'Justic League' Movie Planned -- DC Comics Mimics Marvel's Plan

There's been a regime change at Warner Brothers. Jeff Robinov is taking over from previous head Alan Horn and he has big plans for the future, specifically when it comes to the DC Comics super-heroes. Both Warner Brothers and DC are part of Time Warner, thus Warner Brothers is the exclusive producer of films based on DC characters.

In an LA Times interview, Robinov revealed that he intends to see a "Justice League" feature film in theaters by 2013. The Justice League is DC Comics' premier super hero team, consisting of such members as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, as well as lesser known heroes like the Green Lantern, the Flash and the Martian Manhunter, among others. It's then Robinov's hope to spin off the Flash and Wonder Woman into their own film franchises.

In the interview, he also said that the studio plans to reboot the Batman franchise almost immediately after the release of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises," which the director has made clear will be his final Batman film. Whether the intention is to have the Justice League film serve as the stage for the reboot or if there would be a separate Batman film to reboot the character is not exactly clear at this point, but it seems the former is more likely.

DC Comics and Marvel Comics have been in a constant struggle for over 70 years. As the two biggest comic book publishers, they've both competed for the same audience from the start, and in the last few decades that rivalry has spilled over into movies. DC had the early lead with its successful "Superman" films in the 1970s and early 1980s, and then Tim Burton's "Batman" in 1989 and its subsequent sequels. However, both franchises waned, and while Batman has become hot again thanks to the work of director Christopher Nolan, Marvel has clearly taken the lead. First there was "X-Men" and then "Spider-Man," but things got ambitious when Marvel started producing their own films with "Iron Man." With Marvel building franchises that will culminate in the unprecedented super hero cross-over film "The Avengers," which is set to be released next year, DC has fallen far behind.

Obviously Robinov's plan draws an immediate comparison to Marvel's own structure leading up to the super hero team film "The Avengers," which will feature Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Incredible Hulk all together in one movie. It seems like Robinov is basically doing Marvel's plan in reverse, starting with the big super hero team movie and then giving individual members their own films later on. No real cast or crew has been linked to this planned film, although Robinov has indicated that Christopher Nolan (as well as his producing partner Emma Thomas) will serve as a producer on these upcoming projects. Exactly how involved Nolan would be is anybody's guess. However, it seems most likely it will mirror his involvement in the upcoming Superman film. Basically, Nolan was shepherding the project until director Zack Snyder was brought on board, and then he took a less active role.

This will not be the first time that Warner has tried to make a "Justice League" film. In 2008, "Mad Max" creator George Miller came very close to beginning production on a Justice League movie but the project ultimately fell apart. It should be made clear that this new version will likely have no resemblance to that previous effort.

The timing works out better this time around, though. With the Batman franchise ending, it means that there won't be two different versions of Batman on the big screen at the same time. However, this will be running parallel to the upcoming television version of "Wonder Woman." Robinov made clear there would be no connection between that show and any film versions of the character, much like there was no relation between "Superman Returns" and TV's "Smallville." Also, Justice League member Green Lantern is getting his own film released later this year, with Ryan Reynolds in the title role. Robinov did not indicate if he would try to rope Reynolds into playing the role for "Justice League" or not.

It's an ambitious plan, perhaps a little too ambitious. Given that there is no real indication that there is any major movement underway on the project beyond a general concept, it seems extremely optimistic of Robinov to say "Justice League" will be in theaters for 2013. Unless some talent can be roped in quickly (both in front of and behind the camera), he may have to push his plans back a year or so to have any shot at doing the project well.

There are also still a great number of questions of how already planned films like "Green Lantern" and the new Superman film, which are intended to have their own sequels, are going to factor into this. The whole plan is a complete 180 from the stance of his predecessor, who had shown no desire to cross-pollinate DC's various onscreen super hero universes. Whether this ambitious plan can be seen through to the end remains to be seen.