Nerd Concern: The Justice League

[Dave Gray]

So, The Justice League (the DC superhero team that consists of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, etc) movie is going to get made.

While not an Avengers ripoff, it will be heavily compared to the Avengers and common movie-goers will think it's in response to the film.  I'm concerned as to whether or not they can pull it off.  The question is "how much setup do moviegoers need before you launch the film?"  With Marvel, they made a clear, spaced-out film for each important character leading to the Avengers with little tie-ins to each other.  DC can't really do this for a variety of reasons.

1) They don't have the time.
2) They can't really use what they already have.  Batman exists in his own realistic universe.  On top of that, the Batman we have now is finished, storywise.  Superman is launching a new film, but it's apparently not fit to pair with these other films either -- too realistic?  And Green Lantern was a turd and a bomb.
3) There is a report, though unconfirmed, that Joseph Gordon Levitt is going to play Batman.  But, if he's "John Blake" from the Nolan Trilogy, that means that we'll have a Justice League without Bruce Wayne.  Or if he plays Bruce Wayne, it'll be very confusing for the casual fan.

Superman and Batman are iconic enough that they don't really need backstories.  People already know them.  But what about Wonder Woman and Flash?  What about Aquaman?  How do you incorporate those?

[mecadonzilla]

I just don't see how they can do it worth a damn.  I thought (hoped) the Green Lantern movie pretty much killed DC's desire to involve non Superman/Batman characters.

Instead of doing live action, I'd rather them go back to producing those kick ass Justice League Unlimited cartoons...and bring back Young Justice while they're at it.

[Spider-Dan]

3) There is a report, though unconfirmed, that Joseph Gordon Levitt is going to play Batman.  But, if he's "John Blake" from the Nolan Trilogy, that means that we'll have a Justice League without Bruce Wayne.  Or if he plays Bruce Wayne, it'll be very confusing for the casual fan.

Was it confusing when Chris Evans was Johnny Storm (Human Torch) in two movies, then became Steve Rogers (Captain America) 4 years later?  How about when Ryan Reynolds was Deadpool in 2009 and Green Lantern in 2011?

People are used to the musical chair casts.  Hulk is a different actor in literally every movie.  Batman isn't too far off.

[Dave Gray]

Was it confusing when Chris Evans was Johnny Storm (Human Torch) in two movies, then became Steve Rogers (Captain America) 4 years later?

No, it wasn't confusing.  The FF movies weren't really all that popular and they weren't good.  Also, the characters looked and acted completely different.

How about when Ryan Reynolds was Deadpool in 2009 and Green Lantern in 2011?

Not confusing at all.  The 2 characters are with different movie houses and different comic companies.  Besides, Deadpool was a side character.

People are used to the musical chair casts.  Hulk is a different actor in literally every movie.  Batman isn't too far off.

It's not that they couldn't handle JGL as Batman.  It's that it'd be hard to tell people that JGL is playing Batman, but it's a different Batman than the one he already played.