How to Assemble the League

By Ben Roberts

You may have heard of a recent film called The Avengers. Since it’s led to a few people swimming like Uncle Scrooge, DC Comics want to try and repeat its success with release of Justice League.

As The Avengers proved, it’s not exactly an easy task. So, as a member of geekdom, and therefore the target audience, I thought I’d give a few pointers on how to be relatively successful.

Your best bet would be to play to your strengths. If there’s one area where DC beats Marvel, it’s in their animated works. A big budget animated film from the DCAU crew of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini would be brilliant. Unfortunately, a large portion of the movie-going public still see animated films as kiddie fare, so we’re back to square one.

The key to the Avengers’ success was its build up. When Nick Fury appeared at the end of Iron Man for the teaser, it was clear we were in for something big. Over another four films and four years, more pieces were added. Getting the important exposition out of the way before the film even started was a great move; it’s best when DC doesn’t rush these things.

So with that in mind, where should you start? Although it was something of a box office bomb, Green Lantern fits the bill. It started off with a not-too-well-known hero who plays a major role in the ’verse, just like Iron Man. It also opened the door to other galaxies and realms, much like Thor. Another key factor was Angela Bassett’s role of Amanda Waller, who is more or less DC’s answer to Nick Fury. Although, with a new Superman film currently in the works, they could use that as the new starting point, assuming there’s time.

But with fifty years worth of members, just who should be cast? First off, it would be a good idea to finally make that Wonder Woman movie that keeps stopping and starting, as her involvement also opens a number of doors. One that may have to miss out however, is Batman. People aren’t responding too kindly to news of the upcoming Spider Man reboot, as in their eyes, it’s too soon after the last series. The Nolan Batman just wouldn’t fit in a Justice League movie and a reboot would be needed.

Personally, any chance to undo the damage of Super Friends should be taken. Aquaman ought to make it in, especially as it means DC can get a bit of payback for the Thanos tease (a riff on their own Darkseid), by getting him in before Marvel does a Namor flick.