Remember this week when there were rumours of a live-action Batman Beyond movie? Neither do WB apparently!
I remember when there was to be a Richard Donner-directed WF movie with Mel Gibson as Bats and Daniel Day-Lewis as Supes, then the Wolfang Peterson take with Jude Law and Colin Farrell, or forgetting George Miller's JLA movie. So I'm a tad wary of this but obviously they're a lot closer to being able to make this than they were with the other projects. All that's really needed is a to cast a Batman (and possibly an Alfred or Gordon, depending on how much of the Batman mythos this will involve).
I note that while the press release describes this as the sequel to MOS, Goyer is saying he doesn't know what it will be called. Personally, I think when you have a logo that includes the Batsymbol and you're putting Batman in the movie, it's big MOS2, it's a co-headlining film. This isn't like putting Robin in a Batman sequel or War Machine in Iron Man 2. Batman has been DC and WB's biggest earner over the years for 1/4 century and he's not going to be a cameo or supporting character in this movie. When, if at all, will we see a new solo Superman movie?
I have a sneaking suspicion that this move reflects some disappointment on WB's part with MOS' earnings. It is of course a big hit but before its release, they thought it would be their biggest ever movie (
http://variety.com/2013/film/news/w...-priciest-incarnation-of-superman-1200493334/). It doesn't look likely to join the billion-dollar club. I can't help but feel that while it is clearly successful enough to warrant a sequel, WB have decided that the best way to maximise income is to bring in the assured box-office pull of the Dark Knight. And simultaneously relaunch that hero on the big screen.
In doing so, they are neither replicating Marvel's approach with the solo movies leading up to an Avengers/JLA epic nor are they taking the gamble of one film being used to introduce and launch all of their heroes at once. This approach strikes me as very sensible and shrewd and if this film is a hit, it will springboard new Batman films and probably set up a JLA one. Additionally, by retaining Goyer (and to a lesser extent Nolan), they are likely to keep the feel and tone of the successful Dark Knight series; I can imagine this almost being a sort of alternative sequel to Batman Begins. People like me, who loved that series and mourned its passing, have a lot to be pleased about, even if I had reservations about MOS.