Justice League: The Movie

[E.J.]

Like a lot of comic book fans all over the world the events and films that culminated to create the Avengers Movie left me with one thought on what I most wanted to see next. . . The Justice League. I actually feel a little disappointed that Warner Brothers didn’t come up with the idea of joining franchise characters to create a blockbuster ensemble film first. Warner has owned these comic book characters and properties for far longer than it’s Disney competitor (Not that Disney had anything to do with the Marvel Movie success) and had access to the state of the art technologies that make these movies such amazing spectacles to watch and experience. So Why Not?

My feeling is that Warner collected DC Comics to have control over Superman, the most iconic superhero to have ever been created and everything else was just a rhetorical bonus, nothing to take seriously. Perhaps I’m wrong. I’m not a historian or particularly knowledgeable about the relationship between Time Warner and DC. That said, I can state my feeling that Warner did not believe in these characters enough to try and take them to the level that Marvel now enjoys. With a series of theatrical flops that do not include the Christopher Nolan Batman series, Warner may have felt that the well of resources that DC had been cultivating all of these years wasn’t worth tapping, likely reinforced by the popular notion that comic books weren’t respected by the masses, some people didn’t even know they were still being published. Arguably Marvel had their fare share of box office mild successes but were tapping their pool without shame of where they had come from . . . comic books.

Not to be incongruous or hypocritical, despite my feeling that Warner doesn’t believe in their DC pool of resources, there has existed a, consistent,  live action film presence since Warner’s acquisition of DC in ’69.  In 1974 Wonder Woman aired on television all over the country with Cathy Lee Crosby in the lead role and very different look, but this was closely followed with a more true depiction of the character the next year that would feature Linda Carter in the title role and would last until 1979 and illustrate her character in 2 different time periods.

In 1978 the Academy Award winning depiction of Superman would ignite the imaginations of movie lovers everywhere and reintroduce the icon to world in a fashion that had never before been seen. Following sequels would continue to capitalize the icon’s money earning power and appeal but would never be as good as the first. The 1987 release of Superman 4: The Quest for Peace is said to have ended the Superman franchise with a death knell so terrible that the movie option would be talked about for another decade (You might remember wild innuendos of Nicolas Cage filling the role of the Man of Steele under Tim Burton’s Direction.) and would see the light of the silver screen for nearly 20 years. Warner set it’s sites on another property that would change the landscape of Superheroes in cinema forever. Intermittently a Superboy series would air on television from 1988-1992 and would feature two different actors in the title role before it’s series finally. (I totally missed Lios & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.)

With the success of the 1989 Batman movie, and subsequent franchise there after, it was obvious that Warner and the world at large would embrace the idea of comics as a viable resource to translate to live action but it was few and far between after the launch of the Flash Television Series that wold launch a year later. This was an exciting time for me, though I was a bigger Marvel collector at the time than I was DC, to see such a great movement of the comic book genre to another medium.  This series franchise would see four installments and 3 different actors in the lead role before crumbling under the vision and direction of it’s director with the release and ridicule of Batman & Robin in 1997.

The Flash lasted just one season and was a great incarnation of the character that I think translated well to the small screen but I’m not sure that it was taken all that seriously by CBS or the channel’s viewership. I have a vivid recollection of time-slots and air dates shifting so dramatically that comic fans were hard pressed to find the show and eventually it found it’s demise. Meanwhile the motion picture world was eating up all things Batman with the addition of a cartoon and video game incarnations that turned into money for the conglomerate like no other comic book property in decades. 

The anticipation of a future Justice league live action feature would not be the first incarnation of the heroes as in 1997 CBS attempted a try that was met with disappointment and ridicule, the most noticeable error was the absence of the Trinity, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman. With a rotund Martian Manhunter leading the team from a distance, the show fell flat and the potential series was lost to oblivion. 1997 also revealed the crushing star power of Shaquille O’Neal in the role of Steel which also met with grave reviews and any hope of franchise longevity thus destroying the options of developing second tier characters for the foreseeable future. 

It wouldn’t be until the release of Smallville on the, Warner based, CW network that we would see another live action incarnation of DC’s elite. Smallville’s teen angst ridden, emotional drama struck a cord with viewers as it followed the learning curve of a young Clark Kent on his road to the Mantle of Superman for 10 seasons.  The series was a spring board for the introduction of other characters in the DCU from one season to the next, enough so to create their own version of the justice league featuring Aquaman, Impulse, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Cyborg, Members of the Justice Society and regular cast member Green Arrow. Shortly after the success of the Smallville, The CW tried it again with Birds of pray but sadly that one lasted only one season focusing on an Earth 2 depiction of daughter of Batman & Catwoman, Helena Wayne, the Huntress.

The list goes on through out the first decade of the new millennium (Catwoman, Constantine, Jonah Hex, Watchmen and Green Lantern). Given all of this evidence, I’ll have to admit that I am incongruous & hypocritical about my opinion of Warner’s disbelief in their DC resources but the bread and butter of this is that the treatment of DC characters in the larger arena of Live Action Film has been less than stellar. The poor reception of the Green Lantern film (which I liked by the way) is a statement that Warner needs to buckle down and get the Avengers formula for their Justice league elixir.  The whole point of this post was inspired by this article that I had found while digging around for Justice League news:

Justice League Will Be Better Than The Avengers If…

The thoughts and ideas expressed here are great notions of how to make a Justice League franchise work. You may not agree with all of the plot points suggested but the call for unity is perfect and undeniable. The author isn’t looking for little tid-bits at the end of the credits but something that unifies the universe through news reports or plot devices that both advance the story and lead out to other properties.

I would like to see is that all of the major characters have their movies not released over the span of 4 years but all in the same 12 month period. They are all dealing with the different aspects of the same story in their individual films and the final resolution would be dealt with in the culminating movie bringing them all together providing a unity and cohesion that is only seen in the medium of comic books. Perhaps Martian Manhunter could be the common thread or Amanda Waller?

I’ve read elsewhere that Warner should look at this by starting the franchise with the Justice League movie and then have the characters branch out into their own films from there.
I guess the bottom line here is that it took Marvel to do what they did to teach Warner and DC that they have viable properties to explore and develop. If the success of the Nolan Batman series is any indication of how to treat these characters and the Green Lantern movie is the antithesis, then  you have both ends of the spectrum to study and build your foundation. 

I’d be interested to know what your thoughts and ideas on how to best execute this monster project. Sign up and share it here!

Commissions | Deviant Art | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace

[E.J.]

So the speculations and heated debate continues to grow surrounding the potential of a Justice League film. Here is an interesting look at potential actors to fill the rolls of each of these characters presented by Grace Randolph and Beyond the Trailors. I have to say that I don’t agree with any of it at this time but who am I to say what should be done. I can, however, suggest some ideas and hope that some of these ideas trickle out to the people who know how, but more on that after this. . .

While the host mentions at the very beginning of this op ed piece that her selections aren’t her ideal choice, I have to say that almost all of these choices are just not for me.

The one role that I think will be the hardest to satisfy for fans is that of Wonder Woman. Grace Randolph mentions Morena Baccarin. While Morena is a beautiful woman, stunning really, I just don’t buy her as Wonder Woman. A choice like Gina Carano isn’t so much a bad thing, she’s another beautiful woman, she just doesn’t fit the bill either. Who would I like to see. . .  Alana Delagarza. I first discovered Alana in Smallville, playing the part of evil Kryptonian and thought that she looked like an Amazon and could put on a face for Wonder Woman in the cinematic universe like no other suggestion that I have seen thud far.

With the casting going on now for Wonder Woman in the live action TV series, scheduled to air the pilot next fall, hopefully they’ll get some fresh talent like that of Christopher Reeves and Linda Carter from an era past, but that’s just wishful thinking on my part.

If they want to tap the Hollywood well there is not one that I can think of that can really fill the role of Wonder Woman. I’ve suggested Denise Milani as her aesthetic is just jaw dropping amazing but we all know that she just can’t act.

As for the rest of the cast, here is what I’m sure will be an unpopular idea, but Warner needs to bring back Christian Bale and Ryan Reynolds to reprise their rolls in this film. I know that I’ve said else where that the Nolan universe needs to be separate from what ever else is done in the DC film universe but I’m retracting that statement and saying, hey let’s create some unity across the brands. Angela Basset can return as Amanda Waller and we can have a whole big universe for everyone to swim in. It’s already been suggested that Henry Cavel will make an appearance as Superman for this venture, so let’s get Bale and Reynolds to round out the returning characters, let’s not make the same mistake that Marvel did with the Hulk franchise. 

This will also leave Warner with less peripheral characters to build upon for the core team. Only  Wonder Woman and the Flash would be left needing a big screen solo features and they can start weaving the thread for the Justice League sequel. 

Commissions | Deviant Art | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace

[E.J.]

So it looks like the Justice League Movie is on hold for the moment as ComicBookMovie.com reports this little tid-bit about the future of the film riding on the success of Mano of Steel. . . . 

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=73386

Stakes are high for “Man of Steel.” Other than Nolan’s Batpics, Warners has not
been able to effectively exploit the DC library. Its 2011 “Green Lantern” underperformed, and a “Justice League” film wouldn’t likely be in theaters before 2015, as Warner’s top brass has indicated that they are awaiting the results of “Man of Steel,” which opens June 14, before
moving further ahead.

Thanks to Variety for the information above. This is of course common sense to a certain extent, but the fact that a trade as reliable as this mention it means that we had best see Man of Steel as many times as possible if we want Justice League to finally become a reality!

Commissions | Deviant Art | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace

[Author]

Posts