The following represents ideas that Warner Brothers currently has the options to do, but all the ideas listed are hypothetical. The studio currently has a Justice League script written (and is either complete or being redrafted).
4. Introduce John Stewart
Now, I understand that he's not the fan-favorite of the Green Lantern community, and yes, this would mean a bit of a "reboot" of sorts. However, pushing John Stewart into a solo film before
JL would put the studio one step ahead of Marvel in getting an African-American hero into cinemas. Not since the
Blade franchise has a black hero been so prominent, and with Marvel pushing back their plans for
Black Panther, WB would be foolish to let something this big slip through their hands. With John Stewart, they don't lose anyone who wasn't already coming to see a Green Lantern movie (let's be honest, would you seriously skip a GL film because of the Lantern portrayed?) and would gain an entirely new audience.
WB can look at the success of
Thor and easily realize why
Green Lantern was a failure; complaints about the movies are pretty much the same. As many fans would say (these are not my personal complains), both films suffer from too much time on Earth, not enough time being galactic-scale, somewhat pointless and dropped-off love interests, and incredibly short climaxes. What WB should see is that it was the creative teams that separated these movies, and the studios should capitalize on that, offering the right director and writers for the project.
Thor cost an estimated $150,000,000 to make.
Green Lantern pushed $200,000,000. It's all a matter of conservative priorities, sometimes.
3.
Play Their Woman Woman Card
It's been said a thousand times, already, but WB needs to come to terms with the fact that women can sell movies; they've just not always been given the same genres as men. With no plans to do a
Ms. Marvel film in Phase 2, who would really be their best female to give a solo movie, Marvel Studios is practically bluffing that DC won't bring out one of their star players.
Wonder Woman would do what John Stewart's
Green Lantern would do. The comic book community is already large enough and going, women will saddle up and head out to see it, and one of the most popular comic book characters of all time will finally get her big screen debut. I sometimes feel like Warner Brothers is scared of their characters more than they are hiring people who could make these characters sell. It all depends who you get behind the camera. Marvel Studios gets a lot of gyp because they don't "hire A-list directors" because "they can't control them." But I don't think a lot of A-list directors are
right for comic book movies. If you've read James Cameron's awful Spider-Man script, you know that we would have gotten the equivalent to Broadway's
Turn Off the Dark (which, I have seen, and visually it's the greatest show I
have seen).
Give Wonder Woman to the filmmakers with passion and care and then cash your check, WB.
2.
If WB is Going with Another Franchise, Make it Flash's
Now, I'm doing my best to overlook the fact that the Flash is my favorite DC stable character, but the components of his mythos really work in favor of my argument, here.
Flash is a bright-color superhero with a single power and a regular 'ol city to protect (in the Midwest). Ultimately (and let's say I'm going with the Barry Allen interpretation), Flash's mythos is sort of like a combination of Batman and Superman's elements smashed together. You get a character heavily involved with detective work with a comic-y rouges gallery of villains, with a (pardon the pun) flashy super-power, quick-wit, and strong, independent love interest. Flash also has the ability to adequately go from mystery-noir to science fiction. As far as superhero franchises go, you could do more with Flash's character than most. He's a grounded hero with an extraordinary ability and happens to be (debatable) the most relatable character on the Justice League roster.
1.
Conclude With The Justice League as One Film. No JL Sequels
And so rings in the uproar, though I ask you to hear me out. From what we've heard so far, there is no linked plan for the
JL debut. It's very much as if the studios are making things up as they go along. And, admittedly, I don't have a problem with that. As long as they end things nicely, which is something they can do with Justice League.
If, by the grace of God, I were someone in charge of this enormous project, I would play my cards by going somewhat of the "Marvel" route by doing the solo films. But they would be their own stand-alone movies without major nods or cameos alluding to a
Justice League film. I'd sit back as an executive and say, "Alright, maybe
Green Lantern didn't do so well again, so let's give him a definitive ending in
Justice League." And then I use the success and failures of each property to write
Justice League and allow it to be the conclusion of my DC stable, sort of like what
Harry Potter did (and, yes, I'm aware they were books first). At the end of
Harry Potter, I, who had only read up to book four, had no idea who was coming out alive.
I think that if
Justice League is the ultimate conclusion for the DC stable (at least for a while) that they shouldn't be afraid to kill one or maybe even two heroes off. And I know that sounds kind of scary to hear, but it gives a sense of independent gravity to the movie. It's like the studios are saying, "We could try to continue this series. Make it a cash grab. Try to revitalize the character so that this time they 'work.' But this is a better send-off. This is how we respect the project."
Do I think they'll do it? No. I don't. But I certainly think they should. I, for one, and someone willing to sacrifice a Green Lantern or Batman franchise for the sake of an awesome Justice League movie.
And if you're wondering what Joss Whedon's BATMAN movie might look like, you can check out my "fancast" of it
here!