These are dicey days for DCEU fans. Ben Affleck is unsure about his future as Batman. Justice League barely managed to break even, and their movie slate seems to be changing every week. WB is not enjoying a great deal of success with its universe based on DC Comics, and that’s caused uncertainty for Justice League’s sequel.
There was a time, when Warner Bros. wanted to release Justice League as an epic two part event, comprising of two films that would be released within a few years of each other. The plan envisaged the team of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman and The Flash battle Steppenwolf in the first part and Darkseid was supposed to be the villain in the second part, during their bid to save the world. This was then changed into one film featuring Steppenwolf as the lead villain and Darkseid getting nothing more than a mention. The removal of Darkseid might have taken place during the film’s production because Kevin Smith has narrated a scene that he saw involving the mega villain and the Superman.
With Justice League becoming a one shot, Warner Bros. never formally declared about a sequel. J.K. Simmons, the actor portraying Commissioner Gordon disclosed in October about a script being written, but, that may not really mean that the movie will be made, especially since the first Justice League struggled to recover the costs. The latest report about its box office performance indicates that the movie will wrap up at $675 million, which is way below the projections. Not just that, the latest movie slate released by Warner Bros. didn’t feature several under development movies including Justice League 2.
Irrespective of all the pointers, a Justice League sequel is likely to be made. Moviegoers have been familiarized with the League, thus, a sequel focusing on a mission instead of the origins is on the cards, and the studio spent way too much to bail out now. If handled well, the Justice League series might become DCEU’s money stream, just the way Avengers is for Marvel. That’s why it is a great idea that the studio will have another shot at the most famous superhero team from DC Comics. Also, the prospects of the Legion of Doom being set up as indicated in the post-credits scene of Justice League was aimed to get fans worked up for the next DCEU movie, and now Warner Bros. must carry on with that.
As stated above, a Justice League sequel was being scripted in October, but, no other details are available about the sequel. We are sharing here whatever we know about the film so far!
New Heroes
Towards the end of Justice League, we felt as if Bruce Wayne was creating the Hall of Justice and it was heard that there would be more than six seats at the table. This is a clear hint about Batman and team getting more members on board, but, who could they be? It makes sense to check out the updated DCEU movie slate to find who all are going to be introduced after the Justice League.
Shazam! will be the next superhero debutante on the big screen and Zachary Levi is playing the lead role. The actor has said that he would be glad to join the team if his origin movie does well. Therefore, fans should keep an eye on what happens to him in the future. Green Lantern Corps was the other movie which might have heroes who would become a part of Justice League in the coming years, we have already seen a Green Lantern battle alongside the Amazons, Atlanteans, and humans during Steppenwolf’s first invasion of Earth. We might see Hal Jordan and Jon Stewart feature in the sequel!
New Villains
A massive rumor, a great deal of guesswork and a post-credits scene are all indicators of a supervillain club being set up, and it will compel a team of superheroes to come together to stop them. Justice League’s post-credits scene showed a meeting between Lex Luthor and Deathstroke wherein the former suggested setting up a league of their own. Fans loved that, and the prospects of the Legion of Doom being created has been generating hype on social media from the time of the movie’s release.
The rumor coupled with the dislike of CGI villains is compelling enough for WB to use Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke, Jared Leto’s Joker, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta and several other upcoming villains. They can build the team over a period of time after the villains are settled in solo films such as Aquaman. It is a high potential idea and might revive the Justice League series as well as the whole DCEU.
New Director
Zack Snyder contributed a great deal in building DCEU by directing Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. However, it is clear that the director’s time is up. A report suggested that he won’t be given the responsibility to direct any future DC Comics’ movie after the poor box-office performance of Justice League.
The Snyder helmed DCEU movies have been polarizing to say it mildly. They have received mixed reactions from critics and moviegoers and have been decent, but, underwhelming performers at the box office. For films featuring the most iconic superheroes ever, i.e., Batman and Superman, they have been weak performers, especially when it comes to filling the theatre seats.
Justice League was unlucky to be riddled with production issues after Snyder’s exit due to the personal tragedy. Joss Whedon was writing additional light-hearted scenes, but, he had to step in to complete the film, and a lot of people believe it created a grand theme mashup which couldn’t be up to the mark. It is difficult to guess who will replace Snyder, but, it is even more unlikely to expect Snyder coming back as of now.
Release Date
When WB planned the two part Justice League, they had scheduled the second part to release on June 14, 2019. However, the plans changed and Justice League became a solo movie, and this shuffle allowed The Batman to occupy the release date marked for the sequel. That’s when Snyder was certain to helm the sequel, after wrapping up The Last Photograph, a lower-budget thriller that he has been associated with ever since the release of 300. The most reasonable time for a Justice League sequel to come out would be by 2020 at the latest.
Justice League is currently playing in theaters and it stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.
