‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’ Release Date: DC Cinematic Universe Plan, Cast, and Spoilers

By Mark Rollins
Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman together for "Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice" Warner Brothers/DC

The last time that I talked about Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, I will admit that I was a little bit harsh in my prediction of it.  My concern was that this film was trying too hard and introducing too many characters at once, and that it could be "the film" that makes the public realize that they have had too many superhero movies.  I also predicted that DC was trying too hard to jumpstart their Cinematic Universe like Marvel has been so successful with theirs.  Today, I want to talk about how the Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, to be released next week, could be the foundation for a very successful DC Cinematic Universe. 

Yes, this film has Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill), which is pretty exciting as these characters have never appeared together before in live-action form before.  Adding Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to that, and you have made comic book movie history, which is clearly what the film is going for.  Good or bad, the film will probably make its budget back with DC's trinity alone.

What is interesting is how the film is subtitled Dawn of Justice.  It is clearly called that because it is supposed to set the stage for what will be several Justice League movies.  After all, Justice League Part One is set for release on November 17, 2017, which is about a year and a half away.  Then Justice League Part Two is set for release another one and a year later on June 14, 2019. 

The issue is that DC is not following the Marvel formula that they did for Avengers.  While the first Avengers had preceding films for Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and they also used these films to introduce Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury, and other characters before they brought them together. 

DC's Cinematic Universe is doing the opposite of that, as it is bringing up the team first, and introducing the characters second.  In fact, only Superman has been introduced with Man of Steel, but Batman V. Superman looks like it is going to be going into Batman's origin.  There is also going to be more of Batman in the Suicide Squad film that is set for release on August 5, 2016. 

It is rumored that the Suicide Squad film will show how Batman and the Joker mkeet, and possibly the death of Robin.  Yes, the Batman V. Superman film shows Bruce Wayne looking at a costume that looks like Robin with graffiti painted on it, which means the Cinematic Universe is going to show the classic "Death in the Family" storyline where the Joker killed the Jason Todd Robin. 

Okay, so that's Man of Steel and Suicide Squad taking care of Superman and Batman respectively, but what about Wonder Woman?  Oh, she has her own film coming out on June 23, 2017.  Also, the Flash (Ezra Miller, different than the one on the CW TV show) will appear in Batman V. Superman, then have his own film on March 16, 2018.  Aquaman (Jason Momoa) is going to appear in Dawn of Justice, and he's got his film coming on July 27, 2018. Even Cyborg will have his own film, coming on April 3, 2020. 

So, even though that Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice has a lot of publicity surrounding it, the ending still isn't known.  There have been a lot of theories saying that Batman V. Superman could end on a cliffhanger, where the main villain of the Justice League films, and it could be the legendary Darkseid.  DC can then concentrate on its group film while showing the backstory of the characters at the same time.   

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