ROTTEN TOMATOES: Will Batman Be a Part of the "Justice League" Flick?

Will Batman Be a Part of the "Justice League" Flick?

by Scott Weinberg | March 23, 2007

When we learned that WB was putting the (very) early touches on a "Justice League" movie, the first question asked was "Will Superman and Batman be involved?" And now we might know the answer to that question.

Actually the first thing I wanted to know was "When will it be out?" but the Superman/Batman thing is a very good question. One source seems to know the early answer: "Batman is 100 percent going to be in the JLA movie they're developing at Warner Brothers."

So there. For now, I guess. I bet this movie takes at least five years to hit the screens, if the project even gets out of the screenplay stage, that is. But DC Comics really wants their particular slice of the "team hero" vibe that made the "X-Men" trilogy so darn popular ... so why not? If you're gonna do a Superhero Team, you may as well invite your heaviest hitters.

Source: IESB.net

(1-20 of 26 posts) | Reply

Matanuki writes:
on Mar 23 2007 04:11 AM

I'm weary about this idea. When I think of a live action Justice League picture, I think of that episode of Smallville and cringe. With Batman in this picture, who does Queen get to impersonate?

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mojodaddy writes:
on Mar 23 2007 05:35 AM

There had damn well better be Batman in the picture or it's not the Justice League. They've got to go with a different look for his costume though. The costume look in "Batman Dead End" actually didn't look bad, they just needed a more muscular guy to play him, and make some cowl adjustments.

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Suck my.. writes:
on Mar 23 2007 06:06 AM

Just don't make look like fantastic four in the movie.....

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JackHorner1979 writes:
on Mar 23 2007 06:32 AM

[b]Please, for all that is holy...[/b]
in this world, don't make this a live action film. CGI it like Final Fantasy and have it rendered from Alex Ross work.

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arpeggio191 writes:
on Mar 23 2007 06:32 AM

[b]this will never work[/b]
The reason xmen worked is because all the characters didn't come from their own separate worlds. I realize that Wolverine and Gambit and others had their own comic spin offs, but they all started as Xmen - one specific group.

The Justice League movie brings together too many things, Batman, Superman, Flash, all which started as solo heroes with their own story line (for the most part).

I completely agree that this movie will most likely feel like an episode of smallville (which should wrap everything up about now).

Two things would be good out of a Justice League movie:
1) We'd finally get to see the Flash on the big screen (come on Ryan Reynolds!)
2) Batman gets to make fun of Superman for being a do-gooding boyscout cause that would just be funny.

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arendr writes:
on Mar 23 2007 08:21 AM

In reply to this comment (#859192)
personally, i don't think x-men did work. it was flat...all the way through the series. just bland.

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FEENXFIRE writes:
on Mar 23 2007 09:42 AM

For the people having flashbacks to Smallville, you're not thinking big enough. This could be EPIC. If the film has the right tone, script and director, this could be the next Lord of the Rings.

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arpeggio191 writes:
on Mar 23 2007 10:09 AM

In reply to this comment (#859194)
ha! perhaps... i think you're right in some form, it would have to be a long movie, probably a 3-part series. that would be the only way to fully develope the story and set up the premise, etc... with that many characters, all of which with their own very involved stories, it would be difficult to assume that everyone knew their back stories.

So basically... get Peter Jackson! (and make him work with chris nolan cause he rules)

but basically excluding that possibility, i still think this idea will fail before the script is finished, but i could be wrong. I didn't think Norbit would make any money. Ok, that's not true, i knew it would make money, i just didn't want it to... sigh.

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COME ON! writes:
on Mar 23 2007 10:42 AM

[b]I don't get it[/b]
What is Batman's role in the Justice League ? Why does the Flash, Superman et cetera need him ?

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renodc writes:
on Mar 23 2007 10:59 AM

In reply to this comment (#859197)
One answer would be that Batman serves as the Field General for the group.

The better answer would be that Batman sells more comics than the others and leaving him out would be from a financial standpoint incredibly stupid.

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Matanuki writes:
on Mar 23 2007 12:09 PM

In reply to this comment (#859198)
Well put. I like the way you think.

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bigbrother writes:
on Mar 23 2007 12:44 PM

In reply to this comment (#859197)
Plus Batman knows how to think like a criminal. For all their powers Superman and the Flash. Both pretty Naive. Plus Batman has the kryptonite in case Superman needs to be taken down a peg.

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bigbrother writes:
on Mar 23 2007 12:49 PM

I'd kinda like to see them do the JLA movie like "Heroes". Ignore most of the backstory and just tell it like a bunch of gifted individuals drawn together by destiny to defeat some ginormous threat that they can't handle separately. Tell it over 3 two and a half hour movies maybe don't include all the characters in every movie. Who knows go crazy and kill a few of them.

Superman: "Are you suggesting we sacrifice Aquaman?"

Batman: "would you miss him...would you miss him?" :)

Save the cheerleader, save the world!!!!

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arpeggio191 writes:
on Mar 23 2007 01:29 PM

In reply to this comment (#859201)
[b]huh?[/b]
do you watch Heroes? They do back story stuff all the time. It's all stuff that's completely relevant to the plot and furthers the connection between them all. And that's pretty much what every super hero movie does, batman's parents are killed in every movie, superman comes of age every movie etc...

And in the DC world, the JLA crew are pretty much scared of batman... well not scared, but basically it's very very very understood that you don't fuck with batman. Like he'll mess you up... Like you said, he's got the kryponite.

But i agree, 3, two-hour movies would do it. Don't include all the characters in every film, but obviously keep the important ones - batman, superman, wonderwoman, flash, etc... everyone else can phase out as they need to further the plot. And i'm all for killing off Aquaman. He sucks. Kind of like in X3 when they killed cyclops. i don't know a single person who wasn't ok with killing off that nerd.

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bigbrother writes:
on Mar 23 2007 02:23 PM

In reply to this comment (#859202)
What I meant by be like Heroes was that when they started Heroes they approached it as This is Peter Petrelli, you know nothing about him, but he's a main character, deal with it and we'll tell you what we want to know in our own good time. You didn''t even know for real what Peters power was until like the 4th or 5th episode. That style gave them lots of opportunities for misdirection you don't get by doing a sequential story. I probably could have stated my meaning better, what I meant was do like they do in Heroes where they just started out in the middle as it were. Assume the audience knows a little something about the JLA characters and then feed them background as desired with appropriate reimaginings to keep the audience on its toes and payoff your more active fans with obscure references that JQ public doesn't get. Instead of the traditional child crash lands in a cornfield goes thru ackward childhood years, eventually overcomes and becomes defender of humanity

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arpeggio191 writes:
on Mar 23 2007 02:46 PM

In reply to this comment (#859203)
well said. if only they would make a movie like that. perhaps we should write this thing because you know they'd show everyone's origin. OR! they could give everyone a handout at the beginning of the movie and say "here, read this. these are the origin stories of every character. we didn't want to waste prescious sweet plot time with them..." nah, that would never work.

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dylan21484nj writes:
on Mar 23 2007 04:27 PM

so the next question is, if Bats is going to be in the JLA movie and it will be live-action, will Christian Bale get to don the cape and cowl? or will his obligations to his own Batman franchise conflict with that? i guess we'll have to wait and see.

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lrm8 writes:
on Mar 23 2007 04:27 PM

batman regulates shit and keeps it real, as he is the only normal human in the JLA. i really think this isnt a good diea, although i applaud warners for finally g etting off their asses and trying to do something with their superhero franchises, even if it is misguided.

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ManofStee1 writes:
on Mar 23 2007 04:29 PM

In reply to this comment (#859203)
There's no need for any reimagining of the characters. The thing that makes the characters so great is that many people recognize them from when they were kids. Batman Begins and Superman Returns were great because they made the character pretty much the same as they always were while inserting them in a modern setting.

As for your main point, about the story starting in the middle and revealing whatever backstory was needed in flashbacks, why not just leave out all but the very least amount of origin work? The movie should be like the 2-hour pilot of the Justice League TV show, have a big catastrophe bring the League together like they had never met each other before, then have them learn to work together to defeat it.

I agree with whoever said that it should be cgi and rendered from Alex Ross artwork. That would be beautiful.

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JackHorner1979 writes:
on Mar 23 2007 04:53 PM

In reply to this comment (#859207)
I said that, because I believe this simply can't translate well on to the big screen. Sure independently, characters like Superman or Batman work, because they are isolated in their own universe. When you start putting actors in the role of larger than life heroes, you lose the magic and appeal as to who these charcaters are. A 3 part epic, rendered like Alex Ross's work would be amazing. Then one isn't limited in any capacity. Every hero can be involved, even the B grade ones.

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