Things We Saw Today: This Fan’s Plan for the DCU’s Future Sounds Amazing

After news broke that James Gunn was asking fans (via Mastadon) “which DC character/s who hasn’t yet had their own film do you want to see most on the big screen?,” fans raced to share their dream DC movies. One such person engaging with this discourse is one of my favorite comics creators, the Afro-Latina blogger Frankie (a.k.a. Fantastic Frankey.) After making a semi-formal introduction to her work in a TikTok video, Frankie followed up with a question of well, “who would you like to see brought into the DCEU?!”

@fantasticfrankey Frankey Fiege on the case. @wbpicturesbr @hbomax #dceu #dccomicscosplay ♬ original sound – fantasticfrankey

You can also see that TikTok here.

Basically, Frankie said they should begin with a Martian Manhunter movie where he takes over a Black soldier during the Civil Rights Era. That movie would end in a Black Lives Matter rally in the present in which the police get violent, as they do. She then explains how this would transition into a Static Shock movie, and Manhunter would serve as a mentor to Virgil. Then, there would be a Nightwing and Bea movie (no Batman intro required) where they serve as freedom fighters and follow that up with a Starfire movie. The final three movies for the beginning of this new DCU would be Zatanna, Donna Troy, and then “a very Black, very queer” Aqualad.

Like Frankie states at the beginning of her video, this would never happen. Not only because broad appeal often means skewing conservative, but David Zaslav (who oversees Gunn and Peter Safran) has emphasized “legacy characters,” and claimed the Fandoms (DC) is for boys. Most of these characters are older and established, but that’s code for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash.

What I loved about her approach is that she took some of the most interesting aspects of many characters and doesn’t shy away from the underlying themes in each of their work that made them interesting. Instead of depoliticizing the themes of the stories, Frankie proposes to continue the conversation. I’m not 100% sold on everything (like how Starfire wouldn’t understand the bigotry on Earth, considering her history in comics), but I see her overall vision and love it.

(via TikTok, featured image: DC)

Here are some other bits of news out there:

• A sci-fi movie that has captured the imagination of millions is entering the public domain in a few weeks. (via BoingBoing)
• Elliot Page reveals the cover of his upcoming memoir. (via Them)
• Netflix shares a first look at You season four. (via Twitter)
• Police found high-fiving a white supremacist group coming to stop a Holi-drag show and has a weird defensive for this behavior. (via NBC 4)

What did you see online today, Mary Suevians?

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