Justice League hopes to follow the Avengers success

[whoman69]

‘Justice League’ movie hopes to finally bring Batman and together on screen

If teaming up worked for Iron Man, Thor and The Hulk, it has to work for Batman, , and Wonder Woman, right?

Warner Bros. Pictures seems to think so, as Variety reported yesterday that the studio has hired a new writer to bring DC Comics' "Justice League" to the big screen. Just as "The Avengers" assembled the biggest heroes from Marvel Comics, "Justice League" would see DC's iconic characters joining forces to save the world. (DC Comics is a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.) The fact that "The Avengers" is now the third highest-grossing film of all time with $1.3 billion worldwide seems to have reignited the fire to get the other legendary superhero team up on movie screens.
[Related: Christian Bale gets emotional remembering Heath Ledger]

Variety's report states that Will Beall, who wrote the upcoming "Gangster Squad" (starring Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin) for Warner Bros., has been hired to take on the screenplay. Beall previously wrote for TV's "Castle," but he has also been announced as the writer for new movie versions of "Logan's Run" and "Lethal Weapon 5."

While interest in a "Justice League" movie has certainly been rekindled by the record-breaking success of "The Avengers," the project has been in the works for several years. Director George Miller ("Mad Max," "Happy Feet") was hired for the film in the fall of 2007, with production scheduled to begin the next year for a planned 2009 release.

The original plan was to have a completely fresh cast of actors take on the comic book roles, separate from any existing franchise. Unlike "The Avengers," where the original stars returned, this would have a different cast (so no Christian Bale as Batman). At the time, Armie Hammer ("The Social Network") was attached to play Batman, with D.J. Cotrona as , Adam Brody as the Flash, and Megan Gale as Wonder Woman.


The Writer's Guild strike in late 2007 put a halt to the project, however. The production went into an indefinite hiatus, with George Miller moving on to a new "Mad Max" reboot, which is scheduled to start filming soon. In the intervening years, Warner Bros. released the disappointing "Green Lantern," with "The Dark Knight Rises" coming this summer and the new film "The Man of Steel" slated for next June.

That wasn't the first time Warner Bros. tried and failed to get DC's heaviest hitters together in one movie. In the early 2000s, the studio developed "Batman Vs. ," which would have pitted the two heroes against each other (though in the end they would team up to take on Lex Luthor). Josh Hartnett was rumored for , with Colin Farrell considered for Batman. But that was eventually shelved in favor of Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins."

Currently, there isn't a director, cast or release date for "Justice League," but summer of 2014 seems like it would be the earliest we could expect to see it. There are also a host of individual DC superhero movies in development, including the Flash, Wonder Woman, and Lobo.

It's also unclear if Warner Bros. still plans to keep the "Justice League" as a separate continuity from the standalone movies, or integrate them the way Marvel built up to "The Avengers." When Joss Whedon, the director of "The Avengers" was asked if he had any advice for the people making "Justice League," he jokingly answered, "Call me." He followed it by saying that it's harder to bring DC characters to the screen than Marvel since they are "from an old, bygone era" where heroes were less flawed and grounded. And Whedon would know, since he tried to bring "Wonder Woman" to the screen in another project that stalled out several years ago.

UPDATE: Mark Millar, the writer who created the comic books the inspired the movies "Wanted" and "Kick-Ass," posted on his official website MillarWorld.tv that someone he knows is friends with screenwriter Will Beall and got a peek at the unfinished "Justice League" script. Millar reported that the new take on the movie is "Very real-world and not at all what you might expect." He said Beall began working on the script before "The Avengers" hit theaters, and that the "tidbits I heard sound quite dark and mature, which isn't what I expected."


Sounds like a pretty lightweight cast they had planned. That isn't going to get anybody excited. The Wonder Woman they had planned has an acting resume of three forgettable minor movies in nine years.

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

A few thoughts (from a guy who never, and I mean NEVER, picked up a comic book even as a kid):

1. I watched Justice League as a kid. Everyone around my age did. All of us are familiar with the characters and many of us have kids now. There's a huge built-in potential fanbase. That means easy money if they don't screw it to hell.

2. I do think the Marvel heroes are much better and more interesting than the DC ones, but the DC ones aren't that bad. The Green Lantern movie was totally mediocre, but it's not a very bad concept/character. Batman is a top 3 superhero character, easy, and probably #1 in the books of many. is stupid, but whatever. Wonder Woman has great tits. Err...wait, I mean she is a character that EVERYONE is familiar with (moreso than Black Widow) and they can rebuild that character any way they want for the movie. Flash is fun. Everyone knows him and he's just a pretty cool character. Aquaman -- well, what can you do?


I think they can do it, and do it right. I also think there's a pretty massive probability that they will do it wrong and it will suck. It's up to them.

They'd be fools not to at least try to make the JL film.
DC has much more mainstream comic book characters.
I know alot of people who don't know Natasha Romanoff.
I don't know anybody who's unfamiliar with .

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Jamie

Criticism of as a character irritates me, even though I've never liked reading comics that much. The one story I did really like was Grant Morrison's All Star , which I think is because he's one of the few writers that really understands the character. This is a quote from Morrison about how he sees :

Read it. is still a pillowbiter.

[keg in kc]

I've always liked superman in that he's the reverse of virtually every other comic hero with a secret identity: Clark Kent is the mask. I don't know why, but that idea has always fascinated me.

[frazod]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I've always liked superman in that he's the reverse of virtually every other comic hero with a secret identity: Clark Kent is the mask. I don't know why, but that idea has always fascinated me.

Yeah. I liked Bill's analogy of .

[ThaVirus]

That's kind of cool. It's also kind of cool that he's super powerful. At the same time, it's what makes him lame. There's no sense of urgency or presence of danger to him, only the civilians he tries to protect.

He's just too powerful. In order to have a villain capable of beating him, they have to create someone even more absurdly powerful, like Doomsday. And that's the issue I have with most of DC. They're all ridiculously overpowered. You've got Supes who's probably at the top and Wonder Woman who can go toe-to-toe with him. The Green Lantern's power is only restricted by his will. A lot of people rag on Aquaman for having useless powers but he's a 100 tonner (that's comic nerd jargon for being able to lift over 100 tons).

Did you guys know the Flash is so fast he can vibrate his molecules through solid matter? So if someone were even able to catch him (he runs faster than the speed of light, so no), he could just vibrate through their hands. The Martian Manhunter is as strong as with even more diverse powers. If written right, he's more powerful than . Not to mention they have the god damned Batman!

So by my count that's 6 heroes capable of handing out more hurt than the Hulk did in the Avengers. To me, that's lame. I'd watch it just to see them all on the big screen, but I would never in a million years expect it to be as good as the Avengers.

[The Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Mostly this.

Marvel takes the guy who's below average and gives him power and then says "How would this guy react?"

DC comics say "Somewhere we lost a step to Marvel. ALL OUR HEROES must have more power/abilities/strengths than them."

You can relate to Batman. He's human, even if a ga-zillionaire. He's still human.

Then...then it just gets stupid on the DC side...

Ga-zillionaire is still okay. People can aspire to that, and that's why everybody wants to be Batman. They can't acquire 's alien origin or abilities later in life. Plus, saying "I want to be !" is kind of like saying "I want to be God!" Yes, many people themselves would like to be God, but it borders on arrogant (and is flat-out uninteresting) to announce it.

[Aries Walker]

Originally Posted by Micjones

They'd be fools not to at least try to make the JL film.
DC has much more mainstream comic book characters.
I know alot of people who don't know Natasha Romanoff.
I don't know anybody who's unfamiliar with .

You're comparing the least known of the Avengers with the best known of the JLA. Either compare Captain America to , or compare Black Widow to, say, Cyborg.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Aries Walker

You're comparing the least known of the Avengers with the best known of the JLA. Either compare Captain America to , or compare Black Widow to, say, Cyborg.

I'd say the only original/main member of the JL that most of the population couldn't name if you showed them a pic is Martian Manhunter.

, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern.
vs.
The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor.

The Avengers just came out and they've introduced the characters well enough in recent years so obviously that effects what people know. 10 years ago I would have said the Justice League was more popular. Just so happens that Marvel got their shit in the movie universe together before DC.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I'd say the only original/main member of the JL that most of the population couldn't name if you showed them a pic is Martian Manhunter.

, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern.
vs.
The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor.

The Avengers just came out and they've introduced the characters well enough in recent years so obviously that effects what people know. 10 years ago I would have said the Justice League was more popular. Just so happens that Marvel got their shit in the movie universe together before DC.

You could have asked anyone in America who Captain America, Thor or the Hulk is in any time period, and they would know. Marvel has been out selling DC for DECADES.

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by Aries Walker

You're comparing the least known of the Avengers with the best known of the JLA. Either compare Captain America to , or compare Black Widow to, say, Cyborg.

That's a fair point.
I think and Batman, alone, are more popular than any Avenger you could name though.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

You could have asked anyone in America who Captain America, Thor or the Hulk is in any time period, and they would know. Marvel has been out selling DC for DECADES.

Not to quibble, but Thor isn't at the level of the others, nor the main DC superheroes. If you'd asked me who Thor was a year or so before the movie came out, I'd have said a Norse God (without any reference to comic books), and if you'd pressed me further I'd have to admit I had no idea that he was an important comic book character at all.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Jamie

Criticism of as a character irritates me, even though I've never liked reading comics that much. The one story I did really like was Grant Morrison's All Star , which I think is because he's one of the few writers that really understands the character. This is a quote from Morrison about how he sees :



And speaking of Grant Morrison, there was a JLA story he wrote several years ago that I think could be a good basis for a movie. Basically Batman keeps contingency plans in case he ever has to take out the other superheroes, and a villain steals and uses them (in the comic it was Ra's al Ghul, but in a movie it could be whoever).

That's a fair attempt at making Supe interesting. But really, Paul Bunyan was kind of weak as well and for the same reason. A Supe movie can be done well enough to make the character interesting. Too many times it's crap because it takes a strong effort to pull it off. Also, he's got Batman wrong. Batman isn't a playboy. That's the stereotypical Bruce Wayne persona created to hide Batman's identity. Batman is the brooding genius/bad ass ninja who is borderline psychotic, with deep emotional flaws, that still manages to do what he thinks is right. It's a compelling character.

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

DC=Gay

I'd take 10-1 Odds the Hulk would stomp Doomsday's ass.

Perfect

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

You could have asked anyone in America who Captain America, Thor or the Hulk is in any time period, and they would know. Marvel has been out selling DC for DECADES.

Maybe in the comic book world. No way in hell Captain America and Thor were more popular before their movies came out recently. I'd say The Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman are just as well-known despite not having a movie released in the past decade.

[ThaVirus]

The only superhero in Marvel that could touch and Batman in a battle of recognition is Spider-Man.. And even he would take third place to those two.

Edit: Maybe The Hulk or Wolverine. Still, neither is as popular as Bats and Supes