A few months back I got an idea to draft up a Justice League movie. I didn't want to write it, but I wanted to put my pen to paper and see how I could do it. If I were given $150 million tomorrow and told to write and direct a JLA film, how would I do it? Here is my solution to this Kobayashi Maru.
First thing's first. What is the story? Well, it's quite complicated. In order to give the story, I must first give some context. The movie takes place after a series of independent setup films, though not like The Avenger. This would be more in line with Bryan Singer's X-Men movies if they had setup films for some of the characters. I have a few ideas on the separate films, but they go something like this:
This timeline is impossible, but I must establish a frame of reference for the sake of the story.
Man of Steel (2013)
Wonder Woman (Hypothetically, 2014)
Flash (Hypothetically, 2014)
Batman (Hypothetically, 2015)
Green Lantern (Hypothetically, 2015)
Sequel to either Man of Steel or Wonder Woman, or possibly both scattered between the other films or after 2015, before JLA
Finally, the Justice League (Hypothetically, 2016-2017)
Onto the story: Two hundred years ago on Mars, a war erupted between the peaceful, diplomatic, and compassionate Green Martians and the warmongering, bloodthirsty White Martians over the Green Martian ability of telepathy. The White Martians, fearing their own demise, facilitated a bloody genocide of all Green Martians. The only survivor, J'onn J'ones, is just about to be murdered by the White Martians before being saved by the entire population of Mars (Hundreds of White Martians and one Green Martian) being transported to Earth through time and space. He is transported to S.T.A.R. Labs, accidentally scaring one of the scientists to death. He assumes the identity of John Jones and moves to Gotham, where he becomes a detective under a false identity in order to track down the whereabouts of the White Martians. Batman identifies him as a fraud and Jones tells him he is a martian manhunter, tracking down and detaining the dangerous White Martians who are searching the globe for him. Batman believes him, but does not trust him. The White Martians locate Jones and attack both him and Batman. Meanwhile, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Flash, and Superman both have separate volatile confrontations with White Martians and join forces to investigate the menace. Wonder Woman soon gets involved after a white Martian attack the UN and soon they are all combatting a common threat. J’onn seizes this opportunity and convinces them to join forces to repel them to the Phantom Zone. Superman, Wonder Woman,, and Flash agree, while Green Lantern and Batman have misgivings on the possible repercussions of it. After Gotham is attacked by the White Martians and their secret biological agents, Batman and the others form the “Justice League” (coined by Flash) to take down the menace. However, during the final confrontation, J’onn’s powers are temporarily zapped by the leader of the White Martian, Ma'alefa'ak, J’onn’s half-brother and a traitor to the Green Martians. He is stuck in his Martian form without his powers. The other members must work together in order to exile the hostile Martians. After several days of absolute seclusion from sunlight, J’onn’s powers are restored and one year later, the League’s members (sans Green Lantern and Batman) move into the orbital Watchtower, which utilizes a combination of Green Lantern technology, Bruce Wayne’s money (as well as money from Maxwell Lord and Lex Luthor) and Kryptonian and Martian science. The film ends with the US government agency CHECKMATE declaring the JLA and its members potential threats to national security. Amanda Waller declares war on the JLA.
Running Time: Approx. 130 Minutes.
Obviously you can guess which League members would be in this film. I narrowed my list down to the most economic because, though this is hypothetical, I believe I should base it in some reality. The studio would want the most conservative and marketable choices. I believe that this could be made on a smaller budget than The Avengers ($220 million) and The Dark Knight Rises ($230 million after Ohio tax incentives). I'd probably say this could be made for around $185 million, after tax incentives. The league, which will form in full at the climax of the film, will be composed of:
• Superman, played by Henry Cavill. We all have seen Supes' suit for Man of Steel, and I love it to death, but I think a more contemporary suit would make him look more compatible with the rest of the League, especially Green Lantern and Batman.
• Thomas Gibson springs to mind as an unorthodox but fitting actor to portray Batman. Do you have a better choice? If you do think of a better choice, by all means, sound off your ideas in the comments. I would absolutely love to hear them and discuss the casting of the Caped Crusader. Bats will be investigating the Martian transporter accident and John Jones. He will be distrustful of the others, but will be the one to bring the team together when they need to formulate a collective strike force against the White Martians.
• Wonder Woman, Diana of Themyscira. I imagine her as basically being portrayed the same as her appearance and personality from Wonder Woman: Blood and being portrayed by Eva Green. Green’s experience in playing historically-charged characters shone through in the TV show Camelot, and I believe her to be a fantastic actor when it comes to emotionally-charged scenes. An ambassador to the world of Man, Diana heeds J'onn's call to arms and is one of the first to answer his call. She understands the danger of the White Martians due to her Amazonian upbringing and her experiences with Ares.
• Green Lantern Hal Jordan, played by Bradley Cooper. Cooper's acting chops were first sprouted in Silver Linings and The Words, and his comedic abilities have been prominent since his appearance in Wedding Crashers. . He first ventured into action in the film Limitless, but I believe he can flourish in a Green Lantern film. I’d like to think of Hal Jordan as a mixture of Maverick from Top Gun and John McLane from Die Hard Jordan and Superman both confront the White Martians on separate occasions before bumping into one-another, as well as Flash, in a single engagement. The three of them form the backbone of the predecessor to the JLA. They all show confidence and trust in one-another and act more like a team of friends than a special ops team like X-Men.
• Barry Allen's Flash, portrayed by Zachery Levi of Chuck and Tangled. Flash's fast actions and quick intellect, as well as his speedy wit make him the unofficial, no pun intended, energy of the team. He is not impulsive, despite him making quick decisions without consulting the team. Instead, his brain operates five times a normal mind's processing power, making him think five times faster than the other members, even Batman. Despite his speed, he is still quite humble in himself and never lets himself give into dumb impulses. He is a good person through-and-through.
• Finally, MARTIAN-FREAKING-MANHUNTER!! Although I love him in Stormwatch, I don't like his absence from the League, even if Cyborg gets a huge continuity upgrade. I imagine J'onn as being played by an actor like Laurence Fishburne or Idris Elba, though Idris Elba would probably be able to do more action than Fishburne, and his characterization as similar to a great detective. After all, he is telepathic, and almost like a fish-out-of-water and (no pun intended) alienated character like Data and Spock. He is the catalyst for the story, and his presence opens up many doors for future stories.
The Villains:
• White Martians. The White Martians in this would be more like (and I mean this in the sense that they are radical extremists) Al Queda. Their only goal is murdering all Green Martiankind because they feel substandard to the Green Martians as they lack the ability of telepathy.
• Ma'alefa'ak:
Played by Miguel Ferrer. J’onn’s half-brother who betrayed his brother and his race to join the White Martians. However, the White Martians murder him as soon as he becomes unserviceable to their cause. He, like the White Martians, does not have telepathy.
• Amanda Waller: "The Wall" will be essentially unchanged from her mainstream comics characterization. I imagine CCH Pounder (The Shield, Justice League Unlimited) as playing Waller. She previously played her in Justice League Unlimited, so she's not unfamiliar with the character.
Supporting Cast:
• Crispus Allen: J’ones’s partner on the force. Michael K. Williams from The Wire could possibly play him. Yes, I want Omar Little to play a cop. The Irony fairy just fell down dead.
• Gordon: (Cameo) Commissioner of the GCPD. Bryan Cranston portrayed him in Year One, and I think he did fine. I would love to see him take on a live-action Jim Gordon.
• Alfred Pennyworth (Cameo): John Cleese I believe, can bring some much-needed comic book Alfredness to the character that hasn’t really been seen in much of the other Batman mediums.
• Perry White: (Cameo only) Lawrence Fishburn is playing Perry in Man of Steel, so… yeah. He should play him here.. I know he’s tapped for Martian Manhunter in this article already, but Gimli and Treebeard were played by the same actor, John Rhys Davies, in The Two Towers, so I think it’s fine.
• Lois Lane: (Cameo only) Amy Adams
• Tomar Re: (Cameo only)David Thewlis from Kingdom of Heaven and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas could probably do the character justice. Although I like Geoffrey Rush as a pick, his performance, as well as the late great Michael Clark Duncan, was rushed to meet the fast-approaching deadline.
• Maxwell Lord: I’d imagine him as a Gordon Gekko type character. Julian McMahon is no stranger to CBMs, previously starring as Doctor Doom in the sucktastic 4 and its sucktackular sequel. He has this charisma and charm to him that makes me think immediately of Maxwell Lord.
• Iris Allen: Kerry Russell is a fantastic actress whose majesty could make Iris Allen a very intriguing character.
• Carol Ferris: (Cameo) Emily Blunt (Looper) could do a much better job than Blake Lively blindfolded. She’s an incredible actress whose beauty encompasses all that the Sapphires represent.
• Professor Emil Hamilton: Richard Schiff is credited as playing him in MoS, so let’s go with Richard Schiff. He is the director of S.T.A.R. Labs and is the second to see Martian Manhunter since his arrival to Earth.
• Lex Luthor: I know this is a stretch considering his busy and very demanding film schedule, but MICHAEL FASSBENDER. If you look at the photos of him with his head buzzed, he looks remarkably like Luthor.
• Jor-El: Russel Crowe (Voice-over cameo only)
The Crew:
Who do I think could do this premise and this concept justice (Totally intended pun)?
In order for this to be done with the respect JLA deserves, it needs a good crew. I'm talking about not only directors, but writers, producers, composers, designers, and editors. I will simply go over the directing choices, writing choices, Director of Photography choices, and the composer choices.
Director:
I KNOW HE'S RETIRED!! However, this is all hypothetical. Soderbergh is no stranger to the multiple character storylines that would be present in a Justice League film. He directed Contagion for God's sake!! His visual style would be incredible to see in a superhero film. However, he's retired.
Brad Bird. Brad Bird previously made the best original superhero film ever (The Incredibles) so he's no stranger to the genre. His flare for jaw-dropping visuals would serve the League well.
Sir Ridley Scott. Scott almost never has direct control of a film's script. When he is given a thick, meaty script, he can create a juicy, thought-provoking film masterpiece. If he were given the job of directing JLA, and if the script was crafted out of love and not out of necessity, the Justice League film could well trump Avengers AND X-2.
Doctor Who, or Rian Johnson's films Brick and Looper both showed he knows how to direct a movie. He could well be the absolute perfect director of Justice League. He wouldn't be my ideal choice, but he's an excellent choice for the job.
David Bowie's son, or Duncan Jones. His name was previously tapped directly after TDKR premiered, and I would be lying if I said he wasn't a pretty good choice.
David Fincher is good at both action, drama, and visual art. Yeah, he's right for the job.
Writers:
As far as writing goes, I'd like to think that the film would be written by one or two main screenwriters, but the script would go through supervising revisions by "script doctors", who in this instance are writers and comic experts brought in to tidy up the characterization and story concepts.
Main screenwriter:
Bill Monahan won an Oscar for the film The Departed, and his work on Kingdom of Heaven sure deserved one as well. His knack for character development and dramatic tension is admirable to say the least.
Scott Z. Burns wrote Contagion and Side Effects. He does multiple character arcs well, and he is excellent at delivering good expository monologues.
Script Doctors:
Geoff Johns clearly knows a thing or two about DC comics. He could do a good job of doctoring up the script and characters.
Snyder's work on Batman has changed the character's image in the comic book community from the Grant Morrison interpretation to a new and fresh mixture of hero and detective.
Gail Simone is THE writer for female characters nowadays. That's not to say she's only capable of writing female characters, or that other writers cannot write female characters well. She understands what makes women in comics like Black Canary, Batgirl, and Wonder Woman work.
Bruce Timm is absolutely no stranger to DC Comics, having spent the past 20 years on animated projects based off DC properties.
The Cinematographer:
Deakins is one of the premiere names in the DP department. He's worked on such films as The Shawshank Redemption, Skyfall, and No Country For Old Men.
Jeff Cronenweth has worked with David Fincher on most of his films, and is responsible for the gorgeous shots in Fight Club and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Film Composers:
NOT HANS ZIMMER!!! I love Zimmer, but for the love of God, why does he automatically have to be associated with DC Comics?
Harry Gregson-Williams has worked extensively in the past decade with Ridley Scott, especially on Kingdom of Heaven and Robin Hood.
Zack Hemsey:
Yes, I'm that guy. He's scored a Robert Picardo movie called The Candidate, so he's not TOTALLY unknown in the film score scene. He could do very well.
With the story, cast, and crew in check, the movie can now be made. IF it could. This is an impossible order. Not only would it mean rebooting Batman (Again) but it would also mean rebooting Green Lantern and fasttracking a Wonder Woman and a Flash film. If I want a DC Comics movie, I want one made of love and talent and not obligation.
Thanks for sitting through my long and somewhat rambling pitch for a hypothetical movie that would never get made. I've also drafted a few ideas for two sequels, the first based off of Tower of Babel and the second based on Jack Kirby's Fourth World, Final Crisis, and Justice League (N52) Vol. 1. Sound off your thoughts below. Remember, this is all hypothetical on how this could be done, but won't.