These past few months have been crazy. Right now, things don't look good. It looks like a mess to be honest. There are a lot of questions right now, but little to no answers. And it'll be like that for a couple of weeks. Warner Brothers moving the release date of Batman vs. Superman, or Man of Steel 2, back almost a whole year is very disappointing to say the least. Very disappointing. I've thought about that film every day since its announcement, and will continue to do so until its release. Knowing that I have another ten months to add on to that is depressing. If my math is right, yesterday we had about 546 days until it's release, now we have 839-840 days (if it stays at that date). It's pretty hard to not be disappointed at Warner Brothers right now. Although, I don't know about anybody else, but I don't like being sad, disjointed, or anything less than great. I'm not letting myself get too down about this. I've got bigger issues in life. While I am very disappointed with this news, I have not given up any hope. Not by a long run.
Right now, I'm trying to figure out where things went wrong. Obviously something did. Looking back at things, it's hard to tell when. Snyder, Goyer, and some other producers on the film have said that the outline was done before the release of Man of Steel. Affleck was cast shortly after that. Snyder knew what they were doing at Comic Con. They had a script finished by September. Rumors of Wonder Woman joining stated hitting heavy in November, and she joined in December. Later that month Chris Terrio came in to touch up the script. A week ago, Amy Adams said she read the script and shooting was about to commence. And most recently, we have heard rumors that Justice League will be shot immediately after Batman vs. Superman. That was all we heard about this film until Warner Brothers pushed the date back almost a full year. So where did it go wrong? My guess is sometime in December. I think WB was trying to accomplish too much in too little of time. The thing was not being rushed, but I mean they were trying to plan too much (a JL film) too late. They could have put Wonder Woman and Flash in there if they wanted to, no big deal. But I think they were trying to put a Justice League film into play at the same time as this without fully planning each step out. It doesn't really matter what the issue is, overall it's just bad. Now it's a good thing they pushed it back if it's not fully ready, that's undeniable. But the real issue is, why that issue wasn't fixed months ago, or weeks ago. Why was it there in the first place? No matter how you look at it, Warner Brothers encountered an inevitable [frick] up.
It's hard to try and be optimistic right now, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There are some reassuring bits of information. So first off, we all want a good movie right? Well, if Snyder needs more time, I for one am glad he is getting more time. Second of all, Warner Brothers stated in the press release that production would start in the second quarter this year. Most people are assuming that's sometime between June/July-August. But the second quarter of a business year is actually January through March. With production already started and filming set to begin in February, nothing has really changed. Nothing has said that production or shooting will be stopped. They already where going to shoot in the second quarter of the year. So, anybody who thought that the delaying the date was going to slow production for sure needs to relax. That doesn't mean that they won't delay production. They very well could push it back a month. Besides having to wait another ten months to see the film, I think this was every body’s biggest issue. Well rest assured, for now at least. Plus, I'll give Warner Brothers some credit for getting the release date out as soon as possible. I don't think delaying it until August of 2015 will do much, and they can't move it to December of 2015 since that's Star Wars' territory. They chose the beginning of the summer movie season, and I'm glad. They could have put it in June or July, but they chose to give it to us as soon as possible (well, if it had to be rescheduled, that's the earliest date). It's also interesting to note that this will open up on the same day of an unannounced Marvel Studios film (Doctor Strange?), three weeks before X-Men: Apocalypse. At least one of those films will move dates.
So, what do I think will or has happened? I think Snyder and Affleck took a step back and told Warner Brothers that they weren't ready to progress with the film. I also think Warner Brothers agreed with that. I apologize ahead of time if I say "think" one too many times. I have a feeling that the rumors of shooting Batman vs. Superman and Justice League back to back are true. Now this is all speculation, but I think Chris Terrio was brought on to patch up the Batman vs. Superman script, but also write, or at least help write, a Justice League script. It sounds crazy, and two days ago I would have agreed that it was crazy, but with this new date, it makes sense. To me at least. As I said above, they are still scheduled to shoot within the same time frame as before the date move, so really all the did was just give them more time to shoot. I think filming will begin in March, and the next month and a half will be used to finish the Justice League script, finish casting for both Batman vs. Superman and Justice League, and further plan out what they are going to do (to some extent). They now have ten extra months. They have tons, and I mean tons of time to shoot two films and finish them. With this extra time, they can shoot both films this year, spend the first half of 2015 working on Batman vs Superman, and then spend the later half working on Justice League. All the Green Lantern, Flash, and Aquaman rumors would make much more sense. Plus, lets not forget that The Rock said he is teaming up with Warner Brothers in 2014. Now, this could be out there, but wouldn't it make sense if they shot Justice League in 2014, and he played Green Lantern or a villain? I mean, Justice League could be considered a 2014 project, meaning he wasn't lying in his tweet. I don't know, that's just some more speculation. Shooting the two back to back gives them two guarantee hits, saves them tons of money and time, it can solve any creative differences, and if any of that is true, that makes up for the fact that they pushed the date back. But, that's all my speculation and thoughts.
So while it sucks that it's going to be almost a whole year longer before we see the film, it's not all bad. Disappointing? Sure. But it's not all bad. It gives Zack and company more time to give the film they want, while also leaving the door open for a possible Justice League film to be shot. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, maybe I'm crazy. Guess we will have to wait to find out more information soon.