With Marvel having really lucked out in a lot of ways while being careful with what it does, Warner Bros. looks to be taking an even more cautious approach, but one that reduces any potential for luck to truly take effect. According to a piece over at Variety, coming in the midst of some shakeups in management at Warner Bros., it’s revealed that while there are those that want to do a Justice League film, it’s potential for even happening will be determined by how well Superman: Man Of Steel does when it debuts this summer. There’s a lot riding on the film in general in an effort to relaunch the character and with it potentially being the starting point for a larger cinematic universe, something that most fans can’t envision Warner Bros. doing since there is no guiding hand to really do it (an DC Entertainment isn’t capable of funding it itself at this stage), there’s not a lot in the way of expectations. Particularly with Green Lantern performing as it did ($219 on $200 million budget), no Batman movies set for at least a few years and only Arrow running on TV. Even the animation side of the company seems likes it’s faltering and going for the very, very safe shows.
“Further out, the studio’s planning a “Justice League” tentpole — encompassing DC Comics mainstays Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and the Green Lantern — on the order of Marvel’s “The Avengers.” Will Beall is scripting but no director has been attached yet.
Stakes are high for “Man of Steel.” Other than Nolan’s Batpics, Warners has not been able to effectively exploit the DC library. Its 2011 “Green Lantern” underperformed, and a “Justice League” film wouldn’t likely be in theaters before 2015, as Warner’s top brass has indicated that they are awaiting the results of “Man of Steel,” which opens June 14, before moving further ahead.
Of course, there’s a lot of reasons why some fans are fearful about the Superman: Man Of Steel approach as well, even if the trailer does give some hope. The folks at Collider cover some of these aspects in looking at a recent interview with screenwriter David S. Goyer, who worked the initial idea with Christopher Nolan, who is producing the film.
“We’re approaching Superman as if it weren’t a comic book movie, as if it were real.”
A comment that goes again some of what made the recent group of Marvel movies so entertainment whereas the Batman trilogy got bogged down in too much “realism” in its final installment. Goyer’s not entirely off base here and he does bring things around in a better way towards the end of said interview.
“It is obviously a much longer process with a character like Superman. It is much easier to do a realistic take on Batman. You know nothing can hurt Superman, presumably other than Kryptonite. The challenge was simply: can we figure out a way to make those elements work, quote unquote, in the real world? It’s very much a story of a man with two fathers.”
Of course, there’s decades worth of material in the comics that shows that it can work, but when you don’t want to make a “comic book movie”, you start to limit yourself.
