4. Make Sure Characters Don't Get Along
A group of heroes banding together to vanquish a common enemy is one of if not the most classic story structures of all time. But it's also uninteresting. A good film script needs to place as many obstacles as possible in front of its characters. And what better, graver, and more dramatic obstacle is there other than the characters themselves. Indeed, The Avengers is less about the heroes defeating Loki and more about the heroes learning to get along with one another. At the start of the movie, each of the characters have their own personal agendas and find it impossible to work together and get along. And indeed, as the story continues, the wedge driven between them becomes even larger, pushing Bruce Banner to his Hulk-inducing boiling point, Thor into a blinding rage that puts him out of the picture, and causing the general disintegration of the group. Only in the film's climax do the heroes finally overcome their personal demons, grow as characters (character arcs in a big-budget action movie? Practically unheard of!) and learn to work together. Luckily, the potent mix of two of the most brooding lone wolf superheroes (Batman and Superman), plus the big, brash, Tony Stark-like personality of the Flash (among others), the Justice League movie has the perfect set up to really mine all the potential out of such antagonistic character dynamics.