It sounds to me like Warner Bros wants to immediately have a movie as successful as The Avengers, without actually having to put in the effort that MADE The Avengers so successful. It's pretty cynical actually and typical Hollywood thinking.

This CAN be good. If they do it right. Think back to 2007 when Marvel Studios first started. Did you think that great Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Avengers movies were even possible? You have to give Kevin Feige all the credit in the world. He came up with a plan and he stuck with it. He also created a winning formula that should be adopted and utilized by every studio that wants to make a super-hero movie: Keep the characters and the core concepts true to their comic book roots. Don't deviate or stray away from what the creators intended. Make the stories compelling and exciting, but keep the emphasis on what makes these characters icons in the first place.

Can Warner Brothers do this? Yes, they can. They've been around since 1905. They're the studio that made The Matrix, The Maltese Falcon, A Clockwork Orange, Casablanca, Enter the Dragon, Goodfellas, Unforgiven, L.A. Confidential, The Goonies, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Shining, to name just a few. And yes, they're also the same studio that gave us Richard Donner's Superman and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.

They CAN make a great Justice League movie, and if they do, they can use that as a tentpole to spin off each character into their own franchise.

This CAN potentially be so cool, but they're only going to get one shot. They have to get it right the first time.

With that in mind ...

What I wanna see in a potential Justice League movie.

By Mikey.

1) Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams Give Good Bat

I love Christopher Nolan's take on Batman. I think most of us do. If it's possible to wear out blu-ray's, I probably will when this trilogy gets released.

But I think most of us would agree that Nolan's Batman was so grounded in realism that the character wouldn't work in the context of a Justice League movie. A new take on the Caped Crusader will be needed, and I think Warners should look at the Bronze Age.

In my opinion, the early to mid 1970's version of Batman is still the best. There probably isn't a definitive version of a character that's been around for seventy years, but the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams run on Detective Comics and Batman is pretty damn close. O'Neil and Adams rescued Batman from the camp humor of the 60's TV show and returned him to his gothic roots. He went back to being The World's Greatest Detective, a skilled and cunning fighter that also had a stunning array of hi-tech weapons in his arsenal. Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers picked up that baton and ran with it. This is the version of Batman that Bruce Timm used in Batman: The Animated Series. And, most importantly, this is a Batman that's right at home in World's Finest, The Brave and the Bold and Justice League.





2) Keep Geoff Johns far, far away

This .... needs to go.



Dude wears a ballcap and thinks he's "kewl".

Here's a big, key difference between Marvel Studios and Warner Brothers. Kevin Feige is a Movie Producer who happens to be a comic book fan. Geoff Johns is a fanboy who thinks he's a movie producer.

Warners, do yourselves a big favor: Keep this fing idiot away from the movie studios. Let him go back to fing up our comics and toylines that we used to love. Thank you.

3) Embrace Your Long and Storied History

These characters have been around for 70 years. There's a reason for that.

Marvel did not shy away from their history during Phase One. They kept Captain America true to his World War II roots and that was a smart move. There was even a nod to the Original Human Torch (A possible precursor to an Invaders movie?). Warners should do the same thing. Even if it's just a photgraph on the wall in JLA headquarters or an old newspaper clipping, there should be a mention made of the first and greatest super-hero team of all. The Justice Society of America.



4) Steal from the Marvel Studios playbook

Yes. I said it. DC and Warner Brothers should steal the formula that Marvel Studios had so much success with. And the formula is so simple and yet so ingenious. Take your inspiration directly from the comic books. Get back to the basics with each character. Find the character beats and story elements that have made each one an icon. Do NOT stray too far from the source material. That was the mistake Warner made with Green Lantern. They created a Green Lantern that fans didn't recognize and the general public couldn't relate to. Again, I'll say if it was Kevin Feige at the helm instead of Geoff Johns, Green Lantern would have been a hit. Feige would have adapted the works of Broome, Kane, O'Neil, Adams, Englehart and Gibbons. There would have been no Parallax.

I'm sure people will say "Hey, Marvel did it first!" Yeah, they did. The point is, they did it right. And that's what WB has to do.

5) Let Fox and Morrison show the way

Look, if you're going to make a Justice League movie, adapt it directly from the works of the two guys that did it best. Oreos, BWHA-HAs and stupid blue Yazz things aside, the two greatest periods in Justice League history were when Gardner Fox and Grant Morrison wrote the book.

It's so simple and yet so elegant. You take the World's Greatest Super-Heroes. Each one an invincible champion of justice. Each one with their own fan following. You treat each one like the legendary icons that they are. You make the stories epic and the menaces they go up against earth shattering.

Mix well.





And if that right there ain't the makings of a kick-ass, billion dollar JLA movie, then nothing is.

6) Hit The Ground Running

No need for origins. I think they should just start the movie with the team already in place with a headquarters, be it a cave or a satellite. A brief flashback to the origin of the team is okay, but less exposition means more time for action, plot and character moments.

7) The Trinity Should Be Front and Center

Obviously, each character should get their key moments to shine, but the focus of the movie should be on the Trinity. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are DC's most famous and popular characters. They should be the stars of the film, much like Cap, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk were in Avengers.



8) The Villain Everyone Loves To Hate

Darkseid is.



Imagine. Darkseid and Thanos both being in movies coming out the same summer.

Who'd a thunk it?

9) Aquaman Is NOT a Joke

Forget Super Friends. Well, I think EVERYONE should forget Super Friends, but that's me. The King of Atlantis should be a bad ass. No talking to fish, unless it's a 20 foot great white that takes a chunk out of Darkseid's ass.

10) Don't Hold Back On The Locations

Give the green screen a workout. The Fortress of Solitude, the Batcave, Atlantis, Themyscira, Mars, Apokolips, the Planet Oa ... hire some great designers and let'em go nuts.

Just ... please don't let it be the guy that worked on Green Lantern.

11) Think of the Toys!

Well, I guess it doesn't matter. Mattel will find a way to f it up.

Mike
(Anyway, that's what I think Warner Brothers needs to do to make this thing work. And if I think of anything else, I'll add it.)

The thing that made the Marvel movies unprecedented was the shared continuity and how each movie built upon the previous one leading up to The Avengers. If DC isn't going to go that route, the experience will be nowhere near as special. As I said, they want a hit as big as The Avengers without having to put in the effort that made The Avengers so unique and successful in the first place.

Yes, they need to work for it and earn it... I feel the effect will be just as special because it will be done with different characters. It won't be a surprise that's for sure but it can still be fun.

Simply using the "Marvel Studios Playbook" could work

Batman - establish a realistic DC Universe
Superman - show the really awesome and fantastic side of the DC Universe
Batman 2 - reaffirm this mix of realism and fantasy
Wonder Woman - start to visit the realm of myths and legends and their place in the DC Universe
Green Lantern - we now establish the cosmic world of things to come and what lies beyond Earth

Because the threat in Justice League of America will be from another world...

Justice League of America - show a situation where the world NEEDS heroes to save them and heroes to believe in...

Aquaman - A nice follow up on how the events of JLA have not just impacted the world but also the other world beneath the ocean

Something like that would have fanboys eating out of Warner's hand and even generating some major film related income like never before.

They won't do it which is maddening especially considering all of the effort they seem to put into their TV and DTV cartoons. They are stewards of the DC brand but when it comes to projects that general audiences would enjoy and make them money hand over fist they don't put in ANY effort. The last project I felt that appealed to general audiences was The Dark Knight. Every single other recent project was either too low quality (Superman Returns, Green Lantern) or too dark (The Dark Knight Rises) for people to actually enjoy.

They REALLY should hold off on a Justice League movie. I know it goes against corporate policy to put off a project that could make $200 million at the box office for a few years but if they did they could make $600 Million. Plus, if the films they made leading up to the JL movie were actually decent for once they could make a ton of money on them too. WB is missing the forest for the trees.

By the way, I REALLY like your idea of how to structure a DC Cinematic Universe, Van Statten. However if they ARE going to use Henry Cavill as Superman in the JL movie the universe will HAVE to be started with Man Of Steel. That actually might be appropriate since the movie will supposedly have a "realistic" take on Superman, but the next Batman movie followed by either Superman 2 or Wonder Woman are solid ideas.

Thanks fone bone! It doesn't matter what order they come in, just so they can meet up in Superman 2. lol

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING ! I have been yelling that forever heck just take JL Doom and make it live action and you will have a hit. Before Marvel started making better movies Bats, Supes and WW were household names so jump into it assuming everyone knows who they are.

From Newsarama:

Snyder Talks Possible MAN OF STEEL/JUSTICE LEAGUE Connection

By Albert Ching, Newsarama Staff Writer
posted: 26 November 2012 01:22 pm ET

Though it's still not clear if Man of Steel in any way leads into the planned Justice League film for 2015, Zack Snyder isn't ruling it out.

In a New York Post article, the Man of Steel director stated that Warner Bros. trusts him to "keep them on course" for Justice League while declining to provide further detail, "because that's a big spoiler." Though his comments suggest that some amount of interconnectivity between the new Superman film and what comes next is inevitable.

"I don’t know how Justice League is going to be handled. Honestly, I don't," Snyder said to the Post. "But Man of Steel exists, and Superman is in it. I don't know how you'd move forward without acknowledging that."

Since Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy has ended and 2011's Green Lantern was a financial and critical disappointed, Man of Steel would presumably be the first film set in a connected DC movie universe, much like 2008's Iron Man was for Marvel. But while Iron Man had a follow-up later that same summer in The Incredible Hulk, there would a two-year gap (or more) between Man of Steel and Justice League.

Man of Steel, directed by Snyder and starring Henry Cavill in the title role, is scheduled for release on June 14, 2013. Justice League is targeted for a 2015 release, and no director or cast has been announced yet.

Saw that last night on FB. Big rumor with some legs to it going around that...



Not sure how I feel about that to be honest.

Gordon-Levitt's people have denied it but I personally wouldn't rule it out. While I would be happy they would want to tie the Justice League movie into the Nolanverse Batfilms if they ARE going to have Batman in Justice League, he needs to be Bruce Wayne. Period.

If they DO make Blake Batman I think they should keep Ryan Reymolds as Hal too. That will mean they've had a DC Cinematic Universe for ten years and we didn't even know it yet!

Batman needs to be recast for any JL movie. And the character needs to be Bruce Wayne. The Nolan movies are their own animal, and any DC Universe in the movies should start with Man of Steel and go from there IMO.

I don't know... I think Man of Steel is going to be Man of Tin or something witty like that... it's another Superman Returns waiting to happen. It's a story of self discovery... and while that's an awesome read and makes for great Superman comics... we've seen it before in the first Superman film... and I just got done of TEN years of it on television. Must we go through it again? Really?

Yeah I agree we've all had our fill of superman origin stories on screen. But I have a feeling this one uses the origin as a build up and tie in to the main crux of the story. we still don't know enough about it yet but I think it's going to be new and different enough not to feel like we've seen it all before.

Agreed, 110%.

Nothing against JGL - he's a great actor, but he is not Batman material. He doesn't have the look or the...what's the word...weathered-ness that Batman needs. Can you imagine JGL standing beside Henry Cavill? He'd look like a kid. Just physically, he's completely wrong for the role. And that's assuming that they'd want him to play Bruce (the only Batman that should be shown in an introductory JLA movie) and not Blake.

If they are gonna try and tie it to the Nolanverse (which I would not really object to) they should just get Christian Bale. I know the Rises gave him a pretty definitive ending but if they MUST revisit the Nolanverse it needs to be Bruce and not Blake. Of course the simplest answer would be to not tie it to the Nolan films at all.