George Miller's cancelled Justice League Mortal movie would've featured the best live-action Superman suit according to one of the film's stars. Warner Bros. released the first-ever Justice League live-action movie in 2017, but the finished product is very different from what director Zack Snyder intended. The movie received a mixed response from viewers and didn't perform as well as the studio hoped. But, this wasn't the first time DC's superteam was going to assemble on the big screen.
During the mid-2000s, acclaimed director George Miller was scheduled to direct the first Justice League movie. He developed Justice League Mortal for years and cast the entire roster of Justice League heroes. The cast included Armie Hammer as Batman, Adam Brody as Barry Allen, Common as Green Lantern, and D.J. Cotrona as Superman – among others. However, plans for Justice League Mortal began to fall apart due to the 2008 writers' strike. However, one of the film's cast members is discussing how cool it would've been, especially the Superman suit.
Jay Baruchel was cast in Justice League Mortal as the film's main villain Maxwell Lord, and he discussed what Miller had planned in a new interview. While speaking to the Toronto Sun, Baruchel revealed what he could about the movie that almost got made. There are many aspects of Justice League Mortal that the actor is disappointed never made it to the screen, but he said the Superman suit, in particular, was the best he's seen:
That was like the coolest thing in the world. Then there was the movie we were going to make. They had costumes done and a lot of concept art and designs and (previsualization). It was cool shit. The script was really, really awesome. So it’s a pity it didn’t get made. It’s still my favourite iteration of the Superman suit and (Armie Hammer’s) Batman that was going to be in this was a pretty hard take on the character as was the Wonder Woman.
It's been more than a decade since WB pulled the plug on Justice League Mortal and placed it on indefinite hold, but there still aren't a lot of looks at what could've been. Concept art from the movie has continued to make its way online in recent years, with some showing The Flash and Batman's cowls. From what has been revealed of the Superman design, the biggest difference from other versions is the red connecting the symbol and cape. It is a cool design, but unfortunately we've yet to see a clear photo of Cotrona in the suit.
Despite the interest in seeing what Miller's Justice League Mortal would look like, it has still been tough to get a good look at what was planned. Even the upcoming documentary about the unmade film won't include comments from Miller, so the chance of it including never-before-seen looks at his designs are low. It's possible neither Miller nor the studio want to show what was in the works, but maybe that will change one day, and everyone will get to see a glimpse of what made Baruchel so excited about Justice League Mortal's Superman suit.
Source: Toronto Sun