Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 6:04PM WB President Wants 'Justice League' Movie for 2013, Plans for Batman After 'The Dark Knight Rises'
Oh what a regime change at a studio can do... Last night, the interweb was a grumblin' after an LA Times article on new Warner Bros. President Jeff Robinov made a passing comment about having a Justice League movie in theaters by 2013. And when I say passing, I do mean passing - nothing other than a title and year were mentioned. Now today, in a follow up piece to the article posted yesterday, the LA Times and Robinov directly addressed the studio's plan for the superhero team-up.
But that's not all. While discussing the course of the studio's various hero franchises, Robinov confirmed that The Dark Knight Rises is in fact the endpoint of Batman’s story as it currently exists on film, wrapping Christopher Nolan's trilogy. But more surprisingly, he and the studio plan to reboot the character immediately afterward.
So first, the Justice League. In today's article, Robinov said that yes a Justice League film IS happening. And, yes, he plans for it to be "on the big screen in 2013". He also said that a script is in the works as we speak, in addition to scripts for the long in development Flash and Wonder Woman films.
There was no mention of who would be comprising the Justice League roster, but it's safe to assume the standards of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash will make the cut. Which leads to the question of casting and continuity in the films. A few years ago, Warners' planned Justice League film was going to have an all new, young cast set in a world independent from the characters' individual films. But, the way Robinov is talking now, it seems as though the studio is planning to go the Marvel/Avengers route. With Green Lantern hitting theaters this summer, the Superman reboot next year, and the Flash and Wonder Woman films on the horizon, it only makes sense for these versions of the characters (and actors portraying them) to end up in 2013's Justice League. The only thing standing in the way of this continuity would be Christian Bale's Batman, as he has openly said he's done with the character after The Dark Knight Rises. And this is where things get interesting...
After stating that TDK Rises is very much the last Batman film in the Nolan-verse, the new studio head said this:
"We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman…Chris Nolan and [producing partner and wife] Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is."
So two things to take away here. One: since Nolan's Batman will be out of the picture by the time the Justice League movie rolls around and the studio is planning to "reinvent" the character afterward, isn't it logical for this new incarnation of the character to appear in the Justice League and use it as a launching pad for a new franchise? Two: since Warners is planning Batman Begins 2.0, this gives Nolan the freedom to end his run on the character however he sees fit, creating the best story possible. And, from what I hear [this may be considered SPOILER-ish] the way Nolan plans to end The Dark Knight Rises, the studio couldn't continue this Batman story even if they wanted to...
I have to remind everyone that, yes, right now on the surface this is just a guy talking about what he wants to do. But this guy is the new head of one of the largest studios in the world with a fire under his ass to get done what the old regime couldn't. So while all of this seems wildly ambitious under his 2013 timetable, I don't see any reason it won't happen.
ps- As a bonus for reading the entire article, I'm rewarding you with a look at this FANTASTIC fan-made poster I found online for The Dark Knight Rises...
Reader Comments (6)
I remember that poster. It is badass. But to me, I can't believe that they will reinvent Batman immediately after the The Dark Knight Rises. I really don't like that Sony is rebooting or whatever they're doing with Spiderman after less than five years since the third one came out.
I know that Warner Bros. have been slow to expanding upon the DC Comics brand, but I hope they are not going all in into making JLA and the other superhero movies.
Go the route of casting all new actors for Justice League.
The poster is awesome, reminds me of the great Joker poster that was posted a few years ago.
I think he kills Batman or he will be horribly crippled. Either way I didn't like Bale as Batman anyway.
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