While Justice League is set to arrive in theaters next month, a Total Film interview, with actor J. K. Simmons, via CBR , revealed that a script for a Justice League sequel is already in the works.
“They’re working on scripts for The Batman and for the next Justice League movie,” the Commissioner Gordon actor revealed. “It introduces my incarnation of Commissioner Gordon. I don’t have a lot to do. I feel like I just dipped my toe in the water of who Commissioner Gordon will be.”
This sort of assembly line filmmaking really irks me. There isn’t a whole lot of ambiguity regarding the financial success of the upcoming Justice League. Irrespective of its quality, this thing is destined to do gangbusters, but if the likes of Pirates Of The Caribbean, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, or fucking Zoolander 2 taught us anything, it’s that a commercial victory, on its own, does not warrant a sequel. I’m sure major studios would disagree with that sentiment, though it really isn’t my point here. It is also in their best interest to slow down the development process. Warner Brothers could have spared themselves a great deal of shame and money had they not already been developing projects that took cues from the bleak humourless aesthetic cemented by Batman V. Superman ahead of its release and critical lampooning.
Churning out new movie projects before proper crowdsourcing is a process all studios should be wary of, especially Warner Bros., considering the first four years of its DC cinematic universe has been marred by controversy, backlash, and rumors of disgruntled actors threatening to opt out. The MCU built their franchise on listening to the fans. Sure, they've got movies lined up until you and everyone you know is long dead, but if you recall it all began with that slow build. “Tease em’ with a little cosmos action, see how they like it. Ok now give em’ a little magic. Yeah, how about this amorphized racoon with a machine gun? His best friend is a fucking tree. Howard the Duck is back.”
Once a studio knows its got the fans, then it can go crazy. But frankly, DC isn’t there yet. Learning that DC is already working on sequels to Man of Steel and Justice League doesn’t make me excited, but apprehensive. I’ve seen zero evidence thus far that implies the studio has actually learned anything from their past missteps . You gotta earn our trust. Take it slow.
