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Under regular circumstances, this news would have me covered head to toe in goosebumps. I’d be bouncing around the house, screaming ‘woo-hoo’ and grinning from ear to ear. The thing is… I’m worried.
Further to recent news regarding a Justice League film, reports have now surfaced suggesting production may begin as soon as early 2008. Not only will this overlap with post-production on The Dark Knight - meaning Christian Bale’s participation may be unlikely, given the short time since donning the batsuit - but it appears to have been confirmed the sequel to Superman Returns will go into principal photography at the same time. Needless to say, recasting of these pivotal roles may be a necessity.
Will audiences warm to a Justice League with new faces so close to the other films? While it’s entirely possible the feature could work within a different ‘reality’ - so to speak - it sounds as though the studio is aiming for an intelligent take on the superhero team that can lead to multiple spinoffs and a contained reality, ala Fox’s plans for the X-Men franchise. Rumor has it the storyline will feature Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (John Stewart) and Aquaman in a plot based on the recent OMAC storyline in the comics, with a view to expanding the film into spinoffs for the secondary characters.
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For those who don’t know, the OMAC storyline - in a nutshell - features Batman creating an intrusive worldwide surveillance network called Brother Eye, much to the chagrin of the other team members, that gains sentience and control of a network of modified human ’sleeper cells’ (the OMACs). Following the worldwide broadcast of Wonder Woman murdering the OMAC creator, Maxwell Lord, a war begins between the world’s superheroes and Lord’s creations. Given the emotional potential of the story, it certainly lends itself well to an epic film and gives Batman a central role as team detective with a chip on his shoulder, not to mention a dark and intriguing role for Wonder Woman.
The problem for me lies in the fact that the whole thing has the distinct stench of a rush job. Rather than developing this idea over a number of years and luring ’serious actor’ Bale to the project - which has camp potential written all over it if not done carefully - it sounds as though Warner Bros are fast-tracking production due to Hollywood politics, notably the pending strikes. For a film of this scale, this can only spell a creative disaster. Though I’m sure it will make a killing at the box office - perhaps that’s all that matters.
Oh, and what of the fact Bryan Singer’s Metropolis and Chris Nolan’s Gotham City share the same geographical space? Maybe I’m just being picky… but it goes to show that many things need to be considered if Warner Bros are to successfully create a ‘DC-world’ of sorts for film.
And John Stewart? Really? Please tell me Hal Jordan will get the spinoff… I just couldn’t handle the heartache.
Regardless of the details, the rumor remains strong: Justice League will go into production early 2008, likely with George Miller at the helm. I’ll be following this one keenly…
Source: IESB.net
9 Comments
What does “OMAC” stand for? Is it an acronym?
I would hate to see this rushed. My gut reaction regarding a JLA film is that they’re going to screw it up.
Vic
I agreed, Vic. Just seems like WB is just focused more on trying to bet Marvel out of the Supermember film at any cost.
Vic,
“OMAC” stands for “One Man Army Corp”. Corny, isn’t it?
Bjorn,
Wow, yeah, it does.
Vic
Wow. This isn’t really sounding good. The whole Countdown to Infinite Crisis story idea wouldn’t work too well as an initial movie. They would have to do the backstory of WHY he built Brother Eye, i.e. Identity Crisis, and for Wonder Womans killing Lord, Ted Kord dieing.
Here’s to Hal, or at least Kyle. Or even Guy. Anyone but John…
John? What the $#@!%! It should totally be Hal!! And why rush into a story like the OMAC saga? A story like that would work better in a sequel because the movie going audience will already be familiar with the JLA characters introduced in the first film. They really need to make it an origin story and not let that take up the whole film. I’m happy to hear that it might be Barry Allen as Flash though. I really think that Warners will put out JLA instead of a Superman Returns sequel. I don’t see why Christian Bale wouldn’t be available for the film considering shooting is almost finished on TDK. Maybe they need him for green screen shots in Dark Knight or something. Not happy that George Miller is at the helm at all. I would like to see this movie released by 2009,but only if it’s made right. Hal has to be Green Lantern! I also say ayone but John…there’s only so much story to him,and he’s kinda always struck me as a supporting character in the GL comix,it’d be like having Kiliwog as GL.
I don’t think an actor like Christian Bale is going to gladly put aside more serious roles for another stretch as Batman so soon after Dark Knight - much less for a naturally ‘comic-booky’ film like JLA - that’s all I’m saying. Wasn’t he even a little unenthusiastic about a Superman/Batman film at one stage, let alone a full ensemble of lycra-covered superheros?
As for JLA being an ‘origin’ story, I don’t necessarily agree. Was it Edward Norton or Robert Downey Jr. who recently said they dislike the term ‘origin story’? Whoever it was - Norton, I think - was basically saying the idea of an origin can be weaved through a plot with good storytelling, rather than always having to be this obvious step-by-step procedure. I agree completely. When we watch a court drama, we don’t care about how a character bacame a lawyer. In an action, we don’t care how a character became a cop. Why can’t we delve into origins more creatively, through intelligent writing, rather than always wasting half a film? JLA strikes me as something where the danger bringing them all together should be the central plot… not how they met.
As for the OMAC plot, I’m sure it’s not going to be the same as the comics. It would be an adaptation that works as a stand-alone story. I have no problem with that. In fact, I’d quite like Wonder Woman to begin her big screen career killing a man, though I doubt that will happen. It would give her some mystery - like a certain Lost character we love despite their mistake.
Oh… and with this rumour Ryan Reynolds may play The Flash, I’m hoping John Stewart will be nothing more than a ‘test’ for a bigger Green Lantern film. Maybe he can be the rumoured member to die… and a Hal Jordan film, set before JLA, can come later. To be honest, someone’s got to be sidelined and if that were to be GL, I’d rather it be John not Hal.
Observational Meta-human Activity Construct (OMAC)
You guys HAVE to see the script. It seems that some nut craker posted a fake script one which begins with Hal flying.
But the original is much, much cooler. It goes like this:
Superman and the other heroes(Wonder Woman,Martian Manhunter,Aquaman, Green Lantern and the Flash) wearing black coloured version of their costumes attend a high profile funeral. Batman appears after all the cameras are gone. Then we skip
6 days prior to the funeral, Barry Allen is eating lunch with his wife Iris in a superhero styled restaurant. He watches Wonder Woman making a speech on tv. Meanwhile, Batman is watching Barry eat with the Brother Eye satellite. Then Alfred (yes, Alfred is in the movie) comes in and tell Bruce that he has a meeting with businessman Maxwell Lord. Batman turns off the satellite, but after he leaves it turns on again. It is activated
remotely and begins to spy on John Johns.
That’s about it actually, I think this will be a great movie and I am going to see it when it comes out.
What's your opinion? Leave a comment!