Much of the talk surrounding Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice has been in regards to whether or not the film will end up being a true Man of Steel sequel. Ever since Batman’s inclusion was announced at Comic-Con nearly a year ago, many fans cried fowl, claiming that the Dark Knight was “stealing” Superman’s movie, and that DC was allowing the hijacking in order to set up the Justice League film.
Those claims were only given more weight as news of additional character appearances began to come in. Wonder Woman joined the cast late last year, followed by Ray Fisher’s Cyborg casting in April. The recent title announcement added fuel to the fire as well, showing that, at least from a marketing standpoint, Batman V Superman wouldn’t just be a Man of Steel sequel, but a direct prequel to Justice League.
Whether or not this is a bad thing remains to be seen, and frankly we’ll have to wait until May 6th, 2016 to find out. However, it raises some interesting questions in regards to the larger, burgeoning DC Cinematic Universe.
It’s no secret that Warner Bros. is aiming to keep up with Marvel Studios’ increasing shared-universe momentum, and are opting out of solo films in favor of diving head-first into the team-up. But, judging by recent comments from Kevin Smith, it may not just be the Superman whose film shifts focus.
Smith, a longtime Batman fan who often has intimate behind-the-scenes knowledge, spoke on his Hollywood Babble-On podcast and addressed these concerns, saying:
“They’re obviously beginning something, and there’s a stretch of these flicks. And so this is the beginning of the Justice League, as we all suspected as they were announcing that cast. We were like, ‘This is the beginning of a Justice League movie.’ From what I understand now, it’s no longer like, ‘This is Superman 2.’ They’re not doing these things. They’re doing like, ‘Here’s Man of Steel. Here’s Batman/Superman: Dawn of Justice.’ The next one is not like a sequel to one of the characters. They’re just going to keep building their universe for about five or six movies. But all of them, it’s supposed to tell one massive story, which is all Justice League oriented.”
And, as far as the new title is concerned, Smith feels the same way the fans do:
“[Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice] is a bit of a mouthful. And also, I don’t know why Batman V. Superman. Why not just throw the “s” in there? Or spell it or something like that. Or honestly, every comic book fan on the planet, who is a DC comic book fan, I think we all wanted to see Batman/Superman: World’s Finest.”
