Sunday, March 4, 2018

Cancelled Superhero Films 4 - George Miller's Justice League: Mortal

Introduction

Mad Max: Fury Road director, George Miller, was supposed to direct a Justice League movie back in 2008. Titled Justice League: Mortal, everything was in place for filming to take place in Australia. A full script that is now available online was written by Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows writers Michele and Kiernan Mulroney. The ensemble cast was also confirmed consisting of Armie Hammer (Batman), DJ Cotrona (Superman) Adam Brody (The Flash), Megan Gale (Wonder Woman), Hugh Keays-Byrne (Martian Manhunter), Common (Green Lantern), Santiago Cabrera (Aquaman), Jay Baruchel (Maxwell Lord), Teresa Palmer (Talia al Ghul) and Zoe Kasan (Iris Allen).


The Story

The film opens with the funeral of a superhero but we are not told who this hero is. Two days earlier, we are shown how all the members of the Justice League are being celebrated by the international community. Diana Prince, Wonder Woman, who serves as the public voice of the Metahuman community, is shown addressing the United Nations where she speaks of how the world is now peaceful. Bruce Wayne is watching the television broadcast and Alfred comments on how crime in Gotham is at its lowest.

Then, we cut to Martian Manhunter who is being attacked. His fellow Justice League members come to his rescue, but they are all compromised by their own weaknesses. After their defeat, they go investigate how it was that their attackers know so much about them.

It is then revealed that Bruce had built a backup arsenal to destroy his Metahuman friends should they ever get out of line. Two years ago, Bruce had an affair with Talia al Ghul. She managed to slip a tracking device into his clothes while spending the night at the Wayne Mansion. The Justice League have a small fight, but they eventually agree that in order to find their attackers, they need to work as a team.

Using his detective skills, Bruce learns that the psychic billionaire, Maxwell Lord has managed to hack the Batcave computer system and his minions are now after the Justice League. Maxwell Lord is seeking revenge against the world for horrible experiments done onto him as a child as part of the OMAC Project. When Maxwell learns that the Justice League is coming after him, he sends OMAC droids with civilians in them to defend him.

When Clark is close enough to his lair, Maxwell uses his powers to control Superman's mind, making him turn on his own friends. Bruce, with help from Alfred, manages to switch off the droids while Diana succeeds in getting Clark back to his senses with her lasso. Barry Allen sacrifices himself to get rid of Maxwell Lord who has become a cybernetic doomsday device by basically running so fast he merges with the Speed Force and sucks the giant OMAC into oblivion with him.

Cut to two days later, the funeral the heroes were attending was for The Flash. Wally West, Barry's nephew then takes up his uncle's place as the new Flash.



Conclusion

The film did not come into fruition mainly because of the infamous writer's strike that was happening at the time. There was also an issue with tax rebates in Australia, where film sets, props and costumes were all almost ready. Warner Brothers also felt it would have been too confusing for audiences with multiple versions of their most loved superheroes existing at the same time. Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy was entering its second entry, which will go on to be its most successful one. A Superman Returns sequel was already confirmed alongside Smallville being a huge success on the small screen.


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