Justice League

[jmoz]

Obviously, Man of Steel is launching the new DC movie-verse. And hopefully, it'll lead up to a Justice League movie.

Basically discuss where they go from Man of Steel plotwise, actors/actresses you'd like to see play Justice League characters, potential villains, whether they should or shouldn't go the Marvel route and have origin stories for all of their characters before a Justice League movie, other potential DC movies within the same universe, potential stories from comics they could use for the movie setting, etc.

I'll just say a few. I think the girl from Legend of the Seeker could be a good Wonder Woman if she beefs up a little. I don't think they should go the Marvel route because their characters were less known than Justice League characters, and I think a lot of people are sick of origin stories. I think they should go a modified World's Finest route.

Another reason is that there's potential for some of the characters to be box office failures. I think they should just throw the characters at you in a JL movie and see which characters generate the most interest from the audience. Kinda like how Hulk is now from the Avengers, people would want to see a Hulk movie now.

They shouldn't have Lex on his own as a villain but possibly have him team up with Brainiac cause I'm kinda getting sick of Lex as a villain. Superman has a lot of good villains. They could build up Brainiac in the background as a first JL movie and maybe Darkseid for a later one. I really liked the whole teaming up of the villains in Justice League and especially Young Justice.

[mr_kennedy]

Stephen Amell as the Green Arrow

For a villain of the movie, i think it should be Lex and the Joker team up, maybe The Joker could be the New Batman's villain in the new batman movies? post christopher nolan/christian bale

[jmoz]

I don't know, don't think they really need Green Arrow right away, maybe way further down the line after they establish the big three (or more) in a Justice League movie, Batman Superman Wonder Woman.

Whoever plays Batman has big shoes to fill just because of people's expectations after Nolan.

[Wyrminarrd]

The threat in a JLA movie needs to be really big since otherwise why wouldn't Superman just handle it all himself? I'd go with either Darkseid invasion or something mystical that harm Superman.

[jmoz]

I don't know, Lex isn't that 'big' a threat, but he is Superman's archenemy. And it's because Lex fights in ways that Superman cannot fight. And that's where the other members come in, help fight the good fight in all fronts. Superman can hit, that's for certain. But he has his code and restrictions that he doesn't violate, that's where Batman or the other members can chip in, they could fight in ways Superman won't allow himself to.

[Wyrminarrd]

Lex isn't a threat interesting enough to justify a Justice League movie. I could see him working in a Superman/Batman crossover movie but not against a Wonder Woman/Green Lantern/Flash/Aquaman/Batman/Superman JLA.

Not not saying that Lex couldn't be a part of the story, I´m just saying there has to be something more physically dangerous going as well.

The film producers seem to want a "real world" take on the DC universe. That really does tie some hands when it comes to characters like Wonder Woman. A possible JLA movie could have used her as a focal point by having Hades escaping from the amazon island. WW would be forced to bring in the male heroes to save the world but in doing so get cast off the island at the end of the movie. It would work very well to set her up for her solo movies, the magical nature of the threat would counter Supermans overwhelming power and give other characters a chance to shine.

[jmoz]

Yeah, mentioned in my first post that they should try to do a Lex/Brainiac team-up with possibly Metallo.

Yeah, agree with you about WW and in extension, Aquaman although I could see Aquaman working better than WW. Marvel has been really gun-shy about introducing magic, dismissed Thor's magic based world as 'science has advanced to the point of becoming magic'. Completely retconned Mandarin.

And I get the feeling DC is likely also gonna be gun-shy about introducing magic worlds. They're probably gonna retcon a lot of things to make 'science-based and grounded'. Too bad. There was one idea I read somewhere about making the Amazonians part Kryptonian. Kryptonians settled in ancient times and became the Greek gods, so to speak. Then some major event led them to retreat to the amazonian island and it became all girls. They kept their population alive by cloning, so it's washed down Kryptonian blood. Was kind of an interesting idea.

[Naonak]

There was one idea I read somewhere about making the Amazonians part Kryptonian. Kryptonians settled in ancient times and became the Greek gods, so to speak. Then some major event led them to retreat to the amazonian island and it became all girls. They kept their population alive by cloning, so it's washed down Kryptonian blood. Was kind of an interesting idea.

Anything along those lines makes Wonder Woman way too subordinate to Superman.

[Wyrminarrd]

Yeah, Kryptonians and magic shouldn't mix. Wonder Woman without the magical elements just doesn't make sense imo and it would be better to leave her completely out of a Justice League movie instead of changing the character that much.

From what I've seen of successful superhero movies, it usually the ones who are most respectful of the source property that end up working. When they don't respect the source material then things often go horribly wrong, Elektra/Catwoman/FF4 being good examples of that happening.

[Naonak]

I don't think they should go the Marvel route because their characters were less known than Justice League characters

I've seen this said a lot, but how true is it really? Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman aside, in my experience the wider public are no more familiar with Flash or Green Lantern than they were with Thor or Iron Man before their movies.

[mr_kennedy]

I actually think it would be cool if each Justice League member could get there own live action t.v show fit in the same universe as each other, that way they just use the actors of the shows to play them in the movie wouldnt have to worry about recasting because they wouldnt be as well known actors

Plus i'd be down for another Superman series, and also a Batman live action series, and also they have been trying to make a Wonder Women T.v show for a couple of years now

[jmoz]

I've seen this said a lot, but how true is it really? Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman aside, in my experience the wider public are no more familiar with Flash or Green Lantern than they were with Thor or Iron Man before their movies.

Previous exposure from Superfriends and some of the primary target audience having been previously exposed to the Justice League cartoon shows over in Cartoon Network. Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman are the big three. The others may be less well known but that's fine because they have the big three. Personally, I think that they shouldn't go the Marvel route because most people know those three and they could include a few of the other characters as well of course (Flash, Green Lantern who had his own film despite being bad in my opinion, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter). A Justice League film with them could allow them to introduce these characters to test them out so to speak. And if the buzz is really strong for any particular character, they could go about doing prequels or what have you about those characters.

The other route, Marvel's way, I think kinda would not be good. The characters might not test well and could potentially bomb in box office and leave a bad taste for a Justice League movie. People are also kinda sick of origin stories, I think. I mean even the Justice League cartoons, they just flat out threw them together and didn't really do origins in that so much.

I actually think it would be cool if each Justice League member could get there own live action t.v show fit in the same universe as each other, that way they just use the actors of the shows to play them in the movie wouldnt have to worry about recasting because they wouldnt be as well known actors

Plus i'd be down for another Superman series, and also a Batman live action series, and also they have been trying to make a Wonder Women T.v show for a couple of years now

Just not gonna happen man, it'd be way too low budget for it to do anything great. There was talk of a Batman pre-Batman show, before he became Batman and was traveling around the world training and stuff.

[jmoz]

I mean they could do origin stories, sure. Gonna have to frame some of them around Man of Steel. Here was my idea for introducing Green Lantern that I wrote up in another site (there has to be a new Green Lantern because you can't have two first alien encounters and WB is looking to distance themselves from that Green Lantern film):

Spoiler:

Sharing my idea as well. Sorry about this but going to crap on the established Lantern corps story with a different take on it:

Start off by showing the Guardians long ago discovering a new source of energy. They are able to harness the energy through small conduits (rings or other ornaments). They discover how they are able to manipulate the energy to manifest different constructs. The Guardians are part of an established galactic alliance of sorts, of which Krypton is the dominant race. Krypton essentially has all of the power. The other races are in obedience to them due to Krypton’s power but tensions are high among them. A powder keg situation.

After the discovery, the rest of the alliance find out about and wish to exploit it for selfish reasons. But the Guardians foresee how this new source of energy could be devastating in the wrong hands. The Kryptonians wage war to claim the energy source from the Guardians. This is what sets off a war, with the other races defending the Guardians but really just using that as an excuse to band together against Krypton. This leads to the Krypton’s xenophobia forced upon them after losing the war. They take away their interstellar capabilities, sort of, forbidding it in a marshal law of sorts for many generations.

The Guardians disappear from the alliance after the war and hide away because they do not trust the rest of the alliance. Internally, the discoverers also debate on how to use this new energy. Some wish to use it for good, others for self-preservation, others for different things. They decide to amicably split up so they do not fight amongst themselves. This slowly over time develops into the different lantern corps, and one of them is the green lantern corps with their purpose to do good. Or other races also discover this energy source on their own in distant places.

Fast forward, and after many years of advancement, the Green Lantern corps have become the police force of the galaxy and take an interest in Earth after learning of the possibility of a Kryptonian that is still alive after the destruction of Krypton. They send an emissary (Abin Sur) to observe under the guise of a human. However, he gets caught up in the events in Metropolis trying to save as many people as he can with his ring from the reckless destruction that was going on and makes the ultimate sacrifice. He is discovered by a pilot from one of the jets sent to attack and saw him previously trying to save others as well. He determines he has good enough character to take his ring and gives it to him.

Then have Hal Jordan and his clumsy self learning with the new ring. There is no suit with the ring, it is just a formal wear like in the Marines for special occasions. But he feels that he needs to protect his identity and puts on an actual mask just in case. He deciphers some of the possessions Abin Sur has left behind and discovers a planet Abin Sur has visited far away looking at the stars and his notes. He discovers he can fly in space and sets off on his journey to find out where Abin Sur comes from and what this ring is. This eventually leads him back to the Green Lantern corps.

[jmoz]

And here was my idea for a direction I think they could go in MOS2:

Spoiler:

Superman helps rebuild and Lex helps pay for it building good will. Lex attempts to open a dialogue with Superman to get to know him and his intentions. But Superman spurns him. Then Lex starts to develop a deep hatred for Superman similar to this:

http://bt4wall.files.wordpress.com/2...superman-1.jpg

Lex secretly starts orchestrating a growing resentment of Superman and his deeds, turning Superman’s good deeds into events that Superman could have done more to save others. He twists the events to build up public disapproval of Superman informing the press from the shadows that Superman means to be a conqueror and seeks to take humanity’s path away from them. He does more harm than good. He does all of this through proxies, leaking information and using his vast empire, while publicly supporting Superman. Essentially, he is building up a friendship that he intends to tear down with a major betrayal in front of the public’s eye.

Lex discovers a piece of alien tech from the debris that seems to be be an intelligent A.I., i.e. Brainiac. With the help of Brainiac, Lex starts to gain more knowledge from Brainiac as Brainiac starts to develop his own projects in secret and rebuild himself and his forces. Lex takes advantage of a dying man and decides to help him by giving him a new robotic body in exchange for his help, Metallo.

Brainiac and Lex set up a trap for Superman and orchestrates a disaster in Metropolis with Superman now more concerned than ever about human casualties especially from the growing public disapproval. He’s more careful than ever checking for bodies with his infrared vision. Once he gets people out, then he launches an all out attack on the thing (say a giant robot) and dismantles the thing by breaking it apart. He appears triumphant. However, someone discovers a body in the debris. The paramedics pull out the body and it is broken and a bloody corpse. It is Metallo. Everyone looks at Superman accusingly after someone runs a reel showing Metallo waving his arms frantically that Superman did not notice.

Superman did not notice him because he is robotic, but Superman and others do not know that. The found footage shows Superman ignoring him because he was looking at things in the infrared vision and did not notice him. Lex makes a public address expressing his initial support of Superman saying perhaps he did not see him, but the public says of course he did. He rouses up the public more and more against him saying he did not expect Superman to betray humanity. He plays his part in expressing a sense of betrayal of his ‘supposed friendship’ and gains the public’s eye and starts mounting a large manhunt for Superman after a while.

Just an idea, then you could have Batman investigate into the true nature of things and discovering that Metallo is still alive. etc. etc.

Obviously, a set up for either a World's Finest or Justice League with Brainiac.

[Naonak]

Previous exposure from Superfriends and some of the primary target audience having been previously exposed to the Justice League cartoon shows over in Cartoon Network.

I'm not convinced we can put that much weight behind them.

Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman are the big three. The others may be less well known but that's fine because they have the big three.

They'll put butts in seats, sure. Batman alone would bring the audience. But in terms of telling a coherent and accessible story?

A Justice League film with them could allow them to introduce these characters to test them out so to speak. And if the buzz is really strong for any particular character, they could go about doing prequels or what have you about those characters.
The other route, Marvel's way, I think kinda would not be good. The characters might not test well and could potentially bomb in box office and leave a bad taste for a Justice League movie.

There's risk either way. A Justice League film could fail to establish the other characters in a meaningful way, and people still wouldn't give a damn about anyone other than Batman and Superman. Establishing a new Batman, at least three other new heroes and their powersets, and a credible threat is a lot of legwork for one film.

I mean even the Justice League cartoons, they just flat out threw them together and didn't really do origins in that so much.

Different medium, different audience.