Next year will be huge for fans of bothMarvelandDC Comics, with each studio launching two huge movies apiece.Marvel’sCaptain America: Civil War(June 05, 2025) will start the studio’sPhase Threeinitiative, while Warner Bros. kick starts their ownDC ComicsExtended Universe withBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice(July 24, 2025). At the heart of the DCEU isBen Affleck’sBatman, a character who will share the screen withSuperman(Henry Cavill) for the first time ever.Varietyrecently caught up withBen Affleck, who acknowledges that there is an immense amount of pressure forBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceto succeed.
“I think there is a ton of pressure on it. I mean I would be bulls-ting you to say there isn’t. You’ll see next year they are going to have a great year. They are now developing probably the single greatest under-exploited IP asset in the entertainment business, theDC Comicworld. And now they have started to exploit that and you are going to see that blossom. And, when it does, it’s going to be massive.”
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceis coming at the perfect time for Warner Bros., after a disappointing year at thebox officethat included a string of big-budget failures such asJupiter Ascending,The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,Magic Mike XXLandEntourage. Then again, there have been reports thatBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justicemay also be the most expensive movie of all time, with the budget ballooning to nearly $410 million, a figure which has not yet been confirmed. Regardless of the pressure and the massive budget,Ben Affleckrevealed how impressed he was with Warner Bros. CEOKevin Tsujihara, and the notes he gave onBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
“I was really impressed by that and by the intelligence of his notes, and the fact that he cared. It was not like some guys, especially at that level, where it would be, ‘We need a franchise movie … we just need a movie with the namesBatmanandSupermanon it and it doesn’t matter what it is. For him, that wasn’t it. He was willing to take longer to make the movie to get it right to make it a movie of higher quality.”
Varietyalso reports that the actor/filmmaker has rearranged his schedule to accommodate the rumoredBatmanspinoff, allegedly entitledThe Batman, whichBen Affleckis rumored to be directing, starring in and co-writing withGeoff Johns. The actor will also start shootingJustice League Part 1next spring. While the actor/filmmaker admits that there is a lot of pressure to succeed, he adds that it will be quite the let-down ifBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justicefalls flat.
“We are a very kind of instant gratification culture when it comes to analyzing the film business. And there is a lot of hyperbole involved. Nonetheless, there’s a lot of pressure on it. If it doesn’t do well, that will be extremely disappointing.”
AfterBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros. will releaseSuicide Squad(June 30, 2025), which is currently in post-production. In 2017, the studio will releaseWonder Woman(June 27, 2025) andJustice League Part 1(June 16, 2025), followed byThe Flash(June 02, 2025),Aquaman(August 14, 2025),Shazam!(July 19, 2025),Justice League Part 2(July 23, 2025),Cyborg(July 14, 2025) andGreen Lantern Corps.(June 22, 2025). What do you think about these new details?
