A Justice League Movie After All?

A few years ago, Warners came very close to making a movie called Justice League: Mortal.  There was a cast, a director, a script, but it was all cancelled at the last minute.  That movie would have then, hypothetically, branched off into a number of solo projects, but it was never meant to be.  Then, once Green Lantern was first being developed, there were quiet rumors of this being the beginning of a DC shared universe.  With upcoming adaptations of the Flash, Wonder Woman, and the Superman reboot, it actually looked quite possible.  The GL script even had a Clark Kent cameo, and what looked to be the beginnings of a unified continuity.  It would be very similar to what Marvel had planned for the Avengers.  The only problem then, was Batman.

Well, of course it was his fault.  He's such a dick.

See, you can't put Nolan's Batman in the Justice League.  The whole point of that world was that there were no powers of any kind.  But you could always recast Bats once the Nolan trilogy was done, and have the new Batman be a part of the shared universe, or even leave him out altogether.  What was the final straw?  Superman.  When Chris Nolan started godfathering the Superman reboot, he insisted that it be an isolated story.  And with no Superman or Batman, what's the point of a Justice League?  Geoff Johns, DC's CCO, then commented that their characters were "bigger than Marvel's" and that they would give each character a solo movie and their own personal continuity.

But no more!  Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov has confirmed a Justice League movie is on track for 2013, which makes about zero sense.  The Flash and Wonder Woman are supposedly getting movies as well, but we've been hearing this for years and I'm struggling to believe it.  But the JLA in 2013?  That's a bit tight for a project that will combine so many franchises.  Green Lantern seems fine on his own, but is all set to join up.  I guess the Superman reboot will now be part of this world.  But with a 2013 release, no other character could possibly get a solo movie in before then.  DC would have to suddenly have all these characters meet at once in the movie, explain their origins, and then battle their epic threat.

That threat being Joel Schumacher

But how is this different from Marvel?  Well, Marvel's characters are less known, but they have a strong, cohesive vision for what their world is going to be.  This is possible because there is little pre existing material for each franchise.  There was no earlier Thor reboot or Hawkeye live action TV show to get in the way of the Avengers.  DC has to deal with earlier franchises, a soon to be completed Batman trilogy, as well as confusion over a Wonder Woman TV show.  Having a Superman show developing his early years on the CW is not the same as putting a full Wonder Woman project on NBC.  You can't compare the two.  This entire package of announcements feels rushed and more than a little conflicting with earlier developments.  Many of these scripts have been "in development" for so long it's hard to take them seriously anymore.

So while I'm unbelievably pumped for the Avengers, something that's been steadily building up for years now,  I still doubt we'll be seeing a Justice League adaptation in the near future.  While a Justice League movie COULD be a thing of beauty, I think between the existing franchises and odd timing, we won't see it fulfilled by the ridiculously close deadline of 2013.