During a shareholder meeting earlier this week, Warner Brothers CEO Kevin Tsujihara dumped a ton of info about the DC cinematic universe on us, including the flashy announcement that textile-wearer Ezra Miller will play The Flash. Buried under the new information is the confirmation that Zack Snyder will direct two Justice League movies, coming in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Officially they’re titled Justice League Part 1 and Justice League Part 2, but henceforth they shall be known as Superhero Face Punch 2: Electric Punchaloo and Superhero Face Punch 3: The Punchening.
We also got confirmation that Ben Affleck will appear in Superhero Face Punch 2: Electric Punchaloo, reprising his role as Sad Batman, with Henry Cavill returning as Superman and Amy Adams as Lois Lane, as well. No cast is confirmed for The Punchening as of yet. Curiously, even though Wonder Woman has a film slated for 2017, too, there was no mention of Gal Gadot at all.
In fact, besides slating the movie for June 23, 2017, there was no other information about the Wonder Woman movie. Compare this to the Aquaman stand-alone, which is set for July 27, 2018, and already has two writers working on potential scripts. It makes me paranoid that they’re just posturing with the idea of a Wonder Woman movie and aren’t seriously going to pull the trigger on it, instead quietly shuffling it to the side when no one’s looking. Everyone wants to see a Wonder Woman movie—everyone wants to see a female-lead superhero movie, period—so it makes for good headlines, which in turn makes the investors, to whom Tsujihara outlined this information, feel confident.
But there doesn’t seem to be much actual commitment to it. WB/DC talks about it, but to date, they haven’t actually done any more than Marvel has to make it happen. Marvel is going to make a Captain Marvel movie, the same way WB/DC is going to make a Wonder Woman movie—it’s just a matter of when and who gets there first. Right now, it looks like WB/DC will be first, but Marvel does have a May 2017 spot available. It’ll be interesting to see what they end up slotting into that place. If it’s Captain Marvel, there’s no way that’s anything but a f*ck you to WB/DC.
But one thing is for sure—Zack Snyder is not going anywhere any time soon. He’s the Justice League brain trust. People ask why I’m so sure the DC movies will all be dark and dour in tone—it’s this. Snyder made Man of Steel, which was dark and dour, and he’s being entrusted with overseeing the DCCU. Zack Snyder, who never met a bit of rape imagery he didn’t like and who makes choices based on what looks cool without regard to characters, is in charge of the Justice League. Hooraaaaaay.
