Justice League: Mortal may be no more, but Armie Hammer still has fond memories of donning his unique Batman costume. The history of Hollywood is packed full of abandoned comic book movies. From studio issues to rights reverting to a breakdown in production, the past few decades have featured a number of projects that seemed like sure things before falling apart. While Roger Corman's Fantastic Four and Tim Burton's Superman Lives are both classic examples, recent years have added George Miller's Justice League: Mortal to that list.
Ten years ago, word broke that genre stalwart Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road) would be tackling the first ever Justice League movie, the cast was even filled out, with Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Common as Green Lantern, and Adam Brody as the Flash. There were even talk of Christian Bale joining as Batman before the rumor was shot down and Armie Hammer nabbed the role. In the years that followed, the film began falling apart, with Miller only recently opening up about the whole thing. Still, the movie made strides into production, and now we know some of the characters went so far as to don their iconic costumes.
We recently sat down with Hammer during press for Cars 3 for an exclusive interview, and asked the actor a bit about his time working as Batman. After admitting he had fun in the process, we broached the question of whether he'd ever donned the infamous cape and cowl.
"Oh yeah, for sure. I put on the whole suit. Weta made our suit. It was all functioning. It had like carbon fiber, and it had like pistons and gears that would function. It was amazing! It was like a exoskeleton suit."
While Hammer putting on a version of the costume isn't too surprising, the description of it as an exoskeleton with gears and pistons immediately calls to mind Ben Affleck's armor in Batman v Superman. As that was based on Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, it's possible that George Miller had a mind to adapt a similar version of the infamous scene. And while we'll have to use our imagination for now, Hammer admitted that there was evidence of the whole thing.
"It was really awesome. Uh… I don’t know if I was supposed to say all that. But anyway… By the way, who was I talking to… I think Quint, from Ain’t It Cool News. He’s got pictures."
Hammer went on to say that while he wasn't allowed to keep any pictures, they do still exist somewhere. Interestingly, word broke two years back that a documentary based on the failed film was on its way. Akin to The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?, the crowdfunded affair was meant to shine a light on Miller's abandoned production. Sadly, the project never manifested.
It's possible that in the movie we would have seen images and video from the filming of Mortal. And while the documentary never released, it's just one more indication that photos of Justice League: Mortal exist somewhere.
