Will Beall was tapped to write a Justice League movie in 2011. Warner Bros. wanted to follow in the footsteps of Marvel Studios (The Avengers was released the following years) and even eyed Ben Affleck to direct long before he was cast as the DCEU's Batman.
Plans ultimately changed, with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice laying the foundation for Zack Snyder's version of Justice League. Joss Whedon was enlisted for reshoots which completely changed the movie, only for Zack Snyder's Justice League to be released on streaming in 2021.
Will Beall received a writing credit on the latter version and has now opened up on why that might have been and how his script differed.
"I wouldn’t call my experience dysfunctional," he told The Wrap. "I can only speak about my experience. I didn’t have a dysfunctional experience on 'Aquaman.' I had a great experience working on 'Aquaman.' I love working with James Wan. I loved working with Geoff Johns, and I had a great time working on that movie."
"I did a very early draft of 'Justice League.' Some of it found its way into the Snyder cut. I was delighted that I could help."
"The biggest difference with mine, I think, was that much of the second act was that little sort of coda that was on the Snyder cut, where it’s this post-apocalyptic sort of dream sequence or flash forward, and there’s good guys and bad guys, they’re forced to team up," the writer continued. "Much of my second act was taken up with that."
Making it clear time travel was always part of the plan for Justice League (something Whedon completely dropped from his simplified version), Beall noted, "My version of it owed a lot to Back to the Future II."
As for whether he'd be open to returning to the DC Universe to work alongside James Gunn in the DCU, the writer admitted he's open to the idea. "These are incredibly great characters," the Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F scribe said. "Whether it’s Batman, or Axel Foley, or Mike and Marcus, these are truly iconic American characters."
It's always fun to think about what might have been and there's a reality out there where this version of Justice League was released and we got a completely different DCEU.
Would you have liked to see Beall's Justice League? Let us know in the comments section.