Everyone from top-level Warner Bros. brass to your average joe DC fan is on tenterhooks waiting for the review embargo for Justice League to be lifted. After having a tumultuous ride of it so far, the DC Extended Universe really needs its big team-up movie to be a hit, following on from its first unequivocal success in Wonder Woman (which has just been crowned Rotten Tomatoes’ highest-rated superhero movie, ever).
Now, at long last, we finally have a date to put in our diaries. That’s because we can confirm that the first wave of reviews for Justice League will land at this precise time: Tuesday, 11/14 at 11:50 pm PST/ 2:50 am EST on Wednesday, 11/15.
Many critics have already seen the film but have been sworn to secrecy. In just a few short days, however, we’ll finally know what to make of the highly anticipated pic. If the reception is mostly positive, Warner Bros. can give themselves a pat on the back for managing to turn the DCEU’s fortunes around this year. Allegedly, early screenings are scoring similarly to Wonder Woman with audiences, but we’ll just have to wait and see if there’s any truth to that.
If it turns out that critics aren’t digging the movie, though, well, we imagine that there’ll be some very serious discussions behind the scenes about what direction the franchise should take next. Not that the DCEU will crumble if Justice League is met with poor reviews, mind you.
Aquaman is already in the bag and other productions like Shazam are moving full steam ahead. And it’s not like the studio would just ditch all those countless ideas for future movies they have in the works simply because the team-up pic bombed. It would be a step back, for sure, but not the end of the world.
Currently, we’re feeling fairly optimistic about the film. After all, WB have taken extra special care with it, to the extent of bringing in Joss Whedon to helm some heavy duty reshoots after director Zack Snyder had to pull out of the project. Let’s just hope all their effort has been worth it and Justice League turns out to be something truly special and another smash hit for the DCEU.
