July 20th 2013, will go down as a historic day in the world of comic book films. Today, after years and years of waiting, Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. announced that they will begin production on a new Man of Steel film that will feature none other than Batman himself.
Snyder, the director of this summer’s Man of Steel, made a surprise appearance at the Warner Bros. panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. He was received very positively by the fans in attendance in the famous Hall H. He then teased the fans that he could only tell them one thing about the Man of Steel sequel. At which point, he brought out Harry Lennix to read a few lines of dialogue. The lines are listed below, in full.
“I want you to remember, Clark in all the years to come, in all your private moments, in all the years to come, my hand at your throat. I want you to remember, the one man who beat you.”
The original cover of “The Dark Knight Returns”
Those lines come from the classic Batman story, The Dark Knight Returns. That could mean only one thing. Batman will be in the new Superman movie.
Not long after, Warner Bros. released their official statement on the news.
According to the press release, some of the actors from the first Man of Steel film will return for the sequel.
“Along with its star, Henry Cavill, the upcoming film brings back Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane. The new Batman has yet to be cast.”
It’s unknown if General Swanwick, the character that Lennix himself played in the first Man of Steel film will return. Keeping in mind that Lennix had the honor of reading the lines from The Dark Knight Returns.
The release also stated that Snyder and David S. Goyer will be co-writing the story for the new film, and Goyer will be writing the screenplay, just they did for the first Man of Steel film. Snyder also said that they will take some cues from The Dark Knight Returns as to how the classic story will inform the story. Production is expected to begin in the summer of 2014 for a release in the summer of 2015.
The new Batman character will not have any association to the version of the character in the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy. Warner Bros. is indeed treating those films as a stand-alone universe. Emma Thomas, executive producer for the Dark Knight trilogy had this to say.
“Whilst our ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy is complete, we have every confidence that Zack’s fresh interpretation will take the character in a new and exciting direction. His vision for Superman opened the door to a whole new universe and we can’t wait to see what Zack does with these characters.”
Both Nolan and Thomas will remain as executive producers for the new film.
This is nothing short of momentous news for the future of comic book movies. WB is finally showing forward movement in developing their own DC Cinematic Universe. We will finally get to see the two biggest superheroes of all time in the same film.
I thought that Man of Steel would be the last time I got truly excited to see a movie. I didn’t think there would be another film that would electrify me at the very thought of it; one that would make my mouth water. And then this news hit. Now, after they dropped this bombshell on us, I feel compelled to quote The Godfather. “Just when I thought I was out……they pull me back in.” When I was writing the first two lines of this article, I had chills running all throughout my body. I’ve NEVER had that happen for writing a news piece before, but I hope that I will again.
What do you think of this news? How excited are you to see Batman appear alongside Superman? Who do you think the villain of the new film will be? Why don’t you just tell us what you think in the comments below?
Source: Official WB Press Release.