With
Man Of Steel appearing to be successful, the Justice League movie has now been given the green light, a writer, and an estimated date of release. Assuming MOS can pull off it’s expectations, every day that passes focuses on not the question of why, but the question of, “How?” How can a studio pull off this movie to be both loyal and entertaining to the fans, while also being a financial success? In order to do this, I present the five requirements to do just that.
Bring Back Reynolds As Hal
Anyone who has read any of my comments or articles knows that I am a personal advocate of a Green Lantern sequel, rather than a reboot. However, there are a few main reasons as to why this makes sense. Sorry for bringing up repressed memories, but, in the Green Lantern movie, you may recall the scene in which Hal tells his nephew that he’s missing his Superman birthday party. This establishes that the Green Lantern movie, if canon, was set after Superman was revealed to the public. By bringing back Reynolds as Hal, this means that the Green Lantern movie can be set after the events of Man Of Steel. It is also ideal because, rather than waiting 5-7 years to reboot, you can redeem Hal in the Justice League movie by highlighting all the cool aspects of Hal that GL mostly missed. On top of this, by redeeming the character in the movie, you have redeemed interest from the audience and, therefore, saved the Green Lantern franchise. This saves Warner Bros. time and money that would have otherwise gone into a rebooted franchise.
Do Not Make It A Sequel
As stated by Snyder, the superman in this new film is the first hero to publicly reveal himself. With this in mind, it makes sense that other heroes, mainly Batman, need to be established before the Justice League is formed. Now, I have been seeing a lot of people suggesting that the sequel to MOS should just be the Justice League movie. However, in order to do this, you would need to devote all screen time in the sequel to character development of different members, which cannot be properly done. This is exactly why the Justice League movie cannot be the sequel, or vice versa. A sequel should be set in a time where other heroes have been established in the world and can be hinted at/featured for future purposes, similar to what Iron Man 2's ending did for The Avengers. With this in mind, it only helps and makes sense to put out another Superman movie before a JL movie.
Introduce Martian Manhunter In The Movie
I’m sure LEVI will attest to this, but Martian Manhunter is important to the mythology of the DC universe and he can/should be to the origins of the cinematic universe as well. Now, I am not an expert on the character, but out of everyone that is most likely to be on the team, he is the one character that doesn’t really have a lot of similarities to characters of The Avengers. He also provides possible storylines, conflict developments, and all around badassness that could make for a really enjoyable time at the movies. He also connects to branched groups that we could possibly see one day in the DCCU. I guess you could make the same argument for Cyborg, but I would personally rather see Martian Manhunter first.
Don’t Make This The Debut Of Bruce Wayne/Batman
Christian Bale was, arguably, the best interpretation of Bruce Wayne/Batman to date. However, it was stated recently that the Batman for the Justice League movie would be different from the Nolan films, which is exactly why this new Batman should not debut in the Justice League film. There is no doubt that Batman, for the time being, has been Warner Bros. crown jewel for cinematic success and entertainment. However, this is because we care about the character so much and we often focus in on him as soon as he is mentioned, whether it be movies, cartoons, video games, or society. By having Batman debut in the Justice League film, there are only two things that can happen: the audience becomes distracted by the new Batman because of the natural, social fixation of the character, or Batman is underdeveloped, thereby severing connection and interest from the audience. I’m not saying release a Batman movie before Justice League, but have Batman himself actually cameo in the sequel for Man Of Steel. Have a news broadcast about him or introduce him like Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man. Give Bruce Wayne a little more influence through business with Lex Luthor or something like that. This way you can introduce a new batman before the Justice League movie, spike interest for the character, and still let Justice League be just that, rather than “Batman...and those other guys.”
Don’t Try To Beat The Avengers
“A team up movie made by a rival studio made a billion dollars doing this, this, and this, so let’s do that too!” This is exactly the kind of thinking that will set a JL movie up for failure before a script is even complete. The Avengers worked, yes. However, it involved different characters, tone, and familiarity. If WB tries to copy the Avengers to beat it, it will be just that: a copy of the Avengers by a jealous company. This I what the audience will see and the financial numbers/reviews are going to reflect that. JL doesn’t have the luxury of 5 movies of character development, 4 years of audience expectation (minus the fans), and a known connection to all-star cast members. Not yet, at least. In order to be a success, you have to branch out from the Avengers and make this cinematic universe an individual, otherwise it’ll just be seen as an off brand MCU.
What do you think of this? Do you want a Justice League movie? Whether you agree or not, let’s hope the Justice League film is everything, most of us, hope it will be. As usual, if you like the article let me know and/or thumbs up. Thanks for reading and, until next time, this is Hal Jordan signing off.