Ava DuVernay and Tom King's New Gods and The Trench, and Aquaman spinoff by James Wan will not be moving forward at Warner Bros."As part of our DC slate, some legacy development titles including New Gods and The Trench will not be moving forward," Warner Bros. and DC said in a statement. "We thank our partners Ava DuVernay, Tom King, James Wan and Peter Safran for their time and collaboration during this process and look forward to our continued partnership with them on other DC stories. The projects will remain in their skillful hands if they were to move forward in the future."According to The Hollywood Reporter, there is the possibility that both New Gods and The Trench could find a second life in the future. However, DC Films currently has a packed schedule over the next several years with The Batman, Black Adam, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Zatanna and Aquaman 2, and the studio didn't want to tie up the creators while they waited in limbo.On the streaming front, DC also has a slate of series set to debut on HBO Max including John Cena's Peacemaker, The Batman spinoff focused on the Gotham City Police Department, Green Lantern and J.J. Abrams' Justice League Dark.DuVernay and King both responded to the news on Twitter, with DuVernay thanking Ray Porter, who voiced Darkseid in Zack Snyder's Justice League. "Thank you, Ray. You've been nothing but gracious towards me. Appreciate you. And fans who supported," she tweeted. "I'm told the studio will be speaking about their recent decision about NEW GODS characters soon. I hope our paths cross one day, sir. If not in the Fourth World, then in another." King called DuVernay and Porter "class acts."
THR goes on to report that a New Gods film was complicated by Darkseid having such a major presence in the Snyder Cut of Justice League, with DC Films deciding not to feature the villain in such a short amount of time. As for The Trench's cancellation, it reportedly came down to the belief that Aquaman 2 was enough for the franchise at this time. Streaming was considered an option, though The Trench serves as a more standalone story without much of a connection to the larger DC Extended Universe.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter