Was The Announced Two-Part 'Justice League' Demoted To Just One Movie?

Has the originally announced two-part Justice League movie event been demoted into one film? Or is that a bit of perception wrangling? We find out the answers on the set of Justice League, talking to director Zack Sndyer and producer Deborah Snyder.

When Warner Bros originally announced Justice League on October 15, 2014, the studio grandly revealed that the movie would be released in two parts, with Justice League: Part One releasing on November 17, 2017, and Justice League: Part Two on June 14, 2019. But DC creative executive Geoff Johns revealed on Twitter a couple weeks ago that the first film will just be called Justice League. So does that mean that Justice League is no longer planned as a two-part event a la Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War?

When asked about the two films, Deborah Snyder tells us:

We're only ever planning and we are only doing Justice League, just Justice League. One movie.

Not two parts? "No." Later in the day when we talked to director Zack Snyder, he seemed sure that a second Justice League movie was still happening. Here is an excerpt from that interview:

Is the second Justice League movie still tethered to this? Is that something that you still plan to direct? It was sort of announced early on in a shareholders meeting, but it sounds like they're closing that off for now?

I think we still have a release date.

This isn't "Part 1" though? You're not looking at it as a part one?

Oh, it is a complete movie. I mean, of course there's –

It's not going to end on a big cliffhanger?

You know, hopefully there's some reason to go — the movie doesn't end and you go, "Okay, well that's the DC Universe!"

It appears to me that the studio is still planning to do two Justice League films, they just aren't positioning it as "Part One" and "Part Two" anymore. And that makes sense. Even Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War films were originally announced as a two-film, two-part event, and it now seems like they will have different titles, forgoing the "Part One" and "Part Two."

Hollywood has been avoiding numbered sequels for a while now, so it makes sense that marketing department studies probably tell them that they'd sell more tickets by avoiding the "Part One" and "Part Two" subtitles. And this comes from the studio that had the biggest two-film, two-part release of all time with the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films.

I'm also guessing that they didn't completely revamp this script and that we are essentially getting what was to be Justice League: Part One. Zack Snyder's response to the cliffhanger question leads me to believe that the conclusion of this film will set up the next Justice League movie in a big way.