According to Batman On Film, there is a rumor floating around that Justice League will be used as a launching pad for a rebooted Batman franchise. It may be a rumor, but it feels like common sense. Warners has got Man of Steel next year, but the next time we’ll see superheroes from them is in 2014 when LEGO versions hit screens thanks to Phil Lord and Chris Miller. It’s seems unlikely that they’d want to – or even be able to – mobilize a Batman reboot so soon after Christopher Nolan’s franchise closed out, and with the omnibus superhero movie in their sites, it seems inevitable that we’ll see Bruce Wayne (or someone) as The Dark Knight playing well with others before we get to see him on his own again.
The question is whether that’s a good call. It’s hard to say. If Warners is echoing Marvel’s method of success, they’re doing so without laying all the of right groundwork that aided The Avengers in becoming such a massive smash. Plus, by investing so much in one film, it could mean sabotaging individual superhero projects if Justice League doesn’t take off like they want it to. Beyond focus group polling, how would the studio even know which characters were working the best in the film, which were connecting with audiences, which deserve their own properties?
The only character that is immune is Batman. If Man of Steel falls flat, it will be two in a row for Superman, calling even the most iconic hero into question when it comes to leading individual films. But not so for Bruce Wayne. He’s proven his billion-dollar worth as a character, which means even if Justice League doesn’t soar, he’ll be getting a call on the red phone. It also means that whoever portrays Batman in Justice League will be spearheading a new franchise, and hopefully Warners will be working in close concert with whichever director they choose for the job so he or she isn’t saddled with a character born from an ensemble flick.
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