Left to right: Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern; Barry Allen, the Flash;
Clark Kent, Superman; Bruce Wayne, Batman; Diana Prince, Wonder Woman;
Arthur Curry, Aquaman; and J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter.
They are generally considered to be the 7 founding members
of the Justice League of America, DC Comics' top superhero team.
In 2007, following the success of Batman Begins, Warner Brothers was ready to make a Justice League film. However, it would star someone other than Christian Bale, star of Batman Begins, as Batman. And it would star someone other than Brandon Routh, star of the recent but less successful Superman Returns, as Superman.
One thing led to another, and the project got delayed, and delayed, and delayed, and finally dropped.
At first, the director was supposed to be Jason Reitman, who had recently directed Juno. He dropped out, and was replaced by George Miller, best known for the Mad Max films. But it never happened.
The stars were supposed to be as follows: D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Armie Hammer as Batman, Meghan Gale as Wonder Woman, Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman, Adam Brody as The Flash, Lonnie Lynn (a.k.a. the rapper Common) as the John Stewart version of Green Lantern, and Hugh Keays-Byrne as the Martian Manhunter.
(In hindsight, casting Hammer as Batman would have ended up very problematic, and not just because he did a terrible job as the Lone Ranger in Disney's 2013 film. Also, in the 2019 film Shazam!, Brody played the adult, super-powered version of Freddy Freeman, a character formerly known as Captain Marvel Jr.; and Cotrona played the adult version of another of Billy Batson's foster brothers, Pedro Peña.)
As villains, Jay Baruchel would have played Maxwell Lord, on the heels of Lord being the lead villain in DC's recent Identity Crisis storyline; and Teresa Palmer would have played Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's al Ghul and occasional girlfriend of Batman. (As with everything else about Batman, his love-life has always been complicated.)
DC had a chance to get a "cinematic universe" going before Marvel Comics did with Iron Man in 2008. Here's how they should have done it:
* Let Batman Begins start it in 2005, as actually happened, with Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman.
* Release a Superman film in 2006, as actually happened -- but not Superman Returns. Instead, totally start over, as was done with Man of Steel in 2013. This film could have kept that title -- and only that title.
Otherwise, basically do a remake of the film that started it all, the 1978 Superman starring Christopher Reeve, to which Superman Returns tried so hard to pay tribute, and succeeded in part, but not quite -- much as Star Wars' Episode VII was a redo of IV, VIII was of V, and IX was of VI.
At the time, Routh was 27 years old, a little too young to play a veteran superhero; and Kate Bosworth was 23, too young to play Lois Lane as we usually see her, and way too young to play a seasoned reporter with a 5-year-old child. But they would have been the ideal ages to play Clark Kent and Lois as being early in their careers.
Again, in hindsight, Kevin Spacey is a problem. Compared to how hokey Gene Hackman played Lex Luthor from 1978 to 1987, Spacey did for the character what Jack Nicholson did for the Joker in the 1989 Batman: He reminded us that this guy is a killer, and was meant to be scary.
This problem is easy to correct: Frank Langella, who played Perry White, had previously played villains ranging from Count Dracula to Richard Nixon (and subsequently reprised his Broadway role for the film version of Frost/Nixon). He should have been Luthor.
So who plays Perry? Laurence Fishburne plays him in the real-life DCEU. Perry has always been depicted as a poor kid from Metropolis (or, sometimes, the real city of Chicago) who made good. By 2006, a black man with that background running "a great metropolitan newspaper" would no longer have seemed odd. So we move Fishburne up.
* 2007 would have brought the first Wonder Woman film. Gale would have been 32, about right to play Princess Diana of Themiscyra/Diana Prince/Wonder Woman.
Chris Pine was 27, so he would already be a good choice to play Steve Trevor. Anything to keep him from playing "Captain Jerk" in J.J. Abrams' blasphemous Star Trek films. (Gal Gadot was only 22 at the time.)
It would have been set in World War II, like her early comics and the 1st season (1976-77) of the TV show starring Lynda Carter.
Setting the 1st Gadot movie during World War I would only have worked without the World War II background of the character, which was established when the character was created, during World War II. And it forces the question: If WWI was serious enough for her to leave Themiscyra, why wasn't the even more serious WWII enough to bring her back? Setting her origin story not in The Great War, a.k.a. The War To End All Wars, but rather in The Big One, fixes this plot hole, which is big enough to fly an invisible plane through.
* 2008 would have been the key year. We get the 2nd Batman film, The Dark Knight, going just the way we remember, with Heath Ledger as the Joker and Aaron Eckhardt as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. We get a 2nd Superman film, possibly remaking Superman II with the Phantom Zone villains: "Kneel before Zod!" We get a Flash film, with Brody as Barry Allen.
And we get an Aquaman film. Alan Ritchson, who played Arthur Curry on Smallville, and now plays Hank Hall/Hawk on Titans, could have been cast. Certainly, he looks more like the blond character seen in the comics than does the native Hawaiian Jason Momoa.
With his physique, Momoa would have been a good choice to play Katar Hol/Carter Hall/Hawkman. Likewise, Morena Baccarin, who has voiced Black Canary, Talia al Ghul and Cheetah in the DC Animated Universe, would be a good Shayera Thal, later Shayera Hol, a.k.a. Shiera Hall, a.k.a. Hawkwoman. (She would never be "Hawkgirl" in this series.)
* 2009 brings us the 2nd Wonder Woman film. Still set in World War II, it would set up the idea of the Justice League by introducing the superhero team of the 1940s, the Justice Society of America.
The "Golden Age" versions of the Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and the Atom (Al Pratt) could be shown, along with Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hourman, Wildcat, the Sandman and Starman. John Wesley Shipp, who starred in the 1990-91 Flash TV show as Barry Allen, and now plays Garrick on the current TV version, and absolutely should have been cast as Garrick at this point. The aforementioned Hawks can also be introduced here. Otherwise, these roles are open to speculation.
This film could show the JSA as vital in winning the war, but also show the sacrifice of Steve Trevor that leads Diana to retreat to her island -- for a while.
The year could also have given Green Arrow a film, with Justin Hartley playing him as he was doing on Smallville.
* With Green Lantern established, we get the film with Ryan Reynolds as the Hal Jordan version a year earlier, in 2010. The only thing that really bothered me about that film was the CGI'ed GL costumes. They were very distracting. What pairing up with Blake Lively as Carol Ferris, not yet an onscreen Star Sapphire, a year earlier would have done to his marriage to Marvel Comics heroine Scarlett Johansson, I don't know.
We also get a film for the Ray Palmer version of the Atom, although, with Routh occupied as Superman, he couldn't play the Atom, too.
A 3rd Batman movie could be set a year after Bruce letting Batman take the fall for Dent's crimes, looking like he's finally settling down with a girlfriend, Selena Kyle, whom he does not yet know is also Catwoman; nor does she yet know that he was Batman. They go to the circus together, and witness the murder of the Flying Graysons, thus bringing Bruce out of retirement, finding a way to restore Batman's good name, and introducing Dick Grayson as Robin; while Catwoman is also involved, and the "I love you but I must defeat you" relationship develops.
* 2011 brings us Flash II: Flashpoint. When Barry returns from fixing his timeline mess, he tells the other heroes what that other world was like, and says it's better if they work as a team when necessary.
* So here we go. July 1, 2011 -- a Friday, with the 4th on the following Monday, making for a three-and-a-half-day weekend. Justice League premieres.
Basically, it's the story we got with The Dark Knight Rises, a film that should have had people asking, "Are there no other superheroes in this world who could have helped Batman save Gotham City?" Certainly, Ra's al Ghul has been a worthy opponent for the Justice League in the comics, without taking the easy way out by going directly to Darkseid, or indirectly to him through the middleman, Steppenwolf.
This time, Bruce figures out he needs help before Bane can break his back -- but that still happens before the others can properly respond to his call for aid. So the heroes figure out where Ra's' League of Shadows prison is, and they break him out. Whether his paralysis gets cured through Themiscyran or Atlantean medicine (Wonder Woman's people or Aquaman's) is negotiable.
Ultimately, Batman still beats Bane, and is still betrayed by Ra's' daughter Talia, in spite of her having fallen in love with him. However, it is Superman who gets the nuke off Earth, thus closing the plot hole of "But that bomb was still awfully close to Gotham City when it went off, so a lot of people are going to get cancer."
In so doing, this attracts the attention of Darkseid, setting up future movies. Bale could have continued as Batman, with a Robin. Gale could have continued as Wonder Woman, in the present day, with Pine playing a grandson of Trevor (as opposed to Lyle Waggoner playing father and son on the 1970s TV show).
Batgirl can be introduced, and we could have a movie showing Dick putting the Robin role aside to become Nightwing and form the Teen Titans, succeeded as Robin by Jason Todd. A subsequent film could combine the two great Batman graphic novels of 1988: The Killing Joke, in which the Joker shoots Barbara Gordon, paralyzing her and leading to her transition from Batgirl to Oracle; and A Death in the Family, in which the Joker kills Jason.
This would be followed by A Lonely Place of Dying, where the Bat-family, with new addition Tim Drake, confronts Batman and shows him that he's not alone, nor should he be. So Bruce accepts Tim as the 3rd Robin.
The Green Lantern films could have introduced the Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, etc. versions. A Green Arrow sequel could have introduced Dinah Lance, a.k.a. Black Canary, classically GA's girlfriend and later wife, matching the comics, instead of what the TV version did, killing her off and having Oliver Queen instead marry Felicity Smoak, who in the comics was connected to the hero Firestorm.
Captain Marvel/Shazam could be introduced. And here's an idea: Since Wonder Woman is being played by Gale, Gal Gadot, who would be 26 by this point and thus age-appropriate for the character, can play Zatanna, the Mistress of Magic. After her 1st film, she becomes a permanent Justice League member.
Should we tempt fate twice over? By doing Superman III again, and by putting Eddie Murphy in the Richard Pryor role, and maybe getting it right this time? Or should the new Superman III be a totally different story? Certainly, with Trump and Putin in office from January 20, 2017 onward, a film version of the Lex 2000 storyline would make sense, and so would the original series' title: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Identity Crisis could be adapted for the 3rd Justice League film, with Zatanna's role leading to her pairing up in a later film titled Justice League Dark with her ex, John Constantine, as well as Dr. Fate, maybe the Phantom Stranger and the Spectre, and others.
A 4th Wonder Woman film could feature the death of Queen Hippolyta, with Diana, Steve, and their daughter, Lyta Trevor, returning to Themiscyra, with Diana as Queen, and Donna Troy, Wonder Girl of the Titans, becoming the new Wonder Woman. And the torches could also be passed in Metropolis (with Clark and Lois now married and raising son Jon) and Gotham (with Bruce and Selina now married, while Nightwing leads Tim/Robin III and the rest of the Titans in cleaning up Gotham).
The CW's Arrowverse could begin on time in 2012, totally separate from the DC Cinematic Universe, with Stephen Amell starring in Arrow, and play out as it actually has, leading up to a Crisis On Infinite Earths in 2019 with some of the aforementioned actors. And an Infinity Inc. film, featuring descendants of the JSA, could premiere, side-by-side with the Arrowverse's Stargirl series.
Where does that leave Henry Cavill? He can still play The Witcher, and maybe replace Daniel Craig as James Bond. Ben Affleck? After the 2003 film Daredevil, he should never have been allowed to play another superhero. So he's out. He'd be better as a villain, anyway. Maybe Maxwell Lord.
No Suicide Squad. Ever. No The Suicide Squad, either. And absolutely no Jared Leto. Never mind how stupid his version of the Joker was: I don't want to see him in any role. We could have a Birds of Prey, where Harley Quinn teams up with the Huntress, Black Canary (when she's not saving Star City alongside hubby Green Arrow), and perhaps a S.T.A.R. Labs-healed Batgirl. Or maybe Batwoman (Kate Kate) gets launched with this project, with her standalone film either preceding or following.
And, at some point, I'd like to see a Green Hornet film, or even a TV series, to wipe the horrible memory of the 2011 Seth Rogen film away. If Spider-Man can be restarted 3 times in a span of 13 years (Tobey Maguire in 2002, Andrew Garfield in 2012, Tom Holland in 2016), we can have a 2nd Green Hornet within 5 years.
To summarize:
2005 Batman Begins
2006 Superman: Man of Steel
2007 Wonder Woman
2008 The Dark Knight (Batman II), The Flash, Aquaman
2009 Wonder Woman: Justice Society, Green Arrow, Superman II: The Zod Conspiracy, The Hawks (Hawkman & Hawkwoman)
2010 The Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder (Dick Grayson becomes Robin), Green Lantern, The Atom
2011 Batgirl, Flash II: Flashpoint (Introduces Wally West as Kid Flash), Justice League, Aquaman II
2012 Wonder Woman III (Introduces Steve III and Donna Troy as Wonder Girl), Titans (Dick becomes Nightwing, Jason Todd becomes Robin), Green Arrow and Black Canary (also introduces Roy Harper as Speedy, later renamed Arsenal)
2013 Batman: A Death in the Family (Joker shoots Barbara and kills Jason), Green Lantern II (Introduces Guy Gardner and John Stewart, Carol Ferris becomes Star Sapphire), Shazam!
2014 Superman III: Brainiac, Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying (Tim Drake becomes Robin), Zatanna, Justice League II: Apokolips
2015 Aquaman III, Atom II (Introduces Ryan Choi as Ray Palmer's assistant & eventual successor), Green Arrow III, Titans II: The Deathstroke Challenge
2016 The Green Hornet, Flash III: Zoom (Barry sacrifices himself, Wally becomes the new Flash), Shazam II: Fury of the Gods, Green Lantern III (Introduces Kyle Rayner as Hal goes rogue following the destruction of Coast City)
2017 Batman: Son of the Demon (Introduces Damian Wayne, Bruce and Talia's son, causing tension between a now-married Bruce and Selina, Bruce straightens him out and makes him the new Robin as Tim joins the Titans full-time), Wonder Woman IV (Hippolyta dies, Diana becomes Queen, Donna becomes Wonder Woman, Cassandra Sandsmark introduced as the new Wonder Girl), Justice League III: Identity Crisis
2018 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Batwoman (Kate Kane becomes the Scarlet Knight, with Ryan Wilder as her "Robin")
2019 Wonder Woman IV, Justice League Dark, Atom III (Ryan takes over as the Atom)
2020 Birds of Prey, Infinity, Inc.
2021 (Delayed due to COVID): Superman V: Grandson of Krypton, Shazam III: The Return of Black Adam, Titans III
2022 (At the time of this writing, still in the future, also delayed due to COVID): The Green Hornet Strikes Again, Batwoman II, Flash IV
And so on. Or, to put it another way:
Batman: 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017
Superman: 2006, 2009, 2014, 2018, 2021
Wonder Woman: 2007, 2009, 2012, 2017, 2019
Flash: 2008, 2011, 2016, 2022
Aquaman: 2008, 2011, 2015
Green Arrow: 2009, 2012, 2015
Hawks: 2009
Green Lantern: 2010, 2013, 2016
Atom: 2010, 2015, 2019
Batgirl/Birds of Prey: 2011, 2020
Justice League: 2011, 2014, 2017, 2019
Titans: 2012, 2015, 2021
Shazam!: 2013, 2016, 2021
Zatanna: 2014
Green Hornet: 2016, 2022
Batwoman: 2018, 2022
Infinity, Inc.: 2020
There's the plan. All we need now is for the Legends of Tomorrow to take the Waverider back to 2004 and set it up.
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