This summer Warner Bros. launches its shared DC movie universe with the arrival of Zack Snyder’s (Watchmen) hotly-anticipated Superman reboot Man of Steel, but with Christopher Nolan bringing the curtain down on his epic Batman saga last year with the release of The Dark Knight Rises, the studio is now left with a giant bat-shaped hole in its upcoming production slate.
Of course we all know The Dark Knight will return to movie screens eventually, but if the usually-reliable Batman-on-Film is to be believed, fans have a few years of waiting before the next Batman film arrives in cinemas. According to the site, the studio will use its proposed Justice League movie to reboot the character in 2015, which would eventually lead to a new solo Batman movie in 2017… “at the earliest.”
Considering it’s 2013 already and Warner Bros. is expected to move forward with Justice League following the release of Man of Steel, it would seem that a minimum four-year wait is to be expected. However, Batman-on-Film also goes on to stress that the future Batman series could be dependent on how the character is received in Justice League, meaning that if the superhero team-up fails to perform at the box office, the studio could be back to square one with its plans for the Dark Knight Detective.
In other Batman-related news, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has spoken to MTV about his rumoured involvement in Man of Steel, denying that he’s set to don the cape and cowl for a cameo appearance alongside Henry Cavill’s Superman: “I hadn’t heard that one. It just goes to show how much you can believe rumors. I don’t think you should believe in any of them. If there’s something I’m going to be in, I’m going to tell you about it. I put it on my Twitter that I was in Sin City 2, so TRUST me, I’ll tell you.”
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen – Available now via Amazon.co.uk
Originally published January 23, 2013. Updated November 29, 2022.
