With Man Of Steel just two weeks away from release (press screenings have already taken place in L.A. and reviews/info will be leaking soon), director Zack Snyder is deep into the press rounds for Warner Bros' massively important blockbuster. This is of course a key movie in WB/DC's plans for a large Justice League ensemble movie and if it flops on its face or fails to win fanboy acclaim like 2006's Superman Returns misfire, then it's hard to imagine WB/DC doing a slow-build JLA build-up, shunning The Avengers model to instead go straight to the jugular, with a Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern et all team-up. If Man Of Steel is a success, they then are much more likely to do the right thing and flesh out the characters with solo movies first. In speaking with Collider at this weekend's press event for Man Of Steel in Los Angeles, Snyder himself has hinted he would certainly prefer that route with Superman.
"I feel like you need to get Superman a little further down the road before you can do a Justice League movie."
When pressed whether a Justice League movie was likely to follow;
"I dont know. All Im saying is that youve got to get Superman further down the road."
That's his thoughts pretty clear as day... at least a Man Of Steel 2 before Justice League. Of course, whether or not that happens Snyder will have little say in. It's all down to Warner Bros, who it's pretty clear are desperate for Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale to return for a Justice League movie having thrown out Gangster Squad writer Will Beall's supposedly horrific script for a superhero team-up ensemble last year, and basically starting again from scratch. Either way a previously planned 2015 release date looks unlikely. However, Man Of Steel could point to the future of where the franchise is headed. A moment in the film shows "Wayne Enterprises" according to Snyder; "The Wayne Enterprises logo is on a satellite that Zod destroys. Sadly The Wayne Enterprises logo was not part of 40 new images released today by Warner Bros as part of their aggressive marketing campaign ahead of the film's release on June 15th. You can see a selection of those below;