'Justice' Not for All: Who can studio get to direct DC Comics dream team?
Christopher Nolan told them no. Ben Affleck confirmed just this week that he has no interest, despite media reports to the contrary. Who can Warner Bros. Pictures get to direct “Justice League,” its “Avengers”-like team-up of DC Comics’ top-shelf superheroes?
Warner has a pretty deep bench of filmmakers it likes to work with, which is why proven hit-makers Nolan and Affleck might have been natural first choices for the company. But now two more names working within the studio for the past decade and a half have surfaced, and if they tackle the project, things might finally get rolling.
Those names? Andy and Lana Wachowski. The brother-sister team directed the “Matrix” trilogy for Warner, among the studio’s biggest hits, and have apparently garnered enough good will among the top brass for them to proceed with risky projects like “Speed Racer” and the upcoming “Cloud Atlas.” Now, if Moviehole is accurate with its report, Warner execs are interested in having the Wachowskis possibly direct what could be the crown jewel in the company’s long-delayed deployment of its wholly owned DC Comics universe beyond Batman and Superman.
It makes sense: The Wachowskis know how to handle incredible visual imagery, mind-blowing special effects and, perhaps most importantly, character ensembles – all three of which were successful components of “The Avengers,” which is now the obvious reference for any future superhero team-up movies. The studio is said to be very pleased with “Cloud Atlas,” which also features all three of those elements, and knows that at this point it can probably trust the Wachowskis with any tentpole property thrown at them. The duo have also shown that they can go gritty and dark with “The Matrix” or bright and candy-colored with “Speed Racer” – and we think “Justice League” falls somewhere in between both.
Would they want to do it? Well, the siblings are world-class geeks, so they almost certainly have the knowledge and sensibility for a huge comic book adaptation (a script has been written by Will Beall, but the Wachowskis would almost undoubtedly work on it themselves). They’ve also produced a previous graphic novel adaptation – the underrated “V for Vendetta” – and were in the mix for a Superman reboot at one point, too. Now that “Cloud Atlas” is done, the next project on their plate is an original sci-fi film called “Jupiter Rising” – but would they be willing to put that aside for a while and get a “Justice League” movie rolling for the studio’s hoped-for 2015 release?
It’s an exciting prospect to be sure, and the future of DC Comics on film may depend on it. More to come …
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