The superheroes arms race is on like it’s never been on before. Warner Bros. is trying to use their D.C. Comics properties and catch up with Marvel studios. Hell, every studio is trying to replicate their success with super team-ups of some kind. And hell, it’s working: look at “X-Men: Days Of Future Past,” a storyline that teams the classic “X-Men” movie characters with the new rebooted “X-Men: First Class”-era of movie characters. That movie has easily gone on to surpass all the other X-Men movies at the box office by a huge margin (at $210 million, ‘Days Of Future Past’ is on track to surpass the $700 million mark globally). So, really, why wouldn’t you try and do the same? Especially if you’re a studio suit watching the bottom line.
WB is badly trying to catch up, and while their plan hasn’t been officially confirmed, it appears to be one film every year starting in 2016 and even two major super hero films in 2017 (one of them being “Justice League,” another being a stand alone “Wonder Woman” film). It will contribute to a pile-up that is twenty three super hero movies from four major film studios over the next four years. But what about beyond 2018? Well, Marvel already has a rough plan that allegedly takes them up to 2028. But the other studios?
Apparently WB/D.C. have one more up their sleeve. While next is “Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice” in summer 2016 and a “Man Of Steel 2” has been rumored for summer 2018, what about Bruce Wayne? Well, speaking of… Latino Review is reporting that WB has a solo Batman planned for 2019. The working title? Apparently it’s “The Batman.” Why such a long break? Well, Affleck is finally going to take a super hero break in 2015 to direct his long-gestating drama, “Live By Night” (which will open in 2016). No details on what that movie could entail, but LR suggests it’s possible Affleck could direct it, too. We suppose, but that would also be some heavy double-duty detail. More info when it arrives. Keep the Bat-signal up until then.