Is ‘Man of Steel’ Paving the Way for ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Aquaman’ Movies?

With the arrival of 'Man of Steel' in theaters this weekend comes the next major superhero franchise, as well as the first legitimate step toward an eventual 'Justice League' movie. So are we soon going to see different DC Comics characters make their way to the big screen? Indications are yes, but how soon?

We know that Warner Bros., the studio that distributes DC Comics' films, has long wanted to bring 'Justice League' to the big screen, but their last attempt, with director George Miller at the helm, fell apart. Of course, now that WB has seen Marvel's success at both developing individual superhero movies and crossing them over for an epic team-up, it makes sense that they'd attempt to copy the model. With 'Man of Steel,' they reestablish Superman; now they've got to get moving on his eventual counterparts.

Batman is sidelined for the time being, and the less said about 'Green Lantern' the better, so what about Aquaman and Wonder Woman, the other two most recognizable 'Justice League' members? An article over at The Wrap, which delves into 'Man of Steel''s implications for the larger DC movie universe, suggests that Warner Bros. is considering preparing these two characters for their own films. The exact phrase used is "kicking the tires," which means that we're probably not very close to seeing either movie soon, but the studio is open to get things started and expand the cinematic universe, Marvel style.

In addition, The Wrap states that "Warner Bros.’ plan would be to release two 'Man of Steel' films before moving on to the 'Justice League,' a project everyone at Warner Bros. unofficially acknowledges is being developed."

We probably won't end up seeing 'Man of Steel 2' until 2015 at the earliest, so you're definitely going to be waiting a bit longer for 'Wonder Woman,' 'Aquaman' and 'Justice League.' But we can all agree that there's little doubt that they're coming ... eventually.