A Justice League of America movie has the potential to be the greatest superhero film of all time. Forget about The Avengers or even Christopher Nolan’s excellent trilogy of Batman films; a good DC ensemble would blow them all away. Rumours have been circulating for quite some time about which direction DC will take. Will they opt for a more grounded portrayal of its characters or will they try and replicate Marvel’s success with The Avengers? The rumoured storyline seems to suggest that DC will carve their own path. They plan on skipping the origin stories of most characters apart from Superman, who will kick-start the universe with Man of Steel. Instead, JLA will start where The Avengers finished – the introduction of an inter-galactic storyline.
Darkseid has been rumoured to be the main super villain and to be honest, I think this could be a master-stroke. Who cares if The Avengers introduced Thanos first? Marvel fans are going to complain about the similarities no matter what. Anyway, Darkseid was first introduced by DC, and as Thanos was clearly inspired by his introduction, it’s all fair game. Of course, this is all speculation.The biggest challenge DC faces is deciding whether to recast every character for the JLA or to implement Christopher Nolan’s universe, as well as Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern. Building the universe will act as the foundation for which all future plans will be built upon, so it’s imperative that it’s done right. Marvel did an excellent job integrating the origin stories into their universe but DC needs to carve their own path. Superman will be explored in Man of Steel, Green Lantern is already established (even if the movie wasn’t great) and everybody knows how Batman came to be. DC need to focus on the bigger picture and use the Justice League of America movie as a launchpad for other characters who need the exposure. Building the DC universe won’t be easy, but here are 5 ways to do it.
5. Keep Ryan Reynolds As Green Lantern
Green Lantern wasn’t a great movie but it was by no means terrible. The writing was mediocre and the overall tone was unbalanced, but the main reason Green Lantern failed was because it tried to accomplish too much – a problem that also plagued Iron Man 2. Recasting the titular character might be most fans’ wish, but I think Ryan Reynolds is too good an actor to be simply discarded. Sure, he didn’t do the character justice the first time around, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be given a second chance.
JLA should open with short introductions to each character, starting with a more serious Hal Jordan who has learned to accept his responsibility. I would scrap plans for a standalone Green Lantern sequel and instead make him a main character in JLA. All that would be needed is an introduction to Superman by Martian Manhunter, which brings me to my next point…
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34 Comments
I agree with many of your points Barry.
Keeping Reynolds I think is a good idea.
I also like making the Martian Manhunter central to establishing the JLA, like the animated series and the animated film New Frontier.
DC/WB should get in early and make a Wonder Woman film before Marvel brings in Ms Marvel.
I don’t agree with Arrow though. They could show him to be in the same universe, but not part of the JLA. It will seem too much like Avengers if he is. Given that DC/WB aren’t making introduction films there will be many characters to explore as is, and Green Arrow isn’t an essential JL character.
I don’t think DC/WB need to be blatant about links to the Nolan universe. They could just use the same suit, and leave it ambiguous who is behind the cowl. Batman wouldn’t reveal his face to the JL anyway.
Batman would still have to reveal his face to the audience though man. I like Arrow, I think it has potential! Thanks for comment
You have a lot of good points. I completely agree about Wonder Woman’s own movie (which should be treated as big a project as Man of Steel) and a Justice League movie would be pointless without Martian Manhunter (although I fear that WB will not include him because of the general audience’s unfamiliarity with him).
But I cannot agree with you on setting the movie on Nolan’s Batman universe. There are two reasons for this. One is that handling the Blake/Wayne thing would take up a lot of time, and distract from the JL movie. If there was another Batman movie to tie up that thread, I could see it working. But here, no.
Another reason is that for better or worse, Nolan’s trilogy ended Batman’s story. It would just be damn disrespectful to everyone involved if they ruin that ending to DKR by ruining all its ambiguity.
I don’t think that a guy in the caliber of Superman would be able to live with himself, had Batman failed to save Gotham, knowing that he could have helped with his powers. Still if im a huge fan of Nolan’s universe, I think that we do not have to stick to it.
That’s easily explainable. The Man of Steel Trailer hinted about Clark accepting his responsibility and that he couldn’t save everyone. How cool would it be to have Bale’s Batman on the news in Superman house and Clark wondering what to do..
They should do a Trinity movie instead of Justice League. Superman has it own movie coming out, but neither him or Batman need a introduction, so the history should be told on Wonder Woman perspective (At least starting that way, ’cause she never had her own movie).
Then, after this movie, they should do another caracthers (Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Flash, etc) movies before Justice League.
Connecting with Arrow is not a good idea, i think…
Am I the only one who like Arrow???
I agree with a lot of your points but I also think it should be set in C Nolans universe with darker a J.L.A no camp characters as in Batman.
I think connecting with Arrow is actually a pretty pretentious idea. It could be used to build hype and ultimate set up some integral plot points for a Justice League movie.
What do you think pretentious means?
Can’t agree with a lot of these points.
1. Green Lantern was a terrible movie, not an okay movie. The character development was all wrong and I have seen more focus from a cat with a laser pointer than in this story. Redo the character or introduce John Stewart or Kyle Rayner.
2. Martian Manhunter deserves a standalone. The character blends mystery and sci fi in a way that hasn’t been done before. (If done well). Imagine a detective story with his alter ego.
3. Arrow is set in a world where there are no “superheroes”. Introducing the Justice League would jeopardize the show and alienate its fan base. A lot of people that watch the show aren’t even comic book fans.
4. Agreed. Wonder Woman does deserve her own movie or series, but how she has been written in recent times leaves a lot to be desired. She has yet to have a writer do her justice.
5. I agree with embracing the realistic universe and making the characters more human and less comic like. Even the new Spiderman seemed like a flawed superhero that is still learning. The characters are capable of so much more in a realistic setting, where good might not win over evil. I will disagree with throwing in Nightwing, that’s a little overboard.
I loved the article Barry. I agree with your idea about Arrow. I’m a fan of the show and I think that is a great idea to use the current star of the show as the titular hero. I unfortunately disagree with your last argument about including the Nolan universe. As much as I love the movies and the universe he created I think it was too realistic and gritty to be included in the Justice League movie. We need the “Worlds Greatest Detective” not “The Dark Knight” in the Justice League.
Thankgod! Someone else likes Arrow. The universe could be changed by a few key placed scenes, such as Clark watching Gotham events unfold on the news etc
You failed to mention The Flash dude. He is an integral member of the Justice League and one that has overlooked for years. When it comes to famous speedsters, The Flash is it. Probably one of the coolest looking characters out there, who has now been established as the “fastest man alive” He can’t be discounted. Justice League wouldn’t feel right without him. Barry Allen of course.
Ya I totally forgot. Initially I had ’7 ways’ but I deleted two of them.The Flash will be very important, I agree
I think Superman not showing up in Man of Steel could be better explained by just making TDKR the jumping off point of all the movies, like during the events of TDKR Clark Kent was still incognito, not showing his powers to anyone.
YES! That could work. All it takes is a bit of creativity
I cannot agree with any of your points…although I will state that they should make a “Nolan like” universe that is grounded in the same trappings and sense of realism. While I don’t think it would be a good idea to continue the Nolan verse…it is possible to successfully ground movies – even otherwise fantastic ones – in that kind of real world setting. The movie District 9 is an excellent example of that. In fact director Neill Blomkamp should be brought in to make some of the lead up films and the Justice League movie.
He’s rumoured to be in the running, I hear. That could work. We all have our opinions and you make some good points.
STOP WITH THE WHOLE GROUNDED NOLAN STUFF I WANT A COMIC BOOK MOVIE THAT GOES ALL OUT AND FEELS LIKE A ACTUAL COMIC BOOK ON SCREEN NOT ANOTHER PERSON TRYING TO COPY NOLAN
I don’t. Nolan changed things. Forever..
Green Lantern was the perfect opportunity to introduce a black lead in a comic film (obviously Blade was the other I can think of, please correct me if there are others) John Stewart rather the Hal should have been the lead. This would then have added some diversity in the JL. As far as your other points go, yes to wonder woman film, yes to MM role in all, no to arrow link (I agree with Champson’s point), and a maybe to Nolan-verse (it could work, and would defo be different to Mavels “all action” approach to Avengers)
All bad ideas. Literally. Read Justice League 16. Cyborg is the Nick Fury. Keep the roster of heroes down to five (the number of Avengers through 95% of that film). This will allow you to develop each character to have their own franchise after this Justice League advertising boost. Cyborg can recruit heroes like Flash and Shazam after Justice League in their solo films. No one gets a solo film before Justice League besides Superman. Reboot Batman so that his world is 1/2 Nolan 1/2 Burton. Make it realistic enough to fit with Man of Steel, but leave room for Mr. Freeze and Clayface.
Here’s the cast:
Superman-Cavill
Batman-Gosling
Wonder Woman-Arterton
Green Lantern-Pine
Cyborg-Boseman
Darkseid-Rourke
Martian Manhunter should be saved for the sequels and be used as an enigmatic spy like he is in Justice League of America and Stormwatch.
Cyborg can’t be a Nick Fury clone. The general audience didn’t know Iron man and Thor, Batman and Supermnan are icons. Manhunter is the only one that fits the bill for that job. I like your 50/50 Nolan/Burton split ideat hough. See my JLA Cast
Oh, and Stephen Amell can’t act. I don’t want to see Arrow mixed with anything related to Man of Steel or the Nolan Batman films. It’s too low budget to fit.
I think you have to bring John Stewart along in the movie. If you start the show with Hal, int he middle of the movie Hal gets killed. Then the intro of John through the end would have to make him the star.
I would kill Ryan Reynolds off ala Coulsen in The Avengers,except actually kill him with an emotional scene.
5 terrible ideas here are better ones
1 scrap Hal Jordan replace with John Stewart way more interesting character
2 The first two Nolan movies were great movies but terrible batman movies he didn’t understand the character at all
3 Smallville was a terrible show Arrow is even worse and green arrow is such a lame character anyway oh look its socialist batman with trick arrows.
4 Should be no origin story those are so boring and overdone i would actually prefer to see an older version of the League with Superman becoming distant and having to be coaxed back into action by the rest of the league
5 It should not be about beating up some generic cgi bad guy or stoping some muguffin bomb from destroying a city like tdkr that’s just lazy writing it should be about humanity’s trust in League and authority vs free will EG should the league intervene in a war?
They’re not really better imo.
1. Ryan Reynolds deserves another shot.
2. ???? Completely disagree
3. Again, completely disagree. And read the comics
4. Will never happen. Too much money with reboots and prequels
5. You have a point here, but they need to build the universe first
Personally, the Dark Knight was truly a great way to show Batman the way he is, a man with committment to “semi” avenge his parents through fear.
Green Lantern was a portrayal one could praise, but he’s only been on film one great time (excluding the previous JL film).
However, Nolan’s Batman could fit into the Justice League. I mean, people fear Superman from what I’ve assumed from the MOS trailers. so we can say, that an alien showing up out of nowhere happens. It means the world is realistic just like Nolan’s world, right? Batman is considered just a vigilante in that world, so nothing will contradict the events of Man of Steel.
As far as GL, i think he should remain the same character…just to avoid confusion.
Exactly my point. It is possible
I guess I’m the only person besides Hollywood executives that doesn’t think Wonder Woman can hold her own movie. I like the character but she doesn’t pull it in for me. What would be the story? Who would be the bad guy? How can we make her different from just being a female Superman? The name would draw some fans in, especially if she’s wearing a skimpy outfit, but if you’re doing that don’t spend all your bank on it. I think they should redo Batman and get away from the Nolan character. That Batman was so grounded in reality that there’s no way he would compete with the guys with actual superpowers. In the animated series he’s the smartest guy on the planet, and that’s what differentiates him from the others. In Nolan’s world he doesn’t feel that intelligent – the whole not the greatest detective like you mentioned is the problem. Maybe in my world where everyone gets free lollipops and there are rainbows at midnight this would all work, but I dunno…
Haha,I appreciate the comment man. I think Wonder Woman would work if they cast a good actress and have a good script. Break the rules on what a female oriented movie is about. Have no damsel in distress storyline. Have WW saving Superman or Batman
its a good article barry, very impressive, to be honest I find Green Lantern enjoyable, not great, but watchable, I think they are going to treat Green Lantern like the Ang Lee Hulk and reboot it to fit into DC, and think how that worked for Marvel, Edward Norton was a much better Bruce Banner than Eric Bana, despite the few people that enjoyed GL, it probs will happen. For Martian Manhunter I’d like to see him like the Nick Fury of this universe, and I’d cast none other than Idris Elba to play him, I think Ryan Gosling would be great for the Flash, Aquaman (he needs to be in it) i think Jensen Ackles would work, for Wonder Woman possibly Olivia Wilde, keep Cavill as Superman, and if they can pull it off, bring back Christian Bale, because he was just great in the role, same with Stephen Amoll who plays Green Arrow, a show which I actually enjoy, so yes, lets hope DC can make a great film and show they have more than just Superman and Batman