film the tone is just very CW lacking any depth, lighter and more comic book like.”

It’s an interesting distinction to describe Batgirl was like a CW pilot considering the movie was made for HBO Max. Meanwhile, on the same informative podcast, The Wrap journalist also revealed he got to see a sizzle reel of Blue Beetle and had nothing but praises.

Davis quizzed the reporter regarding the growing dissent surrounding Henry Cavill’s Superman cameo in the Black Adam movie. The earlier insider reports indicated it would be a headless appearance but recently the rumor mill has heavily leaned on suggesting Cavill filmed as the Man of Steel for the Dwayne Johnson starrer DC film at some point in mid-August.

Gonzalez had a cryptic reply to the host’s query on Superman in Black Adam, “Unfortunately, I’m going to make this very political. I can’t answer that question because it’s a spoiler.” It seems like the rumors may be true, perhaps, the SDCC reaction and Johnson’s push to see Teth-Adam fight the red-caped superhero will come to fruition this October.

Over at MCU, it must certainly feel good to be Kevin Feige, especially with Zaslav particularly searching for a producer on the same lines as the veteran Marvel chief to take control of DC Film/TV. Dan Lin is in discussion for the role and the general reactions have been in support of seeing him herald the next 10 years of DC Studio. Meanwhile, Feige’s game plan for Phase 5 progresses with WandaVision helmer Shakman engaged in discussions to direct Fantastic Four. If all goes well, an official confirmation can be expected at the upcoming D23 Expo.