Earlier this week, the news that Warner Brothers was actually going to begin taking their DC Comics line seriously with a script for Justice League and Wonder Woman in the mix certainly impressed plenty of fans. What this means, however, for the future and what we can expect first is certainly up in the air. WB is trying to get a plan in place, but the complete details have not yet been released to the public. Now, it seems WB is trying to go for more than the heavy hitting heroes as a new report claims that we can add five more films to the in development list.
Variety reports that along with Man of Steel, Wonder Woman,The Flash, Lobo, and Justice League, Warner Brothers also hasAquaman, Green Arrow, Suicide Squad, Shazam, and a Green Lantern follow-up feature films all in early development as well. The studio is expected to reveal what they have in store for the future after The Dark Knight Rises, and it’s here that they’ll also reveal an 11th film: a Batman reboot which the report says WB is trying to figure out just how they would relaunch the caped crusader.
Green Arrow could have major potential with the highly buzzed about television series bowing later this year, while the rest are seemingly open for interpretation. Shazam would be the first real big screen incarnation for Captain Marvel, while Aquaman would obviously not have the same dark and gritty feel as Nolan’s Bat-saga or Man of Steel. As for Suicide Squad, it’ll be interesting to see if the film even goes through really. The squad is full of some heroes that are the B-list and possibly even C-list of the DC Comics roster, and might not spark up too much interest unless WB can find some worthwhile names to include.
Michael Goldenberg, who is currently scripting Wonder Woman, was tasked with writing the script to Green Lantern a year before the gigantic disappointment. It’s said that Warner Brothers is currently “figuring out whether to bring back Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern in a sequel to last year’s actioner or relaunch the character in a completely new way.” So it’s easy to say that whatever script Goldenberg has or had is now either being looked at as a possible sequel, or ready to be completely rewritten.
The beauty of Green Lantern is that multiple alter egos have taken up the ring as co-Green Lanterns in the comics, and if the Marvel rumors are true about a Black Panther movie, WB might find interest in bringing an African American superhero of their own with Lantern John Stewart. Hypothetically, Reynolds’ Hal Jordan could still play a supporting role or even co-lead in that scenario, teaching Stewart the ways of the Lantern and picking up where the first film left off. While Reynolds isn’t exactly supporting material, it would still find a way to include Hal without the pesky origin story, have a fresh take with a new protagonist, and even have Sinestro fight as the villain.
However, with 11 films being eyed by Warner Brothers to kick things off next year, it’s clear that the studio needs to get some kind of plan in order. Two a year would easily cut the wait down for a Justice League film to just a four years or should they exclude Green Arrow and Shazam. Then again, this may also cause audiences to feel Batman is being rebooted too fast. If anything, WB could introduce the already very well-known Batman in Justice League with a new actor under the cowl, and have the reboot take place afterwards once fans have warmed up to the new face of the hero.
Of course most of this is all in the hypothetical sense. It’s said that DC Comics won’t begin to lay a completely concrete plan until after The Dark Knight Rises in July. It’s here the entire brand will get what seems to be a complete relaunch with the Superman reboot next year, and ultimately give them a clean slate to work with and put the pieces in the right place in order to build towards Justice League.
