5 Things To Happen At DC After The Dark Knight Rises

With The Avengers hitting cinemas imminently, this year's wave of superhero films is finally underway. The Superhero film has become a staple genre for the last decade or so. 0A large part of this is down to properties originating from Marvel Comics. Without Marvel films the genre would arguably be nowhere near as popular as it is now. With three of their films being released this year alone, it is clear that they kind of dominate the genre. You therefore feel as if DC kind of got left behind in the cinematic area. Granted they have the most successful property, but sadly that is coming to an end this year. With the closing of Christopher Nolan's Batman series and with The Avengers about to make close if not more than $1 billion at the box office, just where will DC go next with their cinematic ventures so they aren't left behind.

Batman Reboot/Continuation?

To begin with what we know - Nolan's Batman is coming to an end. It has been stated by the man himself that The Dark Knight Rises is the end of this continuity, the last film with the character he will helm and therefore the last time Christian Bale will wear the cape and cowl. Of course just because it is the end of Nolan's time with the character, we can be damn sure that this is not the end of Batman's cinematic life. Be it right or wrong we should just accept that Bats will be back before long and under a new guise. I would be more than happy for The Caped Crusader to lie low for a good decade or two, but that is unrealistic. It is inevitable he will be back. He is too valuable a property and keeps too many people in jobs at Warner Bros to die, and for good reasons. Whilst I consider myself a bit of a Marvel person, I could never call any superhero my favourite except Batman. So what will happen after TDKR? It's hard to know what options are available when we still are unaware of the ending to Nolan's film. For all we know it could be possible that The Dark Knight Rises will be left open ended. It could lend itself to a spiritual successor of sorts with a recast Batman but similar tone and setting. This is extremely unlikely and in fact probably one of the worst case scenarios. One of Batman's strongest qualities is the extensive amount of creative enemies he has, Nolan's universe somewhat limits this with its gritty nature. It would therefore be more effective to have a bit more outlandish enemies. No-ones saying go back to the camp times of Batman and Robin but there's no reason why DC (or whatever creative forces inevitably rule) shouldn't take this opportunity to bring their own take to Batman. One thing that should be avoided is an origin story. By this point it is widely known, and it should be steered clear of for the time-being after being so well done. For a more in depth speculation check out this.

Man of Steel

Looking at DC's current film roster there is only one non-Batman property on the horizon with a firm release date (Green Lantern 2 is in script stages but has no firm scheduling yet). In 2013 we will be treated to Man of Steel. So far it looks to be a grittier reboot of the series and could bring the next wave of successful DC films that tie into a potential Justice League film. It was with Iron Man that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was opened, maybe something similar will occur with MoS. If the film is successful we will likely see the DC universe start to get more creative with their properties. After Superman Returns, Man of Steel has a bit of an uphill struggle. Whilst Returns was not at all bad (I say this as someone who usually dislikes Superman) it was not quite the Return that was anticipated. What it did have going for it however was its continuation of the original two Christopher Reeve films. Even if the result was a little flat it was more inspired than a reboot. Despite this, Man of Steel's reboot is probably the best option. It is clear that the previous series was getting stale and a new direction may be what the series needs. However there is one aspect that puts me on edge a bit, Zack Snyder. As much as I love 300 and Watchmen I would be hard pressed to call them 'good' films. They are fun and entertaining but not necessarily for the right reasons. His films tend to heavily divide audiences, this is not a desirable quality when rebooting a franchise with intended sequels. However with Christopher Nolan acting as producer maybe his style will be reeled in a smidge and result in his best film yet. Odder things have happened.

Green Lanterns Future?

Just looking at what happened with the Green Lantern shows a resistance to our more outlandish superheroes. €œAh-ha€ you say €œWhat about Thor? Was that not just as outlandish?€ Indeed it was. Whilst Thor was the better of the two and deserved its success I attribute a part of this to the association with Iron Man and the Avengers. It was part of something larger and this gave people a reason to see it. To back this up I know for a fact that there are people who were willing to pass on Thor until they found out it was located within the Avengers universe. They knew of The Avengers and plans to include Iron Man within a larger project was the driving reason to gain an expanded knowledge of the universe. The Green Lantern did not have this backup and did not do as well as expected. There is also the fact that it was godawful but that's beside my point. Despite its shortcomings The Green Lantern had a fairly strong opening before negative word of mouth caused a drop in earnings. This has led to whispers of a sequel, but nothing concrete has been set yet. But really after watching it do we really want another one? I personally say let Reynolds go and maybe finally get that Deadpool film done.

Other Properties - In development?

So what about other major DC properties? It seems as if there are not too many concrete plans in place at this time. Wonder Woman recently had an unaired pilot which was not picked up. After seeing the costume however maybe that's not a bad thing. It looked fairly... Plastic. There have been rumours of an Aquaman film for years, but once again nothing has really come forth. The last update in 2009 suggested that the film is being developed at Appian Way Productions, Leonardo DiCaprio's studio. The absence of news since however, suggests this may be dead in the water for the time being. There is a similar story concerning The Flash, however this seems to be having a slightly more successful production. Even having confirmed writers in 2010, however no further development has been given. In any case there do not seem to be many mainstream DC properties being set up for production. Indeed at this point the only film in development is Man of Steel and any other potential projects are limited to conjecture and an abundance of rumours from unspecific sources.

Justice League

It is a given at this point that The Avengers will be immensely successful and with reviews saying such things as €œthe purest comic book adaptation of all time€ it looks set to be critically lauded too. This will make sequels and further offshoots an inevitability. As we all should know; sequels to Thor, Iron Man and Captain America all have dates set within the next two years. This may lead to further properties within the universe being introduced to the mythos. Ant-Man seems to be developing nicely in the hands of Edgar Wright. Spider-Man is likely to be a box-office success even if its a dud. You can't help but feel that DC is looking at this success rate and are wondering how to recreate it. With Batman's current run ending and only a Superman reboot to look forward to; now is the prime time for the foundations of a Justice League film to be set. They could opt to follow a similar method as Marvel. Characters would be introduced and given back stories individually before cultivating in a large feature uniting the heroes... Sadly I feel this is unlikely. The differences between the DC universe and Marvels are vast. DC has always seemed to have a slightly more serious tone about it and there is an openness in the Marvel universe that lends itself to The Avengers. Just looking at the direction that the Man of Steel is taking suggests a grittier universe that would make it difficult to have a team up within. There have been rumblings about a potential Justice League being released around 2015, but once more these are just unsubstantiated rumours. There is so far nothing to suggest that Man of Steel will attempt to cross over with other properties, but then again neither was there when Iron Man was released. I would love to be proven wrong on this one as a Justice League film would be a fine thing indeed. Maybe we could have a brand new Batman pop up in a post-credits sequence. Unlikely but I can dream.