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There’s no more beleaguered a film coming out this year than WB’s long-suffering Justice League film. The production on this movie has been such a complete mess it’s like something out of a soap opera. There’s been talk of a bloated production, constant re-edits after test screenings, executive panic and that’s not even touching on stuff we know like Joss Whedon coming in to relieve Zack Snyder after the tragic loss of his daughter.
Hell, even that particular revelation couldn’t go by without its OWN revelation as Whedon entered a very public scandal of his own in the latter half of the year. Mark my words, there will be large volumes written about how Justice League came to be. I say all this now because of the fact that this latest trailer feels like something different yet also quite familiar feels intrinsically tied to the recent avalanche of lurid coverage. In short, I think Justice League is finally finding itself in the editing and post-production and I actually think it looks…pretty good.
If you haven’t been obsessively following every tidbit of media about Justice League like some of us have here’s what you need to know. A lot has allegedly changed since the last time the superhero team-up film staggered into the limelight, with heavy rumors circulating that major characters and arcs are now gone from the film. The two big ones of note are that Iris West, Flash’s girlfriend and adopted sister (still incest guys,) and Lex Luthor, Superman’s archenemy, have both been cut entirely from the proceedings. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t really know how much this will impact the overall story, as it seems a lot more likely to be part of WB’s rejiggering after Wonder Woman’s success.
That, probably more than even the director changes or overrun editing, is a big part of why Justice League is changing so much- DC/WB finally have a hit on their hands with Wonder Woman and it’s time for everything else to fall into line. Part of that is putting Diana herself far more front and center for the film, with her as the final line of defense against the villainous space god Steppenwolf, but it’s also showing itself in the structuring. Basically, WB has decided that Wonder Woman’s no-frills approach to inter-film continuity is the way to move forward and are trying to shed the Justice League material that was initially meant to set-up Flash, Man of Steel 2, or Justice League 2.
I don’t think any of that is really a bad thing by any means. If we’ve learned one thing recently it’s that shared cinematic universes are very hard to achieve and even Marvel, king of them all, can’t get it right all the time as with the disappointing Defenders. What’s more, even Marvel didn’t try to cram too much “planning for the next movie” stuff into Avengers and when they did try that it produced Age of Ultron, which I liked but is far from their best work. So if WB wants to cut the shared universe stuff to a minimum and change Justice League to “Wonder Woman and her amazing friends” I’m hard-pressed to say it’s a bad call. In fact, it honestly seems to be working really well.
The most consistent thing about this trailer and previous ones is a greater sense of fun and play with the characters despite the very drab visual tone (seriously, this whole palette is infinitely too monochromatic.) Turning Aquaman into this goobery biker hunk is one of the best takes on his character since Brave and the Bold and he’s really become the most endearing part of the movie.
The Flash also has his moments and I kind of love how often the trailers frame him as the little brother of the league. There’s actually a major sense of family to the whole affair that’s a welcome change-up from DC’s previous offerings, with Bruce and Diana acting as mom and dad to their three goofy sons. I’d like to think that was always the intention and, combined with Wonder Woman’s earnestness landing big, it’s finally starting to shine through clearly here.
Speaking of Wonder Woman, the Amazons have had a much more expanded role in the trailers ever since that film made them big stars. I don’t think what we’re seeing actually represents NEW footage, just that WB is more aware of their popularity with audiences now.
I’m certainly glad they didn’t end up cut from the film along with Iris and Luthor because that would be a real shame, though that was probably never really a big risk. The plot of Justice League surrounds the alien god of war and the hunt Steppenwolf coming to Earth to retrieve three super-computers that were hidden here in ancient times.
The super-computers, called Mother Boxes, will open a portal to launch an invasion proper into Earth, an idea which was initially meant to play out across Justice League 1 and 2 but has since been condensed as DC/WB has continued to scramble. The three Mother Boxes, as it turns out, are tied to three of the Justice Leaguers as one is hidden on Diana’s home of Paradise Island, one is hidden in Aquaman’s Atlantis, and one is actually inside Cyborg.
Another key update that this trailer goes a long way to confirming is that Superman will have a place in the film. The current rumor, based on a soundtrack listing, is that Superman will return in a dark form as a servant of Steppenwolf. I’d actually buy that based on his scene in the recent trailer, as a major theme of the New Gods in the DCEU is that they communicate through dreams.
At the very least Superman is all over this trailer in a way that seems like they really want audiences to remember he exists, though I do like that we got to see the Superman monument from Dawn of Justice again. Even though a lot of that movie’s themes are kind of muddled and dissonant I actually really liked the optimism of the ending and it seems that mood is continuing on into this film.
I’m still not at the point where I think the film looks genuinely good or well made- this is a trailer after all and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the final product comes out as a cross-section of the many bizarre eras in its production timeline. However, the film does look enjoyable, which is a pretty big step up here. I’m a big believer in the idea that something doesn’t have to be good for you to like it and Justice League looks like a firm example of that and I think it’s going to pick up a lot of goodwill for the right intentions.
It looks to have a much more direct and positive ideology backing it than the muddled ideas of Batman v. Superman, the cynicism of Man of Steel, or the ugliness of Suicide Squad. That and the real sense of fun and humor that’s been imbued in every trailer have made me a lot more positive toward Justice League- horrible production and all, here’s hoping for the best.
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