What Excited Me From DC FanDome 2021

Just over the weekend, the recent DC FanDome convention was held. If you don’t follow DC Comics-related media too closely and never heard of it before, I wouldn’t fault you as it was only just created last year during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. DC FanDome is a virtual platform made to host DC Comics events and conventions.

Even though it’s only been used for three conventions so far, it has already established itself as a primary source for all related media, from comics, movies, tv shows, and games alike. While I’m admittedly not as much into DC as Marvel, there have definitely been some projects I’ve kept an eye on for some time, and it was great to see more about them!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsQ3Js4wYI4

On the videogame side of things, I was very excited to see new footage for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. I was a big fan of the Arkham series, even though Arkham Knight gave me some mixed feelings, and I’ve been very interested in seeing what Rocksteady Studios can do with a game centered around the Suicide Squad in the much brighter Metropolis.

The trailer they released has as much character and personality in it as the movie series, and the cinematics look fantastic. It certainly looks different from the Arkham series, and I’m a little unsure if it will feel like it truly fits in that universe, but my curiosity keeps me from being pessimistic. The only issue, so to speak, that I have is that the trailer was entirely cinematics. The characters seem well-written from these small snippets, and the direction of the story is interesting, but I can’t deny that what I want to see the most is the gameplay.

The next project that I’ve been…mildly interested in is WB Games Montréal’s Gotham Knights. The dark aesthetic of Gotham and certain elements of its plot do seem ironically more tied to Rocksteady Studios’ Arkham series than the latter’s new game, and I’m sure people will remain confused about that for a while.

A storyline featuring the Court of Owls as the antagonists and focusing on the Bat Family rather than just Batman is a huge draw for me! The Court of Owls is memorable in the comics for good reason. The dynamics of the Bat Family members, and their connections and disagreements about Batman, are also ripe for some interesting character dynamics. The new trailer built up my excitement again, especially with the wonderful Elias Toufexis, popular known as the voice for Adam Jensen from Deus Ex, voicing The Penguin.

That being said, my mind does come back to the pre-alpha gameplay released last year. I don’t mind the game having some RPG elements, but the enemies all seemed very spongy with a lot of HP. After being so conditioned to knocking out bad guys with just a few hits as Batman, it is weird to see generic enemies still standing, as other members of the Bat Family are unleashing full combos on them. This trailer doesn’t have any gameplay though, so hopefully, a better balance is being worked on.

I’m not the most well-versed when it comes to tv shows based on DC properties. I’m really not a fan of CW-melodrama, and everyone tells me Arrow and The Flash lose their luster after a few seasons, so I’ve avoided those. Even cartoon-wise, I didn’t watch Teen Titans or Young Justice growing up, so I’m not interested enough in the live-action and continuations of each show respectively to buy an HBO Max subscription. I am interested in watching the “Best Animated Series” award-winning Harley Quinn animated show, but again, not quite enough to buy into HBO Max.

One of the few shows I did watch though was Batman: The Animated Series. I always loved the noir focus and visual style of the show. Hearing that the Batman: Caped Crusader series, will heavily lean into that style does put a large smile on my face. Adding in the elements of focusing on Batman specifically, before the Justice League and starting with low-tech gadgets, and likely including more adult themes sounds like something I never knew I wanted. As much as I said it in the previous paragraph, this might be what gets me to buy into HBO Max.

The Batman

While I did like the Ben Affleck version of Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (not so much in the Justice League film though), after watching Joker, I’m all for DC standing out from Marvel by having unrelated movies. A darker Batman film focusing on a younger, angrier Bruce played by Robert Pattinson caught my interest as soon as I heard about it. Focusing on The Riddler as the main villain only brought my hopes and expectations even higher.

I’m not sure if my expectations are too high, as I reminisce about Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy or if they’re effectively tempered after watching Justice League, but either way, this trailer more than met those expectations. Pattinson looks as brooding and violent as I’ve always expected a young Bruce Wayne to look. The action looks intense and, perhaps for lack of a better word, painful. There are some wonderful shots in there that make me excited for the general cinematography. This is undeniably the property I’m the most excited about.

Now, there were some other huge properties shown off and announced, from the next movies set to headline the DCEU to their next animated projects. A whole lot about their various TV shows was shown off, and of course, there’s plenty of exciting comic news. The full list can be found on the DC Comics site. Although not everything super interested me (I am a little interested in Black Adam and any upcoming Static news), there’s certainly enough here to cater to all fans of DC Comics and their properties.