Kevin Smith Confirms Reported DC Comics Movie Plans

True to form, when notorious veteran Hollywood reporter Nikki Finke made her eagerly awaited return to the internet last week after a seven-month hiatus, she did so with a bang, claiming to have the inside scoop on DC Comics/Warner Bros. Pictures' cinematic plans for the next few years.

Outlets were quick to report Finke's scoop as fact -- as several have done this week following HitFix's unverified report that former Game Of Thrones star Jason Momoa is slated to play Aquaman starting in Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman -- and it turns out that Finke has lost none of her investigative clout, with director, writer and lifelong fanboy Kevin Smith confirming the information on the Hollywood Babble-On podcast at the weekend.

At just shy of the hour-and-a-half mark (try from 1:28:40), podcast co-host Ralph Garman turns the conversation towards Finke's story, and Smith leaves him just the slightest bit speechless:

"Speaking of DC, this -- have you read this story, from Nikki Finke?" Garman queries. "Nikki Finke, for those who don't know, is a legendary sort of Hollywood entertainment reporter. She created Deadline.com and then left them through a big, uh, brouhaha, but she's still continuing on with her reporting and she says she has the layout of all the DC Comics for the next ten to fifteen years. It's happened."

"Mm -- so do I," Smith deadpans.

RG: "...You do?"

KS: "Yeah ... I can't tell you, man."

RG: "How did you get it?"

KS: "Because I know people, motherfucker!"

RG: "Well, let's compare yours to hers and see what--"

KS: "I'm-- I'm not allowed to say, but they showed me. Remember, I talked a little bit--"

RG: "You're a piece of shit!"

KS: "Sorry!"

RG: "You never told me this!"

KS: "I talked a couple of shows back about, like, this universe that they're building."

RG: "Yeah, I know that, you talked generally about it, but you never said, 'Oh, I know what movie is coming out in 2018.' You never said that."

KS: "I-- I looked at your list, though, and I was like, 'Yeah, that's what I heard. That's what I was told.' "

Garman then recites the comics behemoth's four-year plan, which, as per Finke and Smith, looks a little bit like this:

May 2016: Batman V Superman
July 2016: Shazam
Xmas 2016: Sandman
May 2017: Justice League
July 2017: Wonder Woman
Christmas 2017: Flash/Green Lantern team-up
May 2018: Man Of Steel 2

So, pretty epic plans in the works as DC works to catch up to the streets-ahead Marvel in the cinematic stakes. Encouragingly, the official announcement of a Wonder Woman film seems to mean the character has finally been deemed workable for film (about time), while the inclusion of Neil Gaiman's Sandman should thrill older readers, and the news of Flash and Green Lantern (who apparently will not be played by Ryan Reynolds) getting their own The Brave And The Bold-style team-up is all the Christmas present DC fans will need in 2017 after the WW-Justice League double act earlier in the year.

In the words of Kevin Smith: "That just gave me a reason to live, man. Like, who's the chick that don't want to live? Lana Del Rey? Show her this fuckin' list."