In a way, we should have expected this.
According to a report over at Batman On Film, the troubles faced by the Justice League of America movie may now be spreading to Gotham, albeit not for the same reasons. With the likely scenario of a Justice League movie not happening in 2015 and Man of Steel being successful enough to spawn two sequels playing out, it would seem as though– according to a trusted source of BOF– a Batman film reboot wouldn’t be on the horizon until around 2019.
So what does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Really, not too much. I don’t think it should come as a surprise to anyone that the World’s Greatest Detective would be getting a cinematic reboot in the next few years, nor should it be a curve ball that WB may (again) cease production on their big screen Justice League adaptation. The simple fact is, if Man of Steel kicks ass and makes a ton of money (but mainly makes a ton of money), then WB may not actually need to move forward with a Justice League movie. At least not now. If Superman can ride out a successful and profitable trilogy, then he should do so without having to accommodate or fit into a JLA flick. It worked for Nolan’s Batman trilogy, right?
The only thing that bothers me about BOF’s report is the notion that Man of Steel was never intended to set up a DC Universe on film (a la Marvel) or serve as the catalyst for the Justice League movie. Respectfully (I have been a BOFer since around 1999 and have nothing but respect for the work Jett does over there!), I think it would be foolish to assume that WB would plan out anything on a one-movie basis. It simply isn’t profitable. At the end of the day, the Dark Knight Trilogy wasn’t left to Christopher Nolan’s vision and care simply because fans loved it– that trilogy made several boatloads of money. I would find it very hard to believe that Man of Steel was not (or even is not) intended to be the starting point in a greater DC Universe on film.
Simply put, “it’s all part of the plan”. What that plan is, however, we don’t really know right now. Frankly, neither does WB/DC.