By: Scott Johnson on August 19, 2012
We know that the very next DC Comics movie to be released by Warner Bros. will be the Superman reboot Man Of Steel in the summer of 2013. After Man Of Steel, it hasn’t been officially announced what DC Comics character Warner Bros. will adapt next. Some rumors have suggested Lobo, other rumors have suggested a Batman reboot, and still other rumors have suggested Warner Bros. will jump straight to a Justice League movie.
Before the very successful The Dark Knight Rises this summer, the last two summers saw Warner Bros. release a Jonah Hex movie in 2010 followed by a Green Lantern movie in 2011. Jonah Hex was a flop with both critics and at the box office. Green Lantern ranged from being a slight failure to a modest success depending on who you ask, but Warner Bros. obviously would have liked it to have done better.
Will the struggles with Jonah Hex and Green Lantern dissuade Warner Bros. from trying to launch any other DC Comics characters? Probably not, as Batman has proven that superhero movies can do big bucks. Plus, Marvel Comics has had incredible success with Marvel Studios. With The Avengers being a runaway hit, the pressure will be on Warner Bros. to start at least putting the pieces in place for a Justice League movie. Here are some likely movies we could see Warner Bros. making next.
Wonder Woman – Hunger Games proved that movies with strong female leads can be very successful at the box office. Wonder Woman is a character who is overdue for her own movie, and she is DC Comics most recognizable character who has not had a major motion picture.
Flash – Flash is DC Comics most recognizable male character who has not had a movie. Recent information suggests that a Flash movie is high on DC Comics priority list. However, Flash is a second tier character, so Warner Bros. might be leery to go that route so soon after Green Lantern.
Lobo – There have been several reports of Brad Peyton working on a Lobo movie, and Dwayne Johnson even confirmed he is in the running for the starring role. With an established director and a big name star interested, Lobo could very well be the next DC Comics movie from Warner Bros. However, considering how Jonah Hex turned out, will Warner Bros. really want to take a chance on another DC Comics character that most in the general public have likely never heard of?
Justice League – While it’s likely that Warner Bros. will try to have some more success with solo superhero outings before taking on a team movie, there is always the possibility that they could leap straight into a team movie next. For a movie the scale of the Justice Leauge, it would likely take a couple years to get it done correctly. Could we see a Justice League movie go head-to-head with the Avengers 2 in the summer of 2015?
Batman Reboot – With The Dark Knight Rises doing well at the box office, Warner Bros. will be anxious to not let that cash cow sit on the sidelines for too long. If Warner Bros. wants to go the safe route, their next movie after Man of Steel might be a Batman reboot.
Before Watchmen – DC Comics didn’t bring the Watchmen back to not make money. While not a runaway success, the first Watchmen movie did ok if you count international revenue and DVD sales. When the first movie came out, there was talk of the possibility of a sequel. Could Before Watchmen be that sequel?
Our dream scenario is that we would love to see a Wonder Woman movie next in early summer 2014, followed by a Flash movie in late summer 2014. And then in 2015, a Justice League movie bringing them all together. In our dream, Christopher Nolan also changes his mind about directing a Justice League movie, and Christian Bale decides to play Batman one more time.
