How would yo introduce all the JLA members in the Film???

Lineup: Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Stewart), The Flash (Barry), Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Batman

How they meet:
Start with Superman and Green Lantern responding to something together. They form an odd partnership. When they realize the size of the threat, they begin to get help from whoever they can, people they've heard of, or have met briefly. Superman goes and gets Wonder Woman, Green Lantern goes to get The Flash. After this meeting, Wonder Woman goes to get Aquaman while Superman is contacted by something called The Martian Manhunter that has ominous warnings about the threat. Meanwhile Green Lantern goes to Oa to do research while Flash tries to recruit Zatanna, Green Arrow, Cyborg and Black Canary, and fails. After this, the six come together, and then Batman shows up to lay down the law, which exacerbates the division already amongst them. This whole process takes about forty minutes, and is just the set up.

We meet Superman doing superman things, catching a space shuttle, and Green Lantern around the same time supplimenting him by creating a large helpful construct to set things on and building supports for leaning structures.

We meet Wonder Woman laying down the law on some of the enemy foot soldiers, she is undaunted until she's able to save a little girl who is trapped under some rubble, who she cradles with maternal-like care before addressing Superman.

We meet Flash in a diner, in civvies, talking to Stewart as old friends as Stewart explains the situation.

We meet Aquaman destroying some chemical plant near the ocean, grumpy and unwilling to interfere in surface world affairs.

We meet Martian Manhunter deep inside Area 51.

We meet Cyborg in STAR Labs, Zatanna at her magic show, Green Arrow at the helm of his company and Black Canary alongside Green Arrow. They are busy, self dismissive and generally unavailable physically and emotionally.

 

Line-Up:
Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman
Bruce Wayne/Batman
Diana Prince/Diana of Themyscira/Wonder Woman
Hal Jordan/Green Lantern
Barry Allen/The Flash
Arthur Curry/Orin/Aquaman
John Jones/J'onn J'onnz/Martian Manhunter
Victor Stone/Cyborg*

*-Perhaps to be introduced as an honorary member.

If Justice League were to be a sequel only to Man of Steel, I would have a Lord of the Rings/ Kingdom Come style prologue to introduce each character to the audience. The prologue would be:

Introduction/Superman section:

Spoiler

(italics denote an overlaid narration, the narration itself would be read by a deep commanding voice, one that is simultaneously very deep and soothing but also entirely unsettling)-

"Two years ago, the people of Earth encountered an outside species for the first time. Two warring factions fought for the fate of the planet, the forces of General Zod and his treasonous Kryptonian allies, and their new saviour battling for his adopted home- Superman".

This would have brief flashes of General Zod and the fight against Superman in the Metropolis to establish the world it is set in and that Superman is the first hero.

"He was adorned with the title of superhero, and placed upon a pedestal as a paragon of virtue to some..."

This would be accompanied by shots of Superman going about his superheroics, saving planes and stopping bank robberies, maybe a couple small time villain cameos.

"but to others he is considered an outcast who fear his inhuman nature, and powers far beyond those of mortal men."

This would be accompanied by a quick flash of Superman killing Zod and looking stoic, floating above the skyline of Metropolis at night.

"The humans did not know that they were one of many inhuman influences on the Earth. They would soon discover otherwise."

Wonder Woman section:

Spoiler

"The Amazons. The army of Ares."

Quick shot of women in battle, outfitted in ancient Greek armour. Slowly panning to one warrior in particular, over her chest revealing the adornments of a stylised eagle, but what also appears to be two "W" shapes, until reaching her face.

"Diana, daughter of Themyscira. A born warrior. Though not one born without compassion".

We see a plane crash onto their island, with an injured man inside, many of the amazons are disgusted and attempt to kill him. Diana, feeling both compassion and pity for the man who doesn't deserve to die fights tooth and nail against her sisters to protect him.

"However, a warrior race has no place for love."

We see that Diana is heard out by her Amazon sisters, and even given trial. She is to be exiled for one year in order to experience the decadence of Man's World, and is made to leave with Steve Trevor.

Aquaman section:

Spoiler

"Arthur Curry was abandoned by his family upon his birth. His family was the royals of Atlantis believed to be the descendants of Poseidon himself. However, a prophecy long dictated that the blonde haired king would be the end of Atlantis, and accepting the words of a madman over their son, he was left ashore to die. He was left with only the ceremonial golden trident that was left to the cursed king".

Establishing shot of an oil rig in the middle of the ocean. We then see an explosion protrude from the side of the structure. A tracking shot of would reveal people running in terror from what is coming. People are jumping into evacuation vehicles. We see green, shark finned boots walk by the screen, cut to some PMC soldiers firing assault rifles at the assailant, screaming that he is just standing there taking the bullets. Apart from one cut to the assailant's eyes and forehead to show one bullet just about break his skin he still isn't seen yet, only his boots visible.

The end of a golden trident slams into the floor, triggering a deafening crack of thunder. It begins to rain. The PMC disperses and flees the scene. From a longshot of the oil rig structure we see a figure scaling the structure.

At the top of the structure, we see the figure from behind, it's a man, orange tinted gold armour and long unkempt blonde hair. He hoists the trident into the air and from the depths a vicious Kraken like monster wraps its tentacles reaches throughout the structure, tearing down the concrete abomination. The man is also pulled into the depths.

But he arises again, finally giving the audience their first full view of him, the scale mail, the green gloves, and the golden belt adorned with the symbol for Atlantis, or to the audience, its second meaning- Aquaman.

"King Arthur is determined to reclaim his throne."

Martian Manhunter:

Spoiler

"Officer John Jones. A man who lost his family so long ago, he can scarcely remember how, this murderer, has especially offended John Jones."

John Jones would be pursuing, what is introduced to the audience over the police radio as a man who killed his wife and child. A car pursuit ends as the murderers car pulls up to a project and runs inside, although Jones is told not to pursue, he recklessly runs into the derelict building.

Pursuing him in the dark, we hear the murderer say he will kill John if he keeps coming after him, undeterred, John bursts into a dank grimy room, and he is shot several times.

"He had no idea what he got himself into".

As we focus on the murderer, we see a huge figure ascending behind him, with glowing, crimson eyes. As light enters the room we see a blue uniform and the murderer turns around. The figure thrusts his hand into the man's head (phased, don't worry), who slumps to the floor, unconscious.

"J'onn J'onnz, the last Martian, has always been a lawaman. 100 million years ago he was a Manhunter, but an unknown force struck Mars, leaving it barren and lifeless, J'onn was left in sleep until he made his way to Earth".

Shots of the Martian civilisation, and the Manhunters, and a time-lapse, of the decay of Martian society, and the death of J'onn's family.

Green Lantern section:

Spoiler

"Far away at the centre of the galaxy, the immortal, self-proclaimed "Guardians" constructed a corps that would police the 3, 600 sector designated with the most powerful weapon ever constructed: the Green Lantern power ring, fuelled by all lifeforms in existence.

Just shots of the Guardians on Oa and random aliens.

"Their legendary officer, Abin Sur, was killed by a monster of their own making".


Self descriptive, Abin Sur would be killed either by Atrocitus, Kronalax, Legion or Manhunters.

"And Earthman Hal Jordan was deputised as his replacement for sector 2814, he was trained by the greatest officer in the Corps, Thaal Sinestro.

Shots of Hal Jordan finding Abin Sur's body and training on Oa, as well as igniting his badge for the first time.

"It would appear that the Guardians have a new greatest officer."

The Flash section:

Spoiler

"Though one has arisen to the seemingly godlike status without inhuman intervention".

Flash of lightning engulfs the screen.

"Purely by happenstance Barry Allen imbued himself with immense power".

This time, we see a colossal lightning bolt striking Barry.

"In the past several months several crimes in Central City have been stopped seemingly by a guardian angel, righting wrongs at lightning speed. He can exist between the ticks of a clock...

This would have a top down view of the city with a red streak racing across the street, sometimes there would even be a few red streaks on the screen.

At the top of a building, we pan up on a man, he is wearing gold boots, a golden, lightning shaped belt, as the camera rotates around him, lightning bolts adorn his forearms, as well as his chest.

"He is The Flash".

Batman section:

Spoiler

Panoramic view of a dirty city. Classical European gothic architecture is dotted with huge modern towers, stone gargoyles are seen side by side with glass spires.

"And there is another legend".

We see a group of muggers running down an alley way after a successful night, camera tracking at the level of their feet.A great silhouette engulfs the screen.

"Not entirely human".

We see the muggers faces, they're breathing hard now, red faced, screaming. They're running in fear.

"More than just a man."

The men stop at the end of the maze of alleys, and rest, confident they have escaped danger.

"A spectre of vengeance."

We see the silhouette, staring down at the men from a building top. He waits deliberately until he knows they have seen him. He jumps, revealing his totem, as his cape engulfs the screen.

"The Batman".

Villain- Starro The Conqueror

How each would be introduced to the story:

The first introductions-

Superman- Metropolis has been attacked, the entire city is asleep. All heartbeats and breaths are regulated and synchronised, he is left to take care of the chaos.

Martian Manhunter- He detects a vast primordial mind on Earth, one that is malevolent in nature, he flies east to investigate it.

Aquaman- One of the Starro probes has attacked Atlantis which he kills.

The Flash- He hears about what is happening in Metropolis and runs there in order to help with ensuing problems, including racing doctors over from Central City to Metropolis hospitals.

The later introductions-

Green Lantern- He is contacted by the Guardians to investigate how a species in his sector managed to utilise all natural resources of the planet in one year to the point where they need to evacuate, when Barry calls him to help Superman in Metropolis with planes falling etc.

Wonder Woman- Steve Trevor was due to have a meeting on behalf of ARGUS with Lexcorp CEO. Wonder Woman departs for Metropolis to discover the underlying problem.

Batman- A Wayne Enterprises satellite was dragged down to Earth, falling in Atlantis. Given how the circumstances of how the last fell (Superman vs Zod) he believes it is worth investigating.

How the heroes meet each other:

The first meeting is Superman and The Flash. The Flash offers his services to Superman in helping people. Flash drafts in Green Lantern to help Superman with the rescues. Wonder Woman shows up only to save Steve, Superman says he will help her if she helps him.

The second meeting would be Batman and Aquaman, Bruce is exploring the Atlantic Ocean in tracking the position of the satellite, when he comes across a large starfish like creature, however, his sub comes under attack and is thrust to the surface. J'onn J'onnz saves Batman from death by explaining to Arthur that Bruce had no part in the monster attacking his home.

The third meeting would finally be the team meeting together for the first time, J'onn scans the entire world for the same thought processes he felt before and discovers he can feel it all over Metropolis, he then searches for those not under the influence of the creature and the seven finally meet up in Metropolis.

Plot- VERY rough outline (you can tell it's rough because Batman is essntially just transportation atm, but hey shut up, I'm tired, okay?)

Spoiler

Essentially, Starro The Conqueror, unsurprisingly, conquers worlds and uses up their natural resources to feed and fatten and reproduce his armada. He would, consider himself, like the Justice League, in that he is in his own mind, a self made god.

Along with the League dealing with increasingly more people in the northern hemisphere falling asleep, we would see the struggle of young Norman McCay as he tries to remember something missing form the world- superheroes. J'onn, can sense his despair, but the boy's mind is fading, but the fact he can resist shows he may be able to have his brainwaves replicated to fight off the psychoses.

All the people of Earth are trapped in a living nightmare, but Norman McCay hasn't been taken by Starro yet, he is still trying to remember, this is when the face hugger Starro's come out, as they try to put them on him, but they are repelled by him.

Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash and Wonder Woman willingly allow J'onn to induce unconsciousness in them for 30 mins and letting them enter the dream. The three find themselves powerless trying to fight off everyone they love.

Batman, Aquaman and J'onn pursue the cause of the the sleep inducing. Both J'onn and Arthur sense a great presence north, and obviously, Bruce flies them north.

In the dream the heroes are being overrun by the people they love as well as those they have saved in the past, and Norman is losing hope. Superman is held down and a face hugger is placed on his face, and Norman finally screams out "Superman!" in desperation. Superman realises who he is, and returns fully powered. The others also realise that the threat is just a dream, and their powers return too. Wonder Woman, Flash and Lantern save the boy, and are awoken. Superman forces sleep upon himself in order to confront the monster.

In the most northern reaches of Canada/Greenland Bruce, Arthur and J'onn encounter the source of the trouble. But it is submerged in water, Arthur dives out of the plane to confront it. As he is swimming he notes that the water is inky black, which is unfamiliar, but the water then goes green all around him and he realises his terrible mistake. The creature just blinked, the creature being a city sized version of the beast he encountered as Atlantis. Arthur begins to probe its mind and discovers that it serves the will of another, in retaliation, the eye fires a beam out at Arthur, greatly injuring him.

Green Lantern is warned of a huge threat invading the Earth, the people are now they're secondary problem, and considering the scale of the invasion, just saving a few zombie people would be considered a win. But as he is the only space faring member immediately present, he begins fighting alone.

Batman The Flash and Wonder Woman take Norman to Batman and J'onn. They explain what happened in the dreamworld and Batman interrogates Norman as to why he couldn't be taken (desperate times), he and J'onn conclude he produces brainwaves that repel the starros, a brainwave pattern previously only held by the Martian species and was dubbed the Life Equation. J'onn then transmits this to every human on the planet, which shatters his psyche, whilst simultaneously, using J'onn as a conduit to Norman, Aquaman does the same to the Starro probe. Green Lantern reports they are successful, all but one ship begins a retreat. The final ship begins a descent to where this all began, Metropolis.

Out of the ship steps Starro The Conqueror, not a starfish, but the humanoid. Even devoid of his army, and with the Justice League having the knowledge of defeating him, he will still take this world. He illuminates the League in that while every single human has been liberated from his influence, there is a non human among them, and the retreat of the army is temporary, the starros listen to his will, not each others. Superman slams down into the ground, Superman and Starro stand shoulder to shoulder, with the League down.

Superman places a face hugger starro on Norman and the Life Equation is lost from them.

Green Lantern, Flash, J'onn and Aquaman fight Starro (they also save the civvies from death in the fallout).

Obligatory Wonder Woman & Batman vs Superman fight.

Superman is freed, as is Norman and we have the Superman vs big bad fight.

The Life Equation is then given straight to Starro (humanoid) and all the starros across the galaxy retreat, but they can't retreat from their own mind, and J'onn believes they are lost to madness.

Justice League officially formed.

It is revealed that to escape the Life Equation the starros have retreated to the world closest to discovering the Anti-Life Equation: Apokolips. The barren landscape is dotted with thousands of starros and Starro himself is on a leash, being led by a master himself now, Darkseid, the God of Evil, and as revealed, the narrator of the prologue.

 

Really, I think anything more than five Leaguers in the first movie, without any set up movies would be overdoing it.

Personally I would like to see Superman, Batman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, and possibly Green Lantern.

Save Wonder Woman and all her crazy mythology for a sequel's escalation. Same with Aquaman.

 

You cant have a JL without Wonder Woman. I would be super pissed off if Martian Manhunter or Green Lantern was in it but not WW.

 

I think it's too much to juggle.

If they had a Wonder Woman solo film, that'd be one thing, but they're going to be merging enough universes, without bringing in stuff like magic / mythology.

Save that for a sequel when you have solid footing.

 

If you aren't doing the big 5 don't bother making this film. Ever.

 

Well, I wouldn't advise making the film without solo movies... so, yeah.

Just imagine if Marvel tried to fit Thor's entire origin story / world / mythology into the Avengers, on top of several other characters with intricate backstories, who haven't been on the big screen - ever, going in with only Iron Man as a developed character.

Hell, they have yet to successfully bring Wonder Woman to the big screen. They can't even get Green Lantern right.

So yeah, I have very serious reservations about them bringing 5 characters (half of whom are untested) from very different, genre-clashing worlds, into one movie, and making it work.

 

Personally I don't think you need to introduce any of the charcters. They never did that in "Batman '89" nor did they do that in "Watchmen" or "X-Men". That's because it's not necessary, especially since characters like Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern along with the brand "Justice League" are practically household names.

 

So in essence, if you look at your own words from the other side, what you're saying is: Avengers doesn't work as a standalone.

Because anyone who sees Thor or Captain America, or Hulk, or Iron Man, Black Widow or Hawkeye without having seen the preceding films would be lost because of the (omitted, but briefly explained) intricate backstories.

 

See, I dislike that. It's why I don't enjoy those DC animated films, where we're just expected to relate and care about these characters, with little, if any development.

I see each adaptation's character as unique individuals. It's not just Batman, it's a specific Batman, unique from other adaptions. DCAU worked because we knew those characters, we got to see them develop quite a bit. Even the ones introduced in JL, got a lot of time to develop, as the series went on.

I may be in the minority with that attitude, but I'm just explaining my position.

As for them being household names, you might be surprised, how little that translates to younger audiences, who have never been introduced to these characters in any significant way. Superman Returns had that problem. Who was that Superman? Reeve recast? A new Superman? No one knew.

 

I didn't say it wouldn't work. I said it is not necessary. They have had avengers cartoons for decades now with out a single Thor or Wasp and Ant Man series, now have they?

 

I will say this, without the success of the Iron Man movies, which made Iron Man a global sensation, you wouldn't even have an Avengers movie.

You could still make one, sure. It might even be successful, but it would absolutely pail in comparison.

I admit it's not a perfect comparison, because the DC characters have much more distinct universe, partially because they were developed more independently. From a cinematic POV, they clash a lot more, as well. Most (if not all of the Avengers) were created by one team.

It's hard to imagine Nolan's Batman interacting with Greek mythological entities, and aliens.

 

But that was a business decision that Marvel made. The could have had an Avengers film anyway regardless of the outcome of Iron Man. I think what was more important to them was establishing the franchises of the individual properties first so that they knew they had them going. Their business model is to leverage all of their 5000 some odd characters in any form of media they could and characters like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and The Hulk, are like flagship characters to them.

 

1. If Batman exists in this continuity then you can bet your house that they will use JGL as Batman. It's already set up.

2. If there is a Superman 2 before Justice League then it is the best opportunity to introduce Wonder Woman. The Greek gods should only be refered to as the "old gods." Wonder Woman's costume and lasso should be alien in origin. The old gods should be aliens like the "new gods." The whole Amazon in the world of men thing should be metaphorical. She is a woman in the world of men without being an Amazon. Her powers could be attributed simply to her being born with them.

3. No Green Lantern. They burned that goose.

4. Martian Manhunter would be shown in the opening of the JL film arriving through a portal in the 1960s. Present at the event would be Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. The base of the JL group would be formed before the additions of Flash, Batman, and Superman.

5. The Flash's origin could remain a mystery for his own film like Wolverine. We would be given clues about a scientific experiment that went wrong, but the story wouldn't be blown in the first feature.

6. If there is no Batman then the Blue Beetle, Owlman, or Hawkwoman could replace him. Blue Beetle or Owlman would essentially be analogues for Batman who has no powers. Hawkwoman could be explained as a meta human born with magnokinesis (daughter of Hawkman).

 

I think you underestimate how important these solo films are. Iron Man success was crucial to the Avengers. He (Downey's portrayal of Tony Stark / Iron Man) was half the appeal to the general audience.

It's not just about money, it's about making a character work in live action, on the big screen. As we learned from Green Lantern, that's easier said than done. They also had the good sense to set the movies up so they can cross over easily.

You don't just throw a bunch of superheroes with radically different backgrounds on the screen and hope it works. Well, you can, but it could be a total disaster, and given DC's track record, it probably will be.

 

How would I introduce the JL?

Since this is following on from Man of Steel 2, it would largely depend on what's going down there. Let's say for example in the last scene Clark Kent the reporter meets the new Bruce Wayne then fades to black and credits roll. It would take place one to two years later, both Superman and Batman meet while stopping some crime together, then realise there's something more here. It would play out similarly to "Secret Origins" from the DCAU's JL.

The Justice League movie(which is better to do sooner than later) could simply be a collision course of all these heroes who all meet at the climax? Throughout the film we see each of their own stories which all force them to come together. I would definitely take cues from The New Frontier on how Darwyn Cooke handled this.

 

Sorry for the confusion, my reply was intended for Thundercrack, but it took ages to actually load, so your post got posted before mine.

 

The trilogy is over. It's confirmed. JGL will never happen and im glad now. If they used TDKT and not Bale/Bruce after all those months of teasing, I would boycott the damn thing.

 

As it turned out, Iron Man was a key film for it to work since they featured Robert Downey Jr. later on in the "Avengers", but if you remember, The Incredible Hulk was a disappointment, which led Marvel to find other venues to feature the character while Thor and Captain America barely made enough to warrant sequels. This just shows you the risk you take when you do the solo films route. It is very expensive and risky. Furthermore, it is obvious that there are people who are just out to ridicule anything that WB/DCE puts out on the big screen (as evidenced from both "Green Lantern", "The Dark Knight Rises", and "Man of Steel") so it will be an even riskier endeavor to try and go the solo route. Like I said before, It is not necessary to do solo films and history has proven that.

 

Eh, Cap may have only barely made enough to justify a sequel. . . but Thor didn't. Thor made almost 450M on a 150M budget. For a character as unknown as he, that was damn good, if not IM level. And even Cap, I suspect the execs took into account its unfortunate proximity to Harry Potter.

 

"Man of Steel" will make upwards of $700 million and people are questioning if that was good. That's the thing about it. There are two standards for Marvel and DC film and it doesn't seem fair. It seems that DC film have to cross a higher bar.

 

Well, part of that is, MoS had a much higher *budget* than Thor. 450M is damn good for Thor, at 150M budget, but it'd just barely be breaking even for MoS with its 225M budget.

 

how about we start with the big 5 (SM,BM, WW, GL & Flash), and we do 5 15-20 minute "mini-movies" where each character can be displayed, in super form as well as secret identity form. At some point Dr. Fate will come into each story and "kidnap" the heroes. It's then revealed that Vandal Savage has been using Fate to secure each of the 5 hero's powers, somehow becoming a mega-villain. Eventually the 5 League members and Dr. Fate defeat Vandal.

Would give every character some breathing room, a chance to introduce each one, save Darkseid for JL 2 or 3, bring magic into the mix and force these god-like heroes to join forces.

I know, not very good, just trying to think outside the box!