While Man of Steel laid the groundwork for Warner Bros.' DC Comics universe, it's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice where things kick into overdrive. There Zack Snyder's future Justice League films will begin to take shape, with Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller) all expected to appear. But one hero that has been noticably absent any casting is Green Lantern, and it turns out the reason is because the emerald superhero may not be appearing for quite some time.
EW caught up with producer Charles Roven, who suggested Green Lantern, and that means any version of the character, may not appear until 2019's Justice League Part Two...
“Every beat of the movie is not yet worked out,” the producer said. “So there’s the possibility that he may or may not be in 'Justice League 2.' For now, we felt that we were introducing enough characters that the best possible place we could put Green Lantern is some introduction in 'Justice League 2,' or barring that, a movie after.”
It's always possible the plan could change and we see Green Lantern a bit earlier, but it's also possible they push the debut even further back, like the Green Lantern Corp film set fo 2020. Turns out the hesitation is due to the mistakes they made with Ryan Reynlolds's Green Lantern film in 2011, and the need to make sure the character is done right the next time. Producer Greg Silverman adds....
"[Green Lantern] is an incredible character. He’s actually multiple incredible characters. There’s real opportunity there. We didn’t do a great job on that first Green Lantern movie. This is a character who deserves to be treated in the same way that Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman are being treated now, which is with great reverence. I guess I can say to the Green Lantern fans: if they can be patient with us, I think they’ll be really happy.”
Meanwhile, the outlet dropped some spoilerish details about the rest of the DCU movies, such as confirmation that Suicide Squad takes place after the events of 'Batman v Superman'. That makes sense given that Batman is expected to be a major influence on many of the team's members, obviously including the Joker and Harley Quinn. As seen in the 'Dawn of Justice' trailers, Batman keeps the tattered costume of his dead sidekick Robin, presumably killed by Joker. Also, Jena Malone's character, who has still not been revealed, has been cut from the theatrical version, but will be included on the 'Batman v Superman' R-rated extended Blu-Ray release. Some have speculated she plays Carrie Kelley, who becomes Batman's sidekick in Frank Miller's classic "The Dark Knight Returns", which Snyder's film draws elements from.
For what it's worth, we have no idea which Robin actually dies in the film. It could be that Malone's character is indeed Robin and we'll see her demise in the home release.
There will also be a number of dream sequences in 'Batman v Superman' teasing the villain Darkseid, and that he may actually appear in the film. A close look at some earlier images have revealed Darkseid's Omega symbol and we can assume these are part of those dreams.
Also, one scene may involve The Flash delivering a warning to Batman in what could either be a dream sequence, or by the hero racing back in time. Zack Snyder says about that moment...
“We had such a straightforward narrative, on one hand, I wanted this other layer of the movie to be complicated and bizarre.”
This sounds like a lot for one movie to shoulder, and it will be interesting to see if Snyder can juggle all of these different elements. Right now 'Batman v Superman' is tracking to open on March 25th with a $140M domestic debut and a $300M-$340M worldwide haul, which sounds good until you factor in the rumored $250M+ budget. Warner Bros. will need it to much better if the rest of their superhero franchise is to move forward without undergoing a drastic overhaul.
