JUSTICE LEAGUE News: Gadot Signed For 3 Films, Amell Had “Talks” To Join Film

It appears that Warners is being very cautious in its pursuit of a franchise for a DC Comics shared universe. Two new news items seem to either confirm or reject this, depending on how you look at them.

The first new item comes to us from Batman-on-Film, who has the scoop from another interview Gal Gadot did with Israeli entertainment news program, Good Evening with Gai Pines. In the interview, Gadot states she signed a three-picture deal with Warners, that she will be paid $300,000 for Batman vs Superman, and that filming is set to begin in May.

My knee jerk reaction to this news is that three movies is a little light of a commitment for Warners to sign up Gadot for. Heck, Marvel signed up Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson for nine pictures each. Gadot’s contract guarantees that Wonder Woman will be in Batman vs Superman, Justice League, and one other film. One would assume that would be a Wonder Woman solo film. However, wouldn’t it be prudent to at the very least sign her up to a sequel to the solo film or Justice League sequel NOW? Unless the third film is the Justice League sequel and Warners has no intention on making a Wonder Woman film at all. Either way, it doesn’t seem like Warners has much faith in Gadot and/or Wonder Woman for the long term.

The other news item comes to us from Fandango, who interviewed Stephen Amell from the TV show Arrow. The big news here is that the actor confirms that Warners has been in communication with him to bring the TV Green Arrow to the big screen Justice League:

I have had discussions, but I think the gestation process for this project is a lot slower than most people think. I mean, they haven’t even shot the next one. They haven’t even shot a frame of the movie before the movie everyone thinks is the Justice League movie!

Of course, this has been a rumor before, but only a rumor. Now it has been confirmed, and another part of that previous rumor also appears to have been confirmed by Amell:

All we have to do for something like that to happen, or even be a possibility, is continue to take care of business with our show and then we put ourselves in a position – but the important thing is our show

The conventional wisdom would be that DC/Warners TV arm (Arrow, the forthcoming Flash TV pilot) would only be included in the grand shared universe if audience response was strong. This “wait and see” approach might be safe, but I don’t think it’s the smartest thing. Having a close tie between the films and the TV universe can only benefit both. One of the biggest reasons given for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. bleeding viewers is that it didn’t deliver on its promise of being part of the shared Marvel film universe. If Warners would actually meld the two medium, it immediately give DC an advantage over Marvel and bring more viewers into the series. It could work well, if the properly coordinated all the properties. But that would take time, time a “wait and see” approach doesn’t really give them.