If the Justice League movie manages to pick up enough steam to earn itself a sequel, there are several ways it can improve upon this past weekend's release. A follow-up is far from a guarantee, of course. Saddled with a less than glowing critical consensus, Justice League underwhelmed at the box office in the first weekend, falling short of expectations en route to the worst opening numbers the DCEU has seen to date. Ultimately, how much money it earns will be the biggest factor in determining whether or not we'll see a Justice League 2, so these next few weeks will be crucial. Thus far, the film has earned $278 million worldwide, but according to Deadline, it will need to hit at least $700 million just to break even. That number won't be easy to reach, given the film's subpar reviews and mixed word of mouth. Remember that historically steep second weekend drop-off suffered by Batman v Superman last year? If history repeats itself with Justice League, a potential sequel may be dead in the water.

That being said, if Warner Bros. feels confident that they've learned from the mistakes of their previous DCEU missteps, Justice League 2 could still receive a green light. Despite its shortcomings, this franchise is still brimming with potential. With a few tweaks and one clear voice leading the way, a follow-up could easily surpass the mixed bag that hit theaters last weekend.

So what exactly does Justice League 2 need to do in order for the DCEU to take the next step? For starters, Warner Bros. needs to lay out a plan and stick with it for a change.

A creator with a clear vision - and the freedom to see it through

Not unlike the Star Wars universe, the DCEU currently has a director problem. The shared universe may claim to be a filmmaker's paradise, but between the increasing amount of director turnover on their upcoming projects and the significant problems they've encountered in the editing room as of late, their recent history says otherwise. Justice League now stands as the second DCEU movie to be completely reworked after filming had wrapped, despite reports that the widely publicized reshoots would only account for 15-20% of the finished product. (If you saw the movie, you know that wasn't the case.) The departure of a director midway through post-production would knock any film for a loop, but at times, Justice League very much felt like two different films had been edited together. Fans are now even calling for a Zack Snyder director's cut of the movie, in the hopes that one streamlined vision would result in a superior film.

The DCEU desperately needs to get its house in order, and that starts with hiring talent they truly believe in and allowing that talent to see their vision through to the end. That doesn't necessarily mean bringing Snyder or Joss Whedon onboard to helm JL2, mind you. The important thing here is to find a filmmaker that has a story worth telling (more on that later) and the talent to pull it off.

Human villains

Justice League's less than spectacular CGI has been a major talking point of the last week, and most of those criticisms honed in on one of two targets: the laughably awful removal of Henry Cavill's reshoot mustache and the surprisingly crappy effects behind the film's entirely computer-generated villain, Steppenwolf. The VFX team only had two or three months to pull off Superman's hairless face, but the latter CGI goof has no such excuse; Darkseid's uncle was announced as the big bad way back in June of 2016. But even if the special effects had been on point, Steppenwolf still would have been a forgettable, one-note baddie whose character motivations are boiled down to a one minute long exposition scene that non-comic fans probably didn't even comprehend. Admittedly, Justice League 2 doesn't have a very high bar to clear here.

This isn't the first time that the DCEU has come up short with a CGI antagonist. The design of Batman v Superman' Doomsday was widely ridiculed, and the underwhelming reveal of Ares' final form was arguably the most bland aspect of the otherwise superb Wonder Woman. The effects-heavy Enchantress and her minion Incubus weren't exactly high points of Suicide Squad, either.

DC needs to learn from its mistakes, and opting for a JL2 villain that's more human, less CGI would be a great place to start. As it happens, the post-credits scene for Justice League sets up an incarnation of the Injustice League. DC would be wise to roll with this tease rather than going with for broke with Darkseid in the sequel. And it just so happens that they have an ideal storyline in their catalogue to make an Injustice League movie work.

A story worth telling

JLA Tower of Babel Batman

For those of you who aren't big comic readers, Tower of Babel stands as one of the best Justice League stories ever told. It also happens to be one of the most adaptable comic book arcs around. In it, Ra's al Ghul steals Batman's contingency plans for defeating each individual Justice Leaguer by exploiting their specific weaknesses. (Superman is neutralized by a form of Kryptonite, Wonder Woman's refusal to surrender is used against her, etc.) The plans were designed by the Dark Knight himself in order to take his teammates out, in the event that they were to turn evil or be otherwise compromised. Ra's puts the plans into action so that he can enact his latest population cleanse attempt free of any superpowered interference, testing DC's greatest heroes like never before. It's a deeply personal storyline that could truly set Justice League 2 apart in the superhero genre, and one that's bursting with blockbuster potential.

Superhero movies rarely (if ever) directly adapt comic storylines, so some tweaks would be needed in order to make Tower of Babel work on the big screen ” tweaks like the ones DC made for their animated take on the comic, Justice League: Doom. This is where the Injustice League comes in. The direct-to-video adaptation incorporated the Legion of Doom into the plot, with the villainous team carrying out Batman's stolen plans. JL2 could make a similar move with Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, and the gang.

Perhaps the lone downside to such an adaptation is that it's a very Batman-centric story, one that minimizes the roles of his fellow Justice Leaguers to a certain extent. But the fact that the Tower of Babel storyline sees his teammates being pushed to the brink as they're forced to confront their greatest weaknesses could more than make up for that.

Characters first, spectacle second

Tower of Babel focuses quite a bit on the paranoia and genius of the Dark Knight, but it also explores the vulnerabilities of his teammates, taking a pretty deep dive into the heroes themselves. Doing so allows readers to truly connect to these characters, something that the Justice League movie (arguably) failed to do. To its credit, the film does eventually deliver the Superman the world has been waiting for, while Wonder Woman and Batman are fine enough (though the World's Greatest Detective aspect of the latter definitely needed more time in the sun). But it's the new faces that suffer the most. The audience learns little to nothing about the Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman during Justice League, and more than a few fingers are being pointed at the reshoots for hacking away at these characters' backgrounds in an effort to streamline the film.

Justice League's smaller character moments work far better than its spectacle-driven fight sequences, and a potential sequel should definitely make more of an effort to flesh out its heroes. Fans want to see how these heroes play off each other as much as they want to see them beat the living hell out of some bad guys, so if JL2 can strike the right balance, it will blow its predecessor out of the water.

Next: What Justice League 2017 Borrowed From George Miller's Failed JL: Mortal

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