In June 11th 2013, 4 days before MoS was released in the US, many news outlets broke the news that WB announced the Man of Steel sequel was in the works and that the Snyder and Goyer team were coming back. This led fans to speculate what the sequel would be. Fan anticipation led to news outlets to try and get answers from Snyder and most of the answers we got at the time sounded a little bit like this:
“Look … completely hypothetically, I feel like you need … to get Superman a little further down the road, I think, before you can do a Justice League movie.”
Which led fans to believe that that there would be another solo Superman movie before JL or other solo Dc charterers.
Fastforward July 20, 2013, Comic-Con, Snyder announces what his inspiration for the Man of Steel sequel. Harry Lennix, General Swanwick in MoS, reads the now infamous quote from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (Falls) followed by a teaser featuring the Superman and Batman emblems together.
The MoS sequel has now become a team up/VS movie. This announcement led to more speculation, as many of you CM readers know TDKR is one of the greatest Batman non-cannon stories but its also a story that's not very kind to Superman. This is the first of many news to come that started to make some fans nervous which led to more speculation and debate about the MoS sequel. This may not be a Superman centered movie after all, not only because Batman would be a new character that needs to be introduced but also because Bats is the highest grossing DC character cinematically thanks to Nolan's series.
In August 22, 3012, After months of speculation on whether or not Christian Bale would return as Batman, WB announced than non other Ben Affleck would be playing Batman in the what at this point being called "Batman vs Superman." This controversial move was perceived both negatively and with enthusiasm, and led to even more fan speculation and debate. Unfortunately or fortunately, Affleck is quite infamous, probably still mostly remembered for his short lived relationship with J-Lo and for not necessarily being a great actor. At the same time, no one can deny that in the last couple of years he has made great efforts to revive his career by writing, directing and acting in a series of critically acclaimed movies which gives him a lot of credibility.
Sometime in October, WB CEO Kevin Tsujihara, the man responsible for DCCU being fast tracked, was quoted saying that the Batman seen in Batman vs. Superman will be “tired and weary and seasoned.” This was furthered confirmed by Affleck himself himself in a December Playboy interview in which he is quoted saying "It will be an older and wiser version."
So the MoS sequel, dubbed Batman vs Superman, who many hoped would be a World's Finest, has become a movie where an older/wiser experienced Batman kind of mentors (also rumored) the younger inexperienced Superman. This of course has become another reason of concern about among some fans due to fact that this is non cannon, Sups and Bats relationship/Conflict has always been based on ideology, one inspires through fear and the other through trust.
Around November, a new series of rumors staring surfacing that Robin/Nightwing was going to be a part of this movie, a rumor that actually started back in September by Justin Beiver with an intagram picture of himself with the potential Batman/Superman script. These rumors also stated that actor Adam Driver(Girls) was front runner to play Dick Grayson and that exotic looking actresses Gal Gadot, Elodie Yung and Olga Kurylenko were being eyed for a role a Bruce Wayne love interest or Wonder Woman role. Needles to say there was a backlash against Driver for not fitting the traditional leading man look, and started the speculation/debate on whether Man of Steel 2 was still a Superman movie or a Justice League prequel.
On December 5th, WB announced that Gal Gadot, former Israeli beauty queen and Fast and Furious actress, was going to play Wonder Woman in the Man of Steel sequel, aka Batman vs Superman, aka Justice League movie?
Yet Another backlash followed, for some Gadot does not have the physicality to portray the character, for others she does not have the acting range and there is a few that debate whether or not the role should be played by a more traditional white female since some interpret her as an American icon.
The confirmation of yet another character in this movie has fueled the debate on whether or not MoS 2/Batman vs Superman is s till a superman movie, specially with rumors of Nightwing, a Latino Flash and Green Lantern John Steward (Denzel) might be making an appearance. Perhaps WW, Nightwing, Flash and GL will only be cameos but at this point no one really knows.
Conclusion: I think everyone can agree, whether you loved or hated MoS, that the building blocks to the DCCU were laid and it was a good enough sound foundation to build upon. The question that emerges now is, are they building this carefully enough to make sure it works? Some of us believe that WB is jumping the gun a bit just for the sake of competition while others believe WB is making the right moves, only time will tell, in the meantime I just hope they announce the tittle for this movie soon so we don't have to keep referring to it as MoS 2, aka Batman vs Superman, aka Man of Steel 2: Battle the Wise Older Knight in the Darkness of Black Night at the Blackest Darkest Hour Within, aka Trinity, aka Justice League Beginnings. Thanks for reading.