After years of sleeping on their iconic stable of superheroes while rivals Marvel/Disney slowly built a juggernaut empire under their noses, Warner Bros/DC has finally realized they let a ton of money slip by, and they want a vast entire DC Cinematic Universe NOW NOW RIGHT NAAA-OW. That’s why the Justice League will be open for business as early as next year, and why shooting for that movie begins in a mere two months.
Zack Snyder, who not only didn’t lose his job after Man of Steel but will retain it for both Batman V Superman and the Justice League movie, is now feeling the pressure. “It’s a long time coming,” Snyder said to Entertainment Weekly. “But I do feel like it’s a little bit of a creative hurdle. It seems like an easy thing to do at first glance, the idea that, ‘Oh, we just get the rest of the superheroes in there.’ But you have to [establish] a world where they can exist.”
There’s not much time to do so — about 135 minutes’ time, which is the confirmed length of Batman V Superman. The DC Trinity (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman) will all be showing up to fight, with the other members (Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg) making brief cameos. Then the Justice League movie hits, followed by individual movies centered around each superhero.
And it’s problematic if Snyder is the one chosen to pull all this off, after public and critical disappointment with his first Superman film, Man of Steel. Disney employs a variety of directors for both its Marvel and Star Wars franchises; JJ Abrams will not be directing Star Wars Episode VIII.
Ready or not, the first Justice League movie sees wide release November 17, 2017.