Darkseid is the Villain in Justice League

[cleverusername8]

I know a risky but possibly quite doable solution: follow the cartoon.

Set up a war between Apocalypse and Brainiac. Make it clear that Superman has a history with both Darkseid and Brainiac. Then follow the plot of the Justice League episode 'Twilight (of the gods)'.

MOS 2 introduces and focuses on Lex Luthor, Cadmus, and Brainiac. Then JL 2 follows the combined stories of the JLU arc from 'Flashpoint', 'Panic in the Sky', and 'Divided We Fall'. MOS 3 could have Luthor come back angry as ever and obsessed with reconstituting Brainiac to become a god.

JL 3 goes in with a condensed adaptation of the story from 'Alive' then the last 2/3 of the movie is a fleshed out plot based on 'Destroyer' which would NOT be teased in the trailers to make Darkseid's return have maximum "holy ****" impact on the audience.

In my mind, that'd reconcile them using Darkseid in the first movie if they follow that plan. The story arc you see through the episodes I mentioned gave me my love for JLU and why it remains one of my favorite cartoon series of all time. Granted it'd be super tricky to adapt without making the thing seem too silly or cartoonish, but with the right oversight, it could blow the Avengers trilogy right out of the ocean.

Update: Here are the links to the episodes in order. I couldn't do it before because I was using my phone :S

Justice League 1 - Pretty much straightforward adaptation of this story
----------------
'Twilight (of the gods)'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgpP2fG1LZc

Justice League 2 - Rewritten to exclude subplots like Question & Superman killing Luthor in an alternate dimension and amalgamating the following
----------------
'Flashpoint'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWNGG2S1q7Y

Really only the second half of this episode. Maybe after 10:27 and onwards. Followed up by

'Panic in the Sky'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCm4o3iHgrY

'Divided We Fall'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mbl9lmrsiY

Justice League 3 - These but with smaller JL and Legion of Doom rosters (obviously)
----------------
'Alive'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jggeZkJLcM8

'Destroyer'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpZs2CfDa3g

[Sun_Down]

Originally Posted by Marvin

So the same year we see Thanos is the very anticipated Avengers sequel we'll get Darkseid in the (not as hyped as even avengers one was) JLA film..

Still think WB is going about this backwards.
everyone knows some of the best eps of JLU weren't where they simply fought darkseid, but rather when they fought a big team of villains...or mixed it up a bit. Just look as DC online.

Kind of agree here. Yeah, they need something big enough to justify all of the firepower in the League, but I'd still prefer Max Lord or something more unique. The Avengers comparisons are obvious, but maybe it won't really matter. I mean, no one went to Avengers to see Loki.

Max Lord for the sequel? Once they've established Batman's paranoia?

[hotrain33]

I agree with what everybody says using darkseid as the first villian of the league is not smart. Unfortunately marvel is ahead in the game and DC/Warner Brothers, is being pushed around and needs a good strategy to counter what was done successfully by marvel. I think Brainiac would be a better villain also. Man of Steel is the only lead in for the justice league. He would fit the whole krytonian war battle between Superman and general zod. The general was not working alone but for another invader who's power is much greater than the man of steel himself. Thus superman needs help to defeat this android.

[Jake Cassidy]

Do we even know if Thanos is going to be in Avengers 2?

[cleverusername8]

Originally Posted by Jake Cassidy

Do we even know if Thanos is going to be in Avengers 2?

We don't. People assumed due to the mid-credits scene, but in actuality it was simply just showing his involvement in the MCU. I have no doubt he'll show up somewhere down the line in one of the Avengers related films but for now, we'll probably only see him on screen in Guardians of the Galaxy as he blazes his path to Earth... the painful way.

[Nathan]

I hope that Thanos shows up in Avengers 2, only because I'm not sure if Downey will still hang around for part 3.

[cleverusername8]

Originally Posted by Nathan

I hope that Thanos shows up in Avengers 2, only because I'm not sure if Downey will still hang around for part 3.

I'm getting the feeling that he won't either. He's done good work with Iron Man and he sees that. But the man is probably feeling similarly to Christian Bale right now with that he's played the character for a really long time now and it's time for him to lay the character to rest and do other things while his career is still kicking. I wouldn't blame him one bit and I'd welcome it if that is what he chooses. But in reality, Marvel will probably go great lengths to keep him on board since he pretty much is their star player at the moment only rivaled by maybe Tom Hiddleson's Loki.

And on the bright side, Iron Man leaving the team would just mean more opening for new characters to take the stage. More powerful characters because we all know the team will need them once the Titan hits Earth... I always thought how realistically a man in a robotic suit would stand up to a nearly all powerful immortal...

[Hamill-Joker]

Think we'll see the Furies? Thought one of the best parts of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse was the battle with the Furies.

[samsnee]

This is a bad idea to me. It's like bringing in Parallax as the first villain for Green Lantern. Everything will either feel rushed or half thought out. I want a great JL movie but DC just doesn't inspire confidence in me so far.

[the last son]

Really people really think it's tough to compete against the avengers? That movie was childish, boring, and immature. Totally unrealistic and out of character for most of them. It was as bad as batman and robin imo. People I think when they say compete with this movie are talking about matching it dollar for dollar. That won't happen so don't go in trying to do that. Just make a good movie. A tone serious as MOS and go from there. This is pretty simple. Destroy avengers in how to take a comic team up movie serious and blow it out thew water. And go with Bruce Wayne. This is simple folds. Who cares if Darkseid and thanos are similar. Worry about your own movie. God, let me direct the dam thing.

[Edguy]

Originally Posted by cleverusername8

And on the bright side, Iron Man leaving the team would just mean more opening for new characters to take the stage. More powerful characters because we all know the team will need them once the Titan hits Earth... I always thought how realistically a man in a robotic suit would stand up to a nearly all powerful immortal...

The death of Tony Stark could, if they have the balls, be played as a pretty damn impact-full event!

[Nathan]

They wouldn't kill him off. If Downey decides it's his time to leave, they'll just recast him.

[Hamill-Joker]

RDJ leaving will be a big blow to the Marvel movie universe, he's practically the entire reason it got off the ground.

[Nathan]

It's going to happen eventually. So we should all get used to the idea. So far Marvel has done a bang up job with casting. I trust that they'll find a good replacement when the time comes.

[Octoberist]

I think RDJ is a trooper and a company man, but yeah, he's been doing this back-to-back, while his smaller projects hang in the air, including his project with Paul Thomas Anderson.

[Nathan]

I just read the Justice League 52 comics. I didn't know that Darkseid showed up so early. I wonder if the Movie will follow the comic. I know I wouldn't really be happy with that. Darkseid showing up at the end, playing rough with the Justice League and then he gets send back home again. I think if you want to do him real justice, you need to build him up over a few movies.

[kguillou]

Originally Posted by Nathan

It's going to happen eventually. So we should all get used to the idea. So far Marvel has done a bang up job with casting. I trust that they'll find a good replacement when the time comes.

The thing is...RDJ is not young. He's already in his mid-40's, unlike his fellow Avengers who are all mostly in their very early 30's. So...i'd imagine that pretty soon--around the time of Avengers 2--he's going to want to move on.

Then again, the flip is that RDJ actually LOVES playing Ironman. He's not one of those actors who reluctanclty puts on the tights and just wants his paycheck. You can tell he loves this stuff. So who knows, maybe he wont be going anywhere anytime soon.

[MLSkinner]

too bad since then thanos has become the better character overall. darkseid hasn't been taken seriously for years.

[HighFivingMF]

Originally Posted by MLSkinner

darkseid hasn't been taken seriously for years.

... That isn't true.

[solidsnake86]

Originally Posted by kguillou

The thing is...RDJ is not young. He's already in his mid-40's, unlike his fellow Avengers who are all mostly in their very early 30's. So...i'd imagine that pretty soon--around the time of Avengers 2--he's going to want to move on.

Then again, the flip is that RDJ actually LOVES playing Ironman. He's not one of those actors who reluctanclty puts on the tights and just wants his paycheck. You can tell he loves this stuff. So who knows, maybe he wont be going anywhere anytime soon.

RDJ has really made the character what he is. On top of that he is just a great actor, it will be tough shoes to follow when and if they recast.

[mat-chow]

Imagine at the end of MOS a Boom Tube opens and a badly wounded Orion crashes to Earth. Superman investigates and all Orion can say is "He is coming" or some such. Could be very epic. Just saying.

[cleverusername8]

Originally Posted by Edguy

The death of Tony Stark could, if they have the balls, be played as a pretty damn impact-full event!

I wasn't thinking death per se, I was thinking just Tony leaving the whole superhero thing behind. From what it looks like, Iron Man 3 could be the ticket to that. Even if it won't be a "serious" movie, it will undoubtedly have an effect on the character from what happened in Avengers and IM3.

Maybe he will shrink into a behind the scenes type role. Use his new Extremis abilities off of the battlefield to gain advantages through technology but not as Iron Man. Maybe they'll even have him pat Rhodey on the back and say go for it and have War Machine take his spot on the team. I wouldn't really want that to happen but I could see it.

But heck, this isn't the Avengers forum :P Back on topic, I still stand behind my original idea of following the cartoon's Darkseid involvement. Set it up with the Apokolips vs. Brainiac story moving to Lex meshing with Brainiac and Lex losing Brainiac. Then the obsession driving him to bring Brainiac back in a drastic way that accidentally summons Darkseid back from his defeat and stronger than ever leading him to attack Earth forcing the heroes and villains to unite to prevent the world from literally going to crap. The ending of JLU's Destroyer was hands down the best finale I've ever seen out of a cartoon let alone a superhero one.

[thorstone]

Why do some fans want Warner to milk things with lesser villains before moving to Darkseid? You wouldn't do Transformers without Megatron or He-man without Skeletor. Darkseid is the ultimate DC cosmic villain.

Originally Posted by mat-chow

Imagine at the end of MOS a Boom Tube opens and a badly wounded Orion crashes to Earth. Superman investigates and all Orion can say is "He is coming" or some such. Could be very epic. Just saying.

They could connect Darkseid to the destruction of Krypton.

[Dark Knight]

Darkseid as the main baddie in a Justice League film is a no brainer really.

Great choice by Beall and WB's on that, instead of wasting time and having the Justice League battle Sinestro and his Corp or Braniac.

Darkseid is the man!

[The Guard]

Darkseid has basically become the JLA's arch enemy over the years. It makes perfect sense that he would be their first major foe that they have not encountered before in solo adventures.

Anyone who gives a crap that Marvel used Thanos in a minute-long clip at the end of THE AVENGERS and will be using him in other films, and the fact that audiences might see similarities between the characters because of this, instead of the fact that we're getting Darkseid, period, quite simply cares about the wrong things in this situation.

Darkseid could have a presence throughout the franchise, and there are plenty of places to go in sequels, with or without him. If it's true, it's an obvious move, yes, but given Marvel's use of Thanos, it's still something of a bold one. It's a smart move storywise. And I can't wait.