One of Entertainment Weekly’s reporters has seen “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice,” so the floodgates have kind of opened up on the closely-guarded superhero film. The Warner Bros. movie graces the cover of Time Warner’s EW this week (imagine that), and the magazine has received full access. It’s already been confirmed that several members of the Justice League will make appearances in the film, with (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) making cameos. But what about Green Lantern? Well, it turns out he may not turn up until 2020 because WB is a little gun-shy with the character and wants to put as much distance between the Ryan Reynolds version from 2011 and the new incarnation as possible.
READ MORE: New Posters For ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ Unveiled
"[Green Lantern] is an incredible character. He’s actually multiple incredible characters," ‘Dawn of Justice’ producer Greg Silverman explained to EW. "There’s real opportunity there. We didn’t do a great job on that first Green Lantern movie. This is a character who deserves to be treated in the same way that Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman are being treated now, which is with great reverence. I guess I can say to the Green Lantern fans: if they can be patient with us, I think they’ll be really happy.”
Producer Charles Roven says we may not see Green Lantern or any of the Lantern incarnations (like John Stewart or Guy Gardner on top of main GL’er Hal Jordan) until “Justice League – Part Two” which doesn’t land in theaters until June 14, 2019. But even that’s a maybe right now. “Every beat of the movie is not yet worked out,” the producer said. “So there’s the possibility that he may or may not be in ‘Justice League 2.’ For now, we felt that we were introducing enough characters that the best possible place we could put Green Lantern is some introduction in ‘Justice League 2,’ or barring that, a movie after.”
He’s talking about the “Green Lantern Corps” currently not scheduled until June 19, 2020.
Meanwhile, it’s confirmed that the events of “Suicide Squad” take place after ‘Batman v Superman,’ and that actress Jena Malone — speculation of whom she plays in ‘Dawn Of Justice’ rattling around for months— has been cut from the theatrical version of the film. But she will apparently turn up in the R-rated “Ultimate Edition” Blu-Ray version which will run longer than the two hour and 31 minute one you’ll see on the big screen.
That film, which promises to be gritty, has already shown the cost Batman has endured with his war on crime. Namely, the trailers have revealed sidekick Robin’s costume on display, with the implication being that the character died at the hands of the Joker (much like in the comics), and the Dark Knight keeps the graffiti-scared suit in his Batcave as a constant reminder of the consequences that come with defending Gotham. However, while hardcore fans know that technically, it’s Jason Todd not Dick Grayson (the original Robin) who dies in the comic "Batman: A Death In The Family," this new movie does not say which Robin meets his untimely demise.
"We’ll be exploring that,” Chief Creative Officer at DC Comics, Geoff Johns said. “No one says specifically the name of which Robin that is.” And what about that stand-alone Batman film that Ben Affleck may direct? The actor/director suggests its still up in the air.
“It’s in development, and right now I’m really focused on finishing ‘Live By Night,’ ” Affleck said about his upcoming Dennis Lehane-written (“Gone Baby Gone”) thriller.“That’s where my focus is, and I tend to be a one movie at a time guy. So, when I’m finished with this movie, I’ll then focus on my next movie and figure out what that will be.”
‘Batman v Superman’ is apparently tracking towards a $140 million opening domestic, and a total $300-$340 million worldwide. That’s not amazing considering two “Twilight” films domestically opened bigger than that figure and ‘Batman v. Superman’ is rumored to cost $250 million. But that opening weekend number could fluctuate, either up or down depending on reviews, word of mouth and more (and it’s interesting to note that the comparatively unknown and R-rated “Deadpool” opened to to $132 million just a few weeks ago— you’d think a Batman and Superman face-off would be much bigger). Expect this much however: “Justice League” may be shooting in April, but if ‘Batman v Superman’ isn’t the enormous hit Warner Bros. wants it to be, don’t be surprised if their release-date slate of DC Comics movies, which goes out as far as 2020, dramatically changes.