Late last evening - The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Fritz got an exclusive from Warner Bros Pictures, as they exclusively revealed to him the next step in the DC Comics movie franchise - Justice League.

Set to follow as the third film in the series, which started with this past Summer’s Man of Steel and the 2016 release of the untitled Batman vs. Superman movie, Justice League will again be directed by Zack Snyder (3oo) and is set to star Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.

If rumors are true, we’ll probably see the same actors from Batman vs. Superman come over as Aquaman and Cyborg, but as they’re just rumors, I’ll leave them out.

The frustrating part to me? This quote here, direct from the article….

A script is still in development and Warner has not set a release date, though the movie is unlikely to come out before 2018.

This continues to highlight the catch-up nature of what Warner Bros is doing with the DC Comics film universe, which leaves me both frustrated and saddened as a fan. I’d love to see a universe where the Summer Movie schedule features The Flash taking on Guardians of the Galaxy 2, or Justice League 2 taking on Avengers 3 for box office supremacy. Competition breeds greatness.  But from the word go, it has felt like - and continues to feel like - that Warner Bros is seeing dollar signs over the hard work.

While this mindset is clearly not new in Hollywood, they forget that the best laid franchises and sagas in film have had an enormous level of sweat equity put into them.  Harry Potter became what it is over eight films, which didn’t start great (the box office was, but let’s be honest - compare the first film to the eighth, and it’s a chasm of difference). The Lord of the Rings was built around a massive risk of filming three films at once, and it paid off.  And in the biggest, and most direct comparison - Marvel Studios was built on a B-List character played by a recovering drug addict directed by the guy who did Elf.

I love the Marvel Studios films, but do we so soon forget how much of a risk Iron Man was when it hit? Let alone the original plan for the films? Marvel Studios is - and was - built around NOT having the two biggest franchises in the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man and the X-Men. Instead, they took B-List and C-List characters (sure, the world knew of Captain America and The Hulk before, but you’re kidding yourself if you’re saying the early 2000’s world cared for them the way they did Spidey or Wolverine) and made them massive fan-favorites.  Look at how little people seemed to care in 2006 when these plans were first laid out. IGN couldn’t even get Nick Fury’s name right.

To date, DC Comics has “taken the risk” and made this work with precisely two characters - Superman and Batman. Both who were proven franchises long before the modern interpretations - even with the missteps of Batman & Robin and Superman Returns.

I realize, DC kinda tripped and fell early on, with the less than stellar Green Lantern - but even for the massive successes they are now, Marvel Studios didn’t always knock it out of the park. Look at the reception for The Incredible Hulk. Sure, I enjoyed the movie, but most didn’t, and the box office is the lowest of all nine Marvel Studio releases so far.

DC, Warner Bros, if you truly want to embrace the excitement of superhero fans, if you truly want to see your revenues grow over time, give us a plan. Show us a multi-film plan. With a VARIETY of characters. And creative teams OTHER than Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer. They can’t possibly have passion for every character. And if one doesn’t do as well as expected? Stay the course. This CAN work.

But then again, when the most positive mention you can throw together for your third A-list character, Wonder Woman, is this…

“That is our hope," said Sue Kroll, president of worldwide marketing. “With the right script, that could be viable. The world is ready for her."