DC’s biggest heroes will join together in a Justice League movie. Warner Brothers announced Zack Snyder will direct the super team sequel after the Superman vs. Batman sequel to Man of Steel.
It’s a given Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman will appear but which other DC icons should hit the big screen with the big three?
I reached out to Mike Madrid, author of The Supergirls and Divas, Dames & Daredevils: Lost Heroines of Golden Age Comics. to get his take on which heroes deserve to be in a cinematic league of their own:
“I assume that DC will want the movie Justice League to be as much like The New 53 version as possible. Besides the big 3, it appears they’ll have Cyborg and flash. That just leaves the questions of whether they’ll include Aquaman and Green Lantern. Presumably they recast Green Lantern since the Ryan Reynolds movie didn’t do well. If they use John Stewart Green Lantern, the team will have two African-American members.”
Madrid points out the grittier cinematic take on DC heroes (under the influence of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy) is different from the lighter and fun take on these classic heroes more generations of fans remember.
“I think the image of the Justice League that most mainstream audiences have is from the Super Friends cartoon. The challenge that DC has it that the movie versions have become so dark. Will entire team of dark, cynical characters be appealing to moviegoers? Will the movie version of The Flash have to be lighter to balance the grim tone of the other team members.”
Ben Affleck’s Batman in the Superman/Batman film will have Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons) but could a more modern member of the Bat family be just what the project needs?
“Personally I’d like to see a teenage girl Robin included on the team to add anothe female besides Wonder Woman. Maybe Carrie Kelly or Stephanie Brown.”
Madrid’s inclusion of a female Robin was a surprise but the more I think of it, the more I could see Carrie or Stephanie interacting with Diana and bringing some humor and youthful spark to the team.
Carrie Kelly was Robin in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. Stephanie Brown (who used the code-names Spoiler, Robin and Batgirl) was recently reintroduced in The New 52 continuity in Batman Forever.
Madrid’s new book Vixens, Vipers & Vamps: Lost Villainesses of Golden Age Comics is coming this October.
The Superman/Batman showdown arrives in 2015.
By Editor