Sometimes Justice just takes longer than expected.
Warner Bros. says it is going to try again to create a big-screen version of Justice League, the long-demanded, occasionally attempted team-up between Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and other iconic DC superheroes.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the studio’s production president Greg Silverman confirmed that Zack Snyder would follow-up his 2016 Batman/Superman movie with this one, delivering Justice League to theaters sometime in 2018.
“It will be a further expansion of this universe,” Silverman told reporter Ben Fritz. “Superman vs Batman will lead into Justice League.”
Hold the phone, there. Do we have an actual title for that Batman/Superman movie now? Silverman is specifically quoted as saying “Superman vs. Batman ,” which doesn’t sound like a slip of the tongue. So far, the studio has not revealed the official title of that project.
Silverman would not tell the Wall Street Journal which heroes would be in the film, or how they planned to handle characters such as Green Lantern, who was played by Ryan Reynolds in a 2011 underperformer that has few admirers and disappointed badly enough to not get a sequel.
Superman would be played by Man of Steel‘s Henry Cavill, while Batman would be Ben Affleck, who will portray the Caped Crusader in, ahem, Superman vs. Batman, alongside newcomer Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in that character’s (astoundingly) first big screen incarnation.
Sue Kroll, WB’s president of worldwide marketing suggested that if this portrayal is well received, we may see Wonder Woman get her own film. “That is our hope,” Kroll told the WSJ. “With the right script, that could be viable. The world is ready for her.”
Warner Bros. has been criticized, mocked, and scolded for taking so long to activate its DC Comics characters while Marvel dominates the movie market, both with its in-house productions like Iron Man and Avengers and licensed characters such as X-Men and Spider-Man.
The studio previously tried to mount a Justice League film, with DJ Corona as Superman and Armie Hammer as Batman, but scrapped the plan in 2008 when a writers strike and expected actors strike derailed the project. It would have been directed by Mad Max filmmaker George Miller.
The studio also tried to launch a 2005 Wonder Woman film with Joss Whedon (later the powerhouse behind rival Marvel’s The Avengers). That one exploded spectacularly, too.
Now it seems like there is more focus and passion being directed toward Justice League. And given that newcomer actors are already reportedly playing such JL stalwarts as Cyborg in Superman vs. Batman, it seems like we’ll see some version of that group’s story in 2016.
If it fails, like Green Lantern, expect to see plans change again.
