3. He Could Humanize The Godlike Characters
The dilemma with The Justice League, its strength and its weakness, is that the roster are Gods among mortals. Sure, Flash is just a dude with superspeed; and Batman has no powers apart from money, martial arts and technology; but these are characters from other worlds, people with unimaginable abilities and unlimited resources. Look at The Avengers- Iron Man is literally just a snarky rich dude in a robot suit; Thor is only powerful thanks to Mjolnir; Captain America is a science experiment gone wrong, and he can hardly shoot lasers out his eyes and fly; Hulk is only half a superpowered being; Black Widow and Hawkeye may be kickass, but they have no special powers. Any of them could be realistically killed and any threat to them is believable and genuinely a threat. Again, this is where Hooper comes in. Nolan's Batman films and Man of Steel to some extent are operatic in both their scale and presentation, in no small part thanks to Hans Zimmer's scores. Les Miserables is truly operatic. In The Dark Knight Trilogy and parts of Man of Steel, we care about the hi-tech billionaire hero and the super-powered, godlike alien. In all of Hooper's films, we care about real people and their issues, regardless of their status. Be they a King or a revolutionary student, a victim of torture or a high-ranking Judge, a convicted murderer or an eccentric and successful football manager, we give a damn about how they feel and what happens to them. And so much of that is down to Tom Hooper. I think you need an actor's director with a real sense of scale as well as character to really nail characters like Superman and Green Lantern, and I really believe Hooper can do that better than most. His sensibilities seem in line with the DC heroes we've had represented in this century, so he has a tougher job than, say Whedon did. Part of the reason Marvel's movies have been the more successful has been because these heroes are relatable. It takes someone like Hooper to really bring these comic book characters down to an audience level. One advantage Justice League and Hooper have over The Avengers and Whedon- both of which I love- is that you have a fascinating element that the Marvel Cinematic Universe lacks, even in Thor. A director can sink their teeth into Godlike characters in an almost Wagnerian epic, and examine the idea that Comic Book heroes are the mythological heroes of our modern world. That's fascinating and a thousand times deeper, compelling and stimulating than The Avengers. I feel Tom Hooper could understand that and utilise it to make Justice League an absolute masterpiece that engages an audience. Not to say it all has to be intellectual and poe-faced...