As a long time fan of comics, there is nothing that could
bring me greater joy than to see a live action Justice League movie hit the
screen. When Marvel announced plans to release an Avengers film I was
positively giddy with anticipation. When the film finally came out in theatres
I saw it twice and squealed with glee each time. So of course I knew that it
was only a matter of time until DC got its act together and released a group
movie of its most famous super heroes. But as time has passed, part of me looks
at the long history of a Justice League movie and it has filled me with doubt
that this event shall ever come to pass.
For those not in the know, the Justice League is a
collection of the greatest heroes to inhabit the DC Universe. While many
different heroes have been members, traditionally the team consists of
Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and
(occasionally) Martian Manhunter. While that is the core group, there are of
course always substitutions. Green Arrow and Hawkman were considered founding
members of the team along with fellow hero Black Canary, yet there have been
many version of the team without them. Though he had never been a member
before, the New 52 version of the Justice League includes Cyborg as a prominent
member. The key members for the group to officially be seen as the Justice
League usually seem to be Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, since they are the
key heroes of the DC Universe.
That last fact is why I am worried we may not see a Justice
League movie any time soon. While DC and Warner Bros. (their parent company and
producer of the DC films) seem to have a good cinematic handle on Batman and
Superman (though I can only say that based on how good Man of Steel was and
completely forgetting Superman Returns) they haven’t been able to figure out a
Wonder Woman movie. Many attempts have been made by the studios to bring Wonder
Woman out of the comics. A Wonder Woman movie was put into development after
the success of Batman Begins with Joss Whedon at the helm. However the project
stalled and Mr. Whedon went on to other things (the previously mentioned
Avengers movie). There was also the disastrous David E. Kelly TV show of Wonder
Woman that only produced a pilot that most of the fan community hated (myself included).
While Wonder Woman certainly is a key ingredient of a
Justice League film, she is but one of several ingredients. Ingredients that if
not mixed correctly could result in a disastrous production. A live action
Justice League TV show was commissioned for CBS in the mid nineties. Right off
the bat the show was handicapped in it had none of the three key characters. No
Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman. Not only that but the network must not have
had much faith in the show since the budget seemed to be less than a shoe
string. And finally the major flaw was that there were parts of the show that
filmed like a reality TV program, with the heroes giving testimonials about the
stress and struggles of being a super hero. Portraying heroes with flaws and problems
has long been what made the Marvel heroes so popular; it does not work quite so
well for the DC heroes. The Justice League is usually portrayed not as a
collection of good Samaritans but as gods walking among us.
The final reason why I am unsure a Justice League movie will
happen is that an attempt was made not too recently to produce such a film and
it completely fell through. A large budget Justice League film was scheduled to
start filming five years ago. A script was completed and green lit. Sets were built in a studio in Australia. All the
major characters had been cast. Costume tests had even been performed with the cast and director. The film
was as good as ready to start filming. And then it fell apart. Like a massive
Jenga tower, the wrong block was pulled (in this case a writers strike in Hollywood) and the entire production fell apart.
This is true of any film production, but I have to believe that a property like
the Justice League has quite a few more blocks to pull than the average
production.
I hate to be a naysayer. Believe me, I would LOVE to see a
Justice League film. But as a fan of both films and comics I feel I have a
pretty good idea on what is needed to bring one to the other and I just don’t
see it happening with the Justice League. To me the Justice League is the
cinematic equivalent of Sisyphus pushing the rock up the mountain just to have
it roll back down to the bottom as soon as he gets close to the top. And we
fans will be right there suffering every time we feel the film will almost be
made and then have our hopes completely destroyed. I am hoping to be proven
wrong, but that’s just because I am a fan.
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