Warner Bros. rumored to be planning 'Flash', 'Justice League' movies - Comic-Con 2013
Credit: DC
On the heels of the huge announcement of a Batman-Superman movie from the team behind Man of Steel, Warner Bros. is reportedly lining up its next big superhero franchise releases.
The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision reports that Warner Bros. intends to release a solo movie for The Flash in 2016, to be followed by the hotly-anticipated, interminably-delayed, all-star epic Justice League in 2017.
Though the news of the studio's plans have leaked, Warner Bros. has yet to confirm anything beyond the Batman/Superman crossover just yet, but a Flash solo movie has long been rumored. Given Marvel's incredible success with The Avengers, it's to be expected that DC would want to build up its individual heroes for its own tentpole blockbuster crossover.
However, there's no real indication that this is what Warner Bros. intends to do. Yes, they've established Henry Cavill's Superman with Man of Steel, and will be setting up The Flash in his own solo project, but the prevailing expectation among experts is that we'll be getting an entirely new Batman, who will be introduced in the Man of Steel sequel. Ultimately, I think it's a mistake to an entirely new Batman here, and not in his own movie; never mind that I think it's a bit early to be going to a Batman/Superman crossover in Cavill's second movie, but that's a different matter entirely.
The Avengers worked because audiences had a chance to become acquainted with Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Chris Evans's Captain America. Audiences wanted to see those versions of those heroes onscreen together. Sure, The Avengers would have made obscene amounts of money regardless, but I think it would have made significantly less if it had been the first time we were meeting the core heroes like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor (although it was the first time we were meeting Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, so who knows?).
A Justice League movie would unite Superman, Batman, and Flash in addition to Wonder Woman and other well-known heroes, such as Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern (although I wouldn't hold my breath expecting Ryan Reynolds to return in the role after the disastrous reviews he got for 2011's Green Lantern).
Warner Bros. is expected to roll out more information as Comic-Con rolls on.