Official Title for ‘Man of Steel’ Sequel Announced as Filming Begins

Warner Bros. has announced that the official title for the sequel to Man of Steel will be Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The title all but confirms that this film will focus both on fight between two of the most famous characters in all of comic books while also introducing The Justice League, DC’s all-star superhero team.

The original announcement for this film last year at San Diego Comic-Con mentioned that the plot will be inspired by The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and Lawrence Fishburne will reprise their roles from Man of Steel. Joining the cast are Ben Affleck and Jeremy Irons as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Alfred Pennyworth (respectively), Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, and Holly Hunter as an original character.

Unfortunately for Warner, their announcement has been somewhat overshadowed by some troubling comments made by writer David Goyer on the Scriptnotes podcast on May 20. After making some dismissive and sexist remarks towards the Marvel Comics character She-Hulk, Goyer went on to display complete ignorance of Martian Manhunter, one of the founding members of the Justice League, and proposed a revision to the character’s backstory.

In the comics, J’onn J’onzz the last surviving Martian is shapeshifter, able to disguise himself as a human, and works as a homicide detective before eventually revealing his true alien identity to humanity. He shares many of Superman’s powers, including flight and enhanced speed and strength. He can also make himself invisible and has telepathic abilities. When asked how he would approach the character Goyer said, “He can’t fucking be called Martian Manhunter because that’s just silly. He would just be called Manhunter… I would set it up like The Day After Tomorrow. We discover one of those Earth-like planets… So maybe like… we get the DNA code from that planet and then grow him in a petri dish here… He’s like in Area 51 or something and we’re just basically… doing biopsies on him.” Goyer is currently working on the screenplay for an adaptation of Sandman while Chirs Terrio continues work on the screenplay for Batman v Superman.

Meanwhile, Marvel has a walking, talking, machine-gun wielding, space-raccoon all over the trailer for their next blockbuster.