“We approach the film as a single endeavor,” he says. “There are a lot of gears that have to turn in the world of commerce and the world of the mythology we create to facilitate more adventures for this character. We’ll see what happens.”
That’s Zack Snyder telling the New York Post about the kind of loose coordination that goes into planning Man of Steel and two following Superman movies, but he could just as well have been talking about the Justice League universe itself (although that film seems a bit more definite). Warners has made no secret that it plans a Marvel-style omnibus for 2015, but right now, Supes is the only speeding bullet in the chamber with no concrete plans to bring Wonder Woman, Flash, a rebooted Batman, a rebooted Green Lantern, Aquaman or Elongated Man to the big screen before the big event.
Of course, they still have next year to put projects into place and could conceivably have two ready to go for 2014, but that would mean placing most of their tentpole eggs in the superhero basket. After Green Lantern, at least a few voices might be skittish, but the worst case scenario is having exactly zero Justice League lead-in movies between Man of Steel and Justice League. If the studio is keen to ape Marvel’s success, hopefully they can imagine what it would have been like for them to release Iron Man and then Iron Man and Friends two years later.
So Snyder’s comments are a bit obvious, and a bit cagey, although the piece is certainly a fun read. The tone of his statements, despite a few mandatory denials, seems to note that Man of Steel has been largely designed as its own movie with the possibility for a bit of connective tissue for when 2015 rolls around. Hopefully that means Samuel L. Jackson shows up after the credits and sells Superman the satellite they use as a secret headquarters. Or he introduces him to Elongated Man or something.
Either way, Warners and the filmmakers it chooses will have two years to do what Marvel did in four, all with the added baggage of replacing one of the most well-recognized modern superheroes and a false start starring Ryan Reynolds. If only there were some sort of super team they could call.
Related Topics: Zack Snyder
