The online embargo for
G.I. Joe: Retaliation set visits have now been lifted, and a batch of new interviews with the cast and crew are available. During a group interview, D.J. "Flint" Cotrona looks back on being cast as Superman in Warner Bros.' canned take on DC Comics'
Justice League. Directed by George Miller (
Mad Max: Fury Road), the film, titled
Justice League: Mortal was well into pre-production, with a cast assembled and WETA working on the design. However, the Writer's Strike of 2008 ended up keeping the film from entering production for its planned summer 2009 release, and the project eventually died. The rest of the cast included Armie Hammer as Batman, Common as Green Lantern, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as The Flash, Hugh Keays-Byrne Martian Manhunter, Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman, Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul and Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord.
Cotrona shares his regrets for not donning the iconic Superman suit in the movie, which he says would have been on the same scale as
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. He also says that WETA's design work was amazing.
"That was a long slog. We were playing with that for about a year. That was during the writer’s strike time and it started and it stopped. That was a big bummer. I was really, really excited to work with George Miller and the script was really, really good. The stuff that Weta was doing was amazing. It’s just a shame that we didn’t get to finish that because it was going to be really, really cool [...] It was a damn shame that we didn’t get to finish that. I promise you that it would have been amazing. It would have been incredible. The scale of this was fantastical. It was a Lord of the Rings scale. It would have been really cool.
"Everybody in this business has seen that. For every project they have that goes, they have like five skeletons in their closet. Or a bloody corpse of something that never happened. I’m just excited — there’s so many elements that go into making a big film and so many elements that can go wrong along the way. I’ve learned that intimately. I’m just happy to get this one [G.I. Joe: Retaliation] to the finish line. I do now have this kneejerk reaction where, until I see it, I’m not believing anything. I’m just kind of halfway expecting the plug to be pulled every day. But yeah, it’s been great. I did the Justice League thing the wrong way. I read too much on the internet. You can’t do that. The internet is the devil. Or the internet is not the devil, the comment boards are the devil. Believe me, I’ve been on the opposite side on there, too saying, “You can’t let that guy be that character!” But really [in the case of Justice League] it was Weta, Weta, Weta, Weta, Weta. They are amazing and they can make anybody look like anything."
A separate incarnation of a
Justice League movie is in development at Warner Bros., with Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder reportedly on board as producers. Henry Cavill, who plays Superman in June 14th's
Man Of Steel, will likely reprise the role for the superhero ensemble if the reboot is a big hit. Christian Bale has also been rumored to be reprising his role as Batman in the film. Would you have liked to see
Justice League: Mortal make it into theaters? You can next see D.J. Cotrona in action in
G.I. Joe: Retaliation on March 28th.