Justice League Unlimited

[Hoptimus]

JLU season 1 (JL Seasons 3+4 really)is out on DVD today. Got mine at BestBuy. 29.99.

Go buy it now. The Question rules and Mr Miracle shows up!! Hot damn.

[Effect]

Would've loved a DCU Animated version of Kingdom Come. Even a direct to video version.

I remember reading that the Superman vs. Captain Marvel battle/episode was very similar to the their fight in Kingdom Come. That was one of my favorite episodes with Superman in the somewhat bad guy role. Would really like to know what Kingdome Come was really about.

[Roy's Blues]

dc comics

Go out and buy the trade.

You will not regret it.

[capt.actionjackson]

Just wondering if any MWers listened to the commentary on "The Return". The director explicitly says the missile animation (fired by Red Rocket) was inspired by Macross. I geeked out.

[Seven]

Speaking of Kingdom Come, has anyone been following Alex Ross' Justice miniseries? Any fan of KC will love this series. I bought the hardcover volume 1 yesterday and it is awesome.

[capt.actionjackson]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php?id=19052

WB Eyeing Justice League Movie

Source:Variety February 23, 2007

Warner Bros. Pictures is looking to make a feature based on super team the Justice League of America, hiring writing duo Kiernan and Michele Mulroney to write the script, reports Variety. It's the first major action the studio has taken on the project.

The feature film is bound to include some combination of DC's most iconic superheroes, although the studio wouldn't confirm which ones they might be. It's unlikely that the studio and DC Comics, a division of Warner, would opt to feature second-tier characters.

Since its inception in 1960, JLA has featured almost every major hero in the DC Comics universe, although the core team has largely remained the same: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter.

The heroes typically band together to fight alien menaces or groups of supervillains.

"The Justice League of America has been a perennial favorite for generations of fans, and we believe their appeal to film audiences will be as strong and diverse as the characters themselves," Warner president of production Jeff Robinov said in announcing the hiring of the Mulroneys.

The trade says that in taking on the ambitious project, Warner faces several conundrums.

Now that the Batman and Superman film franchises have been revived, does the studio go after Christian Bale (Batman Begins) and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) to star in a Justice League pic? The studio is also trying hard to bring Wonder Woman to the big screen.

To a large degree, casting will depend upon the story arc for the JLA feature and at what point in the superheroes' lives the plot takes place.

Unless this is all CGI, I'll have to go with Darth Vader on this one "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

[Hoptimus]

I have to agree. JLA live action sounds like too ambitious a project.

In better news JLU final season DVD set comes out on March 20th 2007!

LEGION OF DOOM!

Cant wait. I loved that season.

[terry the lone wolf]

In order for this to work JLA the Movie must include the "Big 7"; Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan or John Stewert), Aquaman, Flash, & The Martian Manhunter. Other League members such as Zatanna, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Lightning, & Red Tornado should get consideration if they expand to 8 or 9 members.

[Impreszive]

Just wondering if any MWers listened to the commentary on "The Return". The director explicitly says the missile animation (fired by Red Rocket) was inspired by Macross. I geeked out.

I kinda figured.

[Golden Arms]

I think they should stay away from the big 2 (Bats ans Sups) for a JLA movie. They have a tremendous opportunity to really play with DC's stable of heroes. I also think setting the film in the past could be a cool idea. Maybe a WWII setting with Wonderwoman leaving Paradise Island and Helping the original JSA fight off the Nazi's or a big bad which decimates the JSA. The movie could then transistion into the present day with a New JLA being formed with some of the surviving JSA serving as mentors. They could even play with the Crisis on Infinite Earth's storyline(possible sequel) Where the JLA has to fight other versions of themselves or other heroes from alternate realities. I'd love to see an Earth 2 superman (An older version of the Character, not the Metrosexual Superboy Prime we got from Bryan Singer)

My cast would be:

Wonder Woman she'd be tough to cast

Jay Garrick Flash--mentor role (He could bite the bullet and a new flash replaces him--Wally West or Barry Allen)

Ted Kord-- Blue Beetle he'd replace batman not being in the film

Green Lantern--Original GL passes the torch to a new Lantern Hal Jordan or John Stewart

Green Arrow

Super Girl or Power Girl

NightWing

Aquaman- I mean Vince from HBO's Enterouge

Other Hero or Villain Possibilities:

Black Canary

Martian Manhunter

Mr. Terrific

Captain Marvel

WildCat--He could teach the JLA combat

Vandal Savage or Black ADAM--WWII era Villian

Doomsday--U.S. govt doesn't trust the JLA and creates Doomsday as a countermeasure

Darkseid

Amanda Waller

Deathstroke

Booster Gold

[Penguin]

I think the big problem with a JLA movie is portraying a world full of heroes to a movie audience. To date, pretty much every superhero movie has approached it from the point of view of that hero being the only one around (okay... J. Jonah Jameson did refer to "Dr. Strange" as being taken in "Spider-Man 2", but that's about it). X-Men 3 had lots of mutants, but didn't mix in any other types of metahumans. They keep their world small in order to not overwhelm the non-comic-reading-viewer with a lot of backstory.

The JLU cartoon worked so well because it basically just jumped straight into the DC universe, expecting the viewer to accept the idea of a world full of brightly coloured heroes. Since most fans were already comic readers, this wasn't a stretch. They also had the luxury of introducing new characters in individual shows. Plus, half-hour cartoons are cheap by comparison. I wouldn't be surprised if a season of JLU costs less than a single "event" film, which JLA would definitely have to be.

But a live action film, with all the budget that implies, the studio will definitely be after some way to get appeal outside of comic fans. The cast size of a JLA movie would introduce too many characters that most viewers aren't familiar with.

[Warmaker]

A live action Wonder Woman.

Hmmm...

[Golden Arms]

Yeah Joss Whedon had be trying to direct the WW film, but his name was recently dropped from the project. He couldn't agree on a script.

WB owns detective comics so they could bankroll a live action film if they wanted to. Why they haven't released more films of the DC characters is beyond me especially considering that these films are extremely well recieved by the general public.

[lord_breetai]

I think the big problem with a JLA movie is portraying a world full of heroes to a movie audience. To date, pretty much every superhero movie has approached it from the point of view of that hero being the only one around (okay... J. Jonah Jameson did refer to "Dr. Strange" as being taken in "Spider-Man 2", but that's about it). X-Men 3 had lots of mutants, but didn't mix in any other types of metahumans. They keep their world small in order to not overwhelm the non-comic-reading-viewer with a lot of backstory.

The JLU cartoon worked so well because it basically just jumped straight into the DC universe, expecting the viewer to accept the idea of a world full of brightly coloured heroes. Since most fans were already comic readers, this wasn't a stretch. They also had the luxury of introducing new characters in individual shows. Plus, half-hour cartoons are cheap by comparison. I wouldn't be surprised if a season of JLU costs less than a single "event" film, which JLA would definitely have to be.

But a live action film, with all the budget that implies, the studio will definitely be after some way to get appeal outside of comic fans. The cast size of a JLA movie would introduce too many characters that most viewers aren't familiar with.

Well Lois and Clark made several Batman references, and the Batman movies too... but yeah I agree it can be too much.

But I'd like to see the Female Doctor Light if they do do it.

[Penguin]

Yeah Joss Whedon had be trying to direct the WW film, but his name was recently dropped from the project. He couldn't agree on a script.

WB owns detective comics so they could bankroll a live action film if they wanted to. Why they haven't released more films of the DC characters is beyond me especially considering that these films are extremely well recieved by the general public.

I think it's partly caused by the fact that Warner Brothers and DC are part of the same corporation. Marvel farms out its licences to whoever wants to bankroll the film. Just this year, we've got Ghost Rider (Columbia), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (20th Century Fox), and Spider-Man 3 (Sony)... although I think Columbia is (or was at some point) owned by Sony. Quality is all over the place (Spider-Man very good, Elektra not so much ). DC's parent company doesn't want to farm out its licences anywhere (well, it might for Vertigo stuff, but not the flagship properties), keeping them all "in the family" at Warner Brothers. That puts all the development costs on one company. In today's risk-averse, invest-in-the-"sure"-thing corporate attitude, Warners isn't going to stretch themselves by funding a lot of superhero movies at once.

I recall a spokesperson saying that DC was going to put out one good movie a year, rather than throwing licences out everywhere (obviously a dig at Marvel). With "Wonder Woman" still stuck in development hell, and the lukewarm reception "Superman Returns" got from fans and critics alike, the only strong, viable franchise DC's got right now is Batman.

As it stands, DC has a track record for great cartoon series, far exceeding any Marvel production for quality of character and story. For movies though, I think they're going to lose the race to Marvel unless the corporation loosens up and considers licencing secondary characters to other studios rather than expecting Warner Brothers to carry them all.

Personally, I'd go crazy for a good "Green Lantern" flick. Lots of cool sci-fi possibilities there.

[Warmaker]

Let's try not to be vulgar, ok?

Please, let's not scare the kiddies with "Elektra!"

[Penguin]

Let's try not to be vulgar, ok?

Please, let's not scare the kiddies with "Elektra!"

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it... not that Hollywood every learns...

[Golden Arms]

Yeah you brought up some pretty good points. I always forget the all important money trail. Thats why there are so many sequels in todays film market. No one wants to take risk. Vertigo is going to release a Y The last man Film, and there is talk of Vaughn's other Vertigo book(Ex Machina) being made into a film as well. Superman was a complete dud in my opinion. What a waste of 2 hrs.

Marvel will have FF2 ( and probably FF3 )

Spiderman 3 and possibly 4

Iron Man

Hulk 2

Ghost Rider which has been a success

There has been talk of Cap America and Deathlocke(highly doubful)

Wolverine