The Batman vs. Superman movie, which may or may not be a Justice League movie, has a new release date.
Originally scheduled for release on July 17, 2015, the untitled Man of Steel sequel, generally known as Batman vs. Superman has been pushed back nearly a year, to May 6, 2016. The film, which stars Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman has been the subject of all manner of rumors in recent months, including those dealing with an ever-expanding cast of DC Universe characters. Once Wonder Woman came into the picture, the idea that this might be a stealth Justice League movie became impossible to ignore.
In a statement, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman had this to say:
“We are happy to take advantage of these coveted summer dates, which are perfect for two of our biggest tentpole releases. We share the fans’ excitement to see DC Comics’ most popular figures, Superman and Batman, together on the big screen for the first time, which will now be arriving in theatres in May 2016. Peter Pan has delighted people of every generation for more than a century, so we are thrilled to bring him back to the screen next summer for today’s moviegoers.”
The Peter Pan movie that Mr. Fellman is referring to is Joe Wright's live-action version of the story, which will now occupy Batman vs. Superman's July 2015 release date. It's worth noting that the new date chosen for the release of Man of Steel 2 is May 6, 2016...which is currently being held for an as-yet-untitled Marvel Studios movie. Marvel has taken charge of those early May blockbuster releases since 2008's Iron Man, so this could be seen as an aggressive move by Warner Bros. Or, perhaps, they took a look at an already crowded-with-capes Summer 2015 release schedule (which currently includes Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and Fantastic Four), and decided the film would do better the following year.
It does raise questions, both about the film's actual identity (nobody ever really believed they were calling this Batman vs. Superman did they?) and its role as a lynchpin of a newly-minted DC Cinematic Universe, and about how quickly it all seemed to come together in the first place. If this is, in fact, a much larger film than we've been led to believe, the extra time will certainly benefit it. But does this mean that the initial concept for this movie, originally announced as taking cues from the classic Dark Knight Returns comic, has been scrapped? Were studio execs unhappy with the direction on the page from David S. Goyer and Zack Snyder (with Argo's Chris Terrio recently coming on to do a rewrite), and forcing further rewrites before principal photography is scheduled to begin in February? We'll know more soon enough, and when we do, so will you.
A hat-tip to THR for putting us on to this!
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This one has all the hallmarks of a total bust, and if it somehow succeeds even as well as Man of Steel, I'll be very, very surprised.