The Big Question

[JR19759]

Yep, another random thing from JR. As the big discussion share days have now morphed into the Open Critique days, I thought I’d open up my own one here in the pub. Each week I’ll be asking a big question for everyone to argue about (if you have any topics you think could be good, pm me).

To kick off, I’ve been hearing/ seeing/ reading/ thinking a lot about the Justice League film, will it ever be made, what’s the story, who’ll be in it (both actors and characters) so this week I ask you guys to put your self in charge. Taking this years Man Of Steel film as an Iron Man style starting point; who are the Justice League, are you going to do a Marvel style build up or go straight in to the main event, who would you cast as who (Superman/ Henry Cavill being the fixed casting here), who is the villain, what’s the story and can anyone direct Justice League like Joss Whedon did The Avengers?

Hopefully this will get some sort of reaction so I won’t look like I’m talking to myself (again).

[prswirve]

Superman, Batman, Green Lantern… I think they’re treading the same path as marvel’s Avengers. Definitely they’d earn a ton doing those prequel films, since a lot of geeks like ourselves have come of age to buy the tickets. Although they go go the other way around… like go straight doing the main event, and then do the individual ones. I’d definitely wanna watch a remake of the Flash and Wonderwoman!

[Myro]

JLA Team: Yeah, I’m thinking stick to Supes, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern. Too many chefs spoil the broth, and adding in more heroes could make things a little too crowded. If Aquaman or Martian Manhunter show up in the sequel, that might be okay, but I wouldn’t put too many in right away. And the five listed are the most popular.

Villain: In a perfect world, I’d say Darkseid, but with Thanos as a lock for Avengers 2, using another purple ultra-powerful genocidal alien might make DC look like a copycat. A friend mentioned that JLA first formed to take on Starro, but then you have to try to sell your movie in which the main villain is an alien cyclopean starfish, which would probably not be taken seriously by casual fans. Especially if part of the plan to take over the world involves sticking smaller starfish on everyone’s face. One possible idea might be to do a sort of “Legion of Doom” team-up comprised of all the heroes’ arch-enemies banding together, forcing the heroes to team-up themselves. The arch-enemies, of course, would have to be established in the individual prequel movies.

Actors: Unfortunately, I’m not watching enough movies or TV to really think this one through at the moment. I did make a joke a few years back that Chris Evans should play Barry Allen/Flash because he’s already played Human Torch and Captain America (at the time, he hadn’t played Cap yet, but he was announced to do so). But that’s an unlikely casting choice.

Director: JJ Abrams would certainly have the geek cred and big enough name to make this interesting, but on the other hand, he’s also tied up doing at least one Star Wars movie, and he may yet attach himself (speculation: probably not as a director though, maybe producer or executive producer) to a third Star Trek movie, so his calender is probably pretty booked.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

[Herr D]

After the Aliens movie series, I bet most Americans would take starfish to the face somewhat seriously. Aliens might get somewhat overdone as a theme or a unifying enemy, though. (Yes, this is me saying that. I haven’t been taken over.) I imagine any natural disaster or global event should be enough to unify true heroes.

1. Comet wobbles the earth’s orbit–ev1 sees it coming, they need Supes to push it back, and ev1 else to handle damage control down here.

2. The core begins to cool. Wayne Industries makes a bomb to heat it up, Supes delivers it personally while the rest of the team handles … UP here.

3. Redo the San Andreas?
4. 2nd 9/11 attempt on new WTC? Bat-bomb detector or radio intercept. Supes swallows the bomb, WW catches the lackeys and makes them give up their boss via the lasso?

You don’t actually NEED the unifying force to be a villain. Villains are just easier to hate. Like that line in IM3 about a ‘big target?’

[JR19759]

@Myro said:

Villain: In a perfect world, I’d say Darkseid, but with Thanos as a lock for Avengers 2, using another purple ultra-powerful genocidal alien might make DC look like a copycat.

Forget Darkseid, they can’t really use any aliens, because it would look too copycat of The Avengers. And I can’t see Martian Manhunter being brought in without an alien invasion plot, because I’m not sure that DC are brave enough to do a Martian Manhunter stand alone movie. For someone who has been described as ‘the heart of the justice league’, he isn’t exactly on the level of the other guys in terms of public recognition is he?

If they were going to do the Legion of Doom idea, they’d have a hard time making them a convincing threat as a team, because only Superman and Green Lantern have major villains that could be a threat to all of the heroes (I’m talking Brainiac instead of Lex Luthor here). Joker is only a threat to Batman really, and whilst Captain Cold or Doctor Zoom could conceivably give most of the team a hard time, they would be no match against the big blue boy scout. But if they wanted to unite the Justice League to face a threat that would involve all of the team, why not use Amazo? He has all the powers of Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter (read Superman) and Aquaman (who could be removed from the equation to allow for some underestimation of Batman).

Chris Evans would make a great Barry Allen/ Flash, but I don’t think he’d want to get type cast as a Superhero Film Actor. Flash and Wonder Woman would be the most interesting casting choices, because they haven’t been done in film yet. Whether or not Ryan Reynolds should be brought back to play Green Lantern is the only question about Green Lantern. As for directors, if JJ Abrams is booked up, what about Bryan Singer (X-Men’s 1/ 2/ First Class & Superman Returns)?

[JR19759]

Anyone else out there got an opinion or has this question run out of steam (in which case I’ll put my next topic up later)?

[JR19759]

Ok, so for the next big question, I’d like to know what you guys think makes a great superhero. What separates someone like Batman or Captain America from, say, 3-D Man or Dazzler?

[RobM]

Well, I think what makes Dazzler great is…

[Myro]

I hate to put it this way, but I think it’s a case of catching lightning in a bottle. It’s not enough to have a good costume design (in fact that might not even be necessary. Wolverine is a pretty iconic character, and his costume isn’t all that great. A lot of times he isn’t even wearing it.), or cool powers (case in point: Batman and Captain America have none). It’s more about having something about the hero that resonates with the readers, a sustained level of excellent writing to give the character longevity, and maybe a few factors that I’m not even thinking about. Making a great/iconic character is something that takes years to do, and I don’t think there can be a single attribute you can point to that any of the characters have in common.

[JR19759]

You do bring up some good points there Myro, but there’s still something you’ve missed that I can’t quite put my finger on.
If we use DC as a case study here, lets compare two of their most iconic heroes. Taking costume and cool powers out of the equation, Green Arrow has been one of DC’s most revolutionary heroes (for someone who started off as a mash-up of Batman and Robin Hood). He’s been at the centre of some of the most influential and socially important stories in comic book history, especially during the Green Lantern/ Green Arrow run of the 70’s. DC have always known what to do with him, there’s never been much confusion over his character. Net result- second string Justice League character, ridiculed by many.
Where-as Wonder Woman, DC have often had an identity crisis with her, her stories have never been all that ground breaking and in the later 60’s early 70’s they turned her into a hippy feminist flower child- possibly one of the worst character reinventions ever. Then in the 90’s they got rid of the classic Wonder Woman, replaced her with a newer person, then decided that didn’t work, so they killed her off, brought back the original, then killed her off and replaced her with her mother. Then they brought the classic Wonder Woman back again. Net result- One of the big three of DC, one of the most recognisable superheroes in the world and the premier super heroine in comic book history.

[Greentiger777]

A super hero has to be unique, one of kind. Not only that, but it should also be possible for the reader/watcher/whatever to connect to the character in some way. A good story and the character’s personality can help in this area

[Author]

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