10 Most Depressing Things About Justice League

The legion of gloom.

Justice League
Warner Bros.

Don't let the banter-heavy trailers fool you, Justice League will be no laughing matter when it arrives in November.

DC and Warner Bros are determined to avoid a repeat of the joyless superhero slog that was Batman V Superman, but no amount of Joss Whedon's post-production expertise is going to fix its biggest problems.

First some context... Justice League follows on from the events of Dawn of Justice and will find Batman and Wonder Woman on a mission to recruit a team of mighty heroes in preparation for an incoming alien invasion led by the New God Steppenwolf.

The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg will heed the rallying cries, and it's inevitable that Superman will also join the group at some point - death is only a minor and temporary setback when you're the Last Son of Krypton.

Zack Snyder started out in the director's chair to maintain his vision for the DC Extended Universe, the roots of which stretch back to 2013's Man of Steel, but was unable to see out the project following a family tragedy.

Trailer and teaser footage from Justice League suggest we're in for a different experience to Batman V Superman's masterclass in misery, but it's given us just as many reasons to be pessimistic.

10. Expectations Are Too High

Justice League
Warner Bros.

Seeing some of the greatest heroes ever to grace the world of comic books unite on screen for the first time is kind of a big deal. They have to get this right or there'll be six separate fans bases clamouring for blood.

After Batman V Superman's tonal misfire and Suicide Squad's critical panning, expectations were low enough to make a Zack Snyder-helmed Justice League movie passable, but Diana Prince has changed everything.

Wonder Woman raised the bar for the DC Cinematic Universe with her stellar solo debut no less than six months ago, and its difficult to imagine the team-up project living up to the new standards it has set.

This is largely down to the fundamental differences in approach between Snyder and Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, with the latter filmmaker's take on heroism imbued with optimism and humanity.

Snyder's heroes exist in a world seemingly devoid of altruism and human decency, where gods clash without regard for collatoral damage, but embracing these elements was the key to Jenkins's successful portrayal of the Amazon warrior.

So here's the problem Wonder Woman's success has posed for Warner and DC: Justice League must now do justice to Wonder Woman and live up to revised expectations laid down by the DCEU's first unequivocal hit.

Snyder is faced with the challenge of marrying two opposing creative visions - his fondness for hero deconstruction and Jenkins's penchant for relatability, and that's an impossible task.

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Contributor

Been prattling on about gaming, movies, TV, football and technology across the web for as long as I can remember. Find me on Twitter @MarkLangshaw