With Man of Steel nearly here, there’s been a lot of press speculation about Justice League, which has been off again / on again at Warner Brothers.
The project had pretty gotten stuck in the quagmire of development hell, but then it was up and running again, thanks to the success of The Avengers.
Since then, there’s been all kinds of speculation about Justice League, including the rumor that Man of Steel will decide whether it ultimately gets made or not.
If Steel is a hit, Justice will get the green light. If not, League is a no go, or so the net rumors suggest. There have also been rumors that Christopher Nolan will produce, and even more far-fetched speculation that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play Batman in the film, picking up where The Dark Knight Rises left off.
Now Man of Steel is on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, and the Warner Brothers brass has been hoping to put some of these stories to rest. First off, this report informs us that Nolan will not be involved with Justice League, as he’s preparing his sci-fi film, Interstellar, for next Thanksgiving.
As far as Justice League, and whether it will open the door for more superhero flicks at Warner Brothers, WB President Jeff Robinov said there will be an announcement in several weeks about League “that will hopefully position the DC characters and the movies we’re going to be making.” He also added that while the door is closed for Nolan’s Batman alumni to be in other movies, like Justice League, Man of Steel is a different story.
“Batman was deliberately and smartly positioned as a stand-alone,” Robinov said. “The world they lived in was very isolated without any knowledge of any other superheroes. What [Steel director] Zack Snyder and Chris have done with this film is allow you to really introduce other characters into the same world.”
In other superhero news, there’s also been a lot of speculation lately that as part of Marvel’s Phase Three of comic flicks that a Doctor Strange movie is currently a big priority. Just to reiterate, the Marvel Phase Two movies post The Avengers starts with Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Solider, and finally Avengers 2.
Phase Three is supposed to begin with Ant Man, which will be directed by Edgar Wright, and now ScienceFiction.com has reported a rumor that the team behind the Evil Dead remake, director Fede Alavarez, and writer Rodo Sayagues, may be coming aboard the Doctor Strange movie. Alavarez is really hot right now with the success of Dead, and we’re sure many A-list directors will be interested in helming a Doctor Strange flick as well. This is only a rumor right now, but as soon as more concrete details come in, we’ll let you know.
