Warner Brothers Planning DC Movie Release Schedule for Comic-Con
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- June 13, 2014
By James DeRuvo (doddleNEWS)
With 2015 looking to be an utter cinematic bloodbath at the box office, this summer at Comic-Con promises to be an insane week for fans looking to see panels and hype for their favorite film franchises, including Star Wars 7, The Avengers 2, Jurassic World, and a ton of others. And Warner Brothers doesn’t want to be left out, even though they won’t have a DC movie coming out until 2016, when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is due. And word is coming down that they plan to announce an impressive release schedule of super hero films that will have fans buzzing for the next four years. Has this been the plan all along, or is DC/WB feeling the need to respond to Marvel having such a commanding lead in the super hero movie wars?
The news comes from NikkiFinke.com, who says that this summer at their Comic-Con movie panel, Warner Brothers will showcase and announce general release dates for DC Comics films as follows:
- May 2016 -- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (against Captain America 3)
- July 2016 -- Shazam
- Christmas 2016 -- Sandman
- May 2017 -- Justice League
- July 2017 -- Wonder Woman
- Christmas 2017 -- Flash and Green Lantern team-up
- May 2018 -- Man Of Steel 3
The word is that Batman v. Superman is going to be introduce a lot of heroes that will eventually join together to form the Justice League, and as such, the film was delayed until 2016 in an effort to rework it for the new vision. Then, DC will follow up with origin stories for Shazam, Wonder Woman, a Flash/Green Lantern team up, and then a follow-up of Man of Steel with Justice League fit in the middle.
It’s an interesting plan, which seems to be counter to the Marvel strategy which launched franchises for major heroes like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, and then put the band together for the Avengers. That plan has made billions for Marvel and Disney/Paramount, and they plan to keep moving forward with it through the end of Phase II and Phase III of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Studios has plans for movies well into next decade.
DC, however, has had a hit and miss success with its movie franchises, having great box office success with Batman and Superman, but then missing the mark with Green Lantern really badly. But here’s what I’m concerned with... a solo Superman sequel to Man of Steel won’t happen for another four years, if this schedule is true. And Wonder Woman won’t get her own film for two years after she’s been part of Bats vs Supes. Sure, you can say that Batman vs. Superman is the MoS sequel, but it isn’t really. It’s more of a Justice League origin story (thus the addition of “Dawn of Justice”). So, to get back to just Cavill and presumably going up against Lex Luthor won’t happen until Cavill is 35. And from there, you’re already perhaps looking at a recast/reboot? I just don’t get that.
And I know that there are Sandman and Shazam fans out there, but enough to warrant a delay for Man of Steel or Wonder Woman??And notice there’s no sign of a Batman reboot after BvS. Huh? What was all the big hullabaloo over casting Ben Affleck, who is 41, as Bruce Wayne if all we’re going to get is a one off Granted, people will accuse me of hatin’ on Ben, and it’s true that I’m not a fan of the casting. But with no upcoming Batman release in this scheme for five years, now I’m REALLY scratching my head.
This is all contingent, mind you, on who’s signed to play what and when. So, either this story is just connecting the dots of overheard conversations, or DC is missing the boat, IMHO. Guess we’ll see this summer in San Diego. What do you guys think?
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