It looks like Warner Bros. has been busy, and hasn’t told anyone. First, they’ve hired screenwriters for both a Justice League film and a Wonder Woman film.

Will Beall, who is writing Gangster Squad, will be writing the Justice League movie. Apparently, this isn’t a reaction to The Avengers and it’s been in development for years. Mark Millar, the comics writer behind Kick Ass, confirms this on his forums, and even says that the tone for the new Justice League movie is dark and down to earth – not as jokey and light as The Avengers.

A pal of mine is good friends with the new Justice League screenwriter and said his take on the team is incredible. Very real-world and not at all what you might expect. WB has a chequered history with their superhero characters. They’re great with their boy wizards, but less consistent with their DC stable. But my chum said that this could be a thing of beauty and has been in the works for a little while now, not just an Avengers knock-off. Best of luck to them. The tidbits I heard sound quite dark and mature, which isn’t what I expected. But word on Gangster Squad is great too so I feel this is in really good hands.

Obviously, this was more inspired by Chris Nolan’s recent takes on the DC Comics world as both Man of Steel and his Dark Knight Trilogy are dark and real-world. The only question that remains is whether all their films are connected or separate.

Warner Bros. also hired Green Lantern scripter Michael Goldenberg to write a Wonder Woman film. Goldenberg has a spotty history, he’s written Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix but he’s also written Green Lantern. Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) and Joss Whedon (The Avengers) have been linked with the director role of Wonder Woman before, with Refn basically saying if his Logan’s Run remake was a hit he’d get Wonder Woman.

Both of these movies are a couple of years out. Man of Steel is the only comic movie coming out for DC next year, while they have The Flash, Justice League and Wonder Woman in development. [Movies.com, The Playlist, IGN]

justice league, wonder woman