Man of Steel's Success Might Delay Batman Reboot

A new report suggests that if Warner Bros. fails to get Justice League off the ground this summer, the future of the Batman franchise may well be tied up with how Zack Snyder's upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel performs at the box office. We reported on what this means for Man of Steel earlier. Batman On Film, who have a pretty solid track record with their Warner Bros. sources, reported last night that if the Man of Steel is a success, but there's no Justice League franchise demanding Batman's immediate attention, it's possible that Warners might opt to let Batman hang up the cape for a few years. "Don't worry about the Batman [film] franchise," the site's source told them. "It's [Warner Bros.'] most valuable [DC Comics-based] asset," the source added. "I believe that they are now looking at introducing [the rebooted] Batman in a solo film, though that will likely take place later than they initially planned. They are extremely worried how [the Batman film franchise] would be affected if Justice League bombs...and rightfully so....The fact that what should be the core fanbase of a Justice League film isn't on board is making them sweat as well." "If Superman [this Summer's Man of Steel] is huge, then they've bought themselves some time and will have a franchise to hang their hat on for seven, eight years. The need for Batman won't be as great, and [the reboot] of that franchise can wait until the Superman trilogy is done." That could push a Batman film back to 2019, two years later than the same site reported it would likely happen if Justice League were to hit theaters in 2015.