Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a public-relations crisis! It's....Superman? After weeks of speculation about the fate of the Justice League movie and whether The Dark Knight trilogy director Christopher Nolan might ride to the rescue, Warner Bros.Pictures Group President, Jeff Robinov harnessed the hotly anticipated release of its Man of Steel movie to reframe the future of DC superhero movies at the studio as a bright one.
Speaking exclusively to Time-Warner-owned Entertainment Weekly, which put the Zack Snyder-directed Superman film on the cover of its summer movie preview issue — well, they weren't going to feature Iron Man 3 — Robinov noted that, unlike Nolan's Batman films, Man of Steel will establish a world that can sustain other heroes and villains from the DC universe. “[Nolan’s] Batman was deliberately and smartly positioned as a stand-alone. The world they lived in was very isolated without any knowledge of any other superheroes," Robinov told EW. "What Zack and Chris have done with this film is allow you to really introduce other characters into the same world.”
New DC Superhero Movies Coming
Robinov also indicated that comic geeks would soon learn which characters he was referencing. "We’ll announce something in the next several weeks that will hopefully position the DC characters and the movies we’re going to be making,” he told the magazine.
Also noteworthy is the following passage in EW writer Anthony Breznican's piece:
When asked if The Dark Knight trilogy of films stands entirely alone, Robinov said: “They do. Or they did,” with a change of tense that should rouse the attention of fanboys everywhere. “Where we go in the future is a whole other conversation.”
However, Robinov was unequivocal when asked if the rumor is true that Nolan will produce a Justice League movie, and bring Christian Bale back with him: “No, no it’s not.” (Nolan’s reps, who have previously declined to comment on that rumor, also confirmed Robinov’s statement and told EW that he definitely wasn’t involved with Justice League. Nolan is currently busy prepping his sci-fi film Interstellar.)
Later in the piece, Breznican wrote this:
Might we get, you know … another person in the bat suit? (Sorry to be vague, but we’re avoiding spoilers for the sake of ultra-latecomers). That’s certainly possible — and much more likely if the studio does decide to backtrack and create crossover between the films.
I find it interesting that the status of Justice League was mostly avoided in the EW piece, except to note that Bale won't be in it and Nolan won't be producing it. Whether or not Will Beall's script has been scrapped, as has been rumored for weeks now, the implication is that the movie is still alive. I could very well see Warner announcing it had found a director (and maybe a new screenwriter) for Justice League as part of that announcement Robinov promised. A Wonder Woman movie would also be just what the doctor ordered.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt As Batman?
As for Bale, I never thought he'd cross over into this new Warner DC phase that's in development, but Robinov's comments leave the door open for another actor playing Batman to exist in the new DC Metropolis that Snyder and Nolan have created. To put The Dark Knight Rises star Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the role of Batman, as has been strenuously rumored and denied, would be the perfect solution — one that would allow The Dark Knight trilogy to stand on its own and yet leave DC fans with the satisfaction that Warner's cinematic rendering of their favorite comic universe was beginning to resemble something more than just a handful of standalone movies.
More Superhero Movies:
Darkseid And Ding Dongs − Three Radical Storylines For The 'Justice League' Movie
Holy Crossover! Will DC Introduce Joseph Gordon-Levitt As Batman In Superman Movie?
Batman Cameo Rumors Bring Cheshire Smile To Christopher Nolan's Face At Hugh Jackman Salute
[EW]
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