George Miller’s Justice League Mortal

[Silver Nemesis]

I could have sworn we already had a thread on this film, but I can't seem to find it. Some new pictures have emerged online in the past few days. Here's some concept art for Batman and Superman's costumes. Apparently these do not reflect the finished designs.

And here are some photos. According to Armie Hammer, the costumes in the group picture are not the finished designs either. They must have been early prototypes.

I'm not digging Superman's outfit here, but the Flash's costume looks like it might be the best live action version yet. I'd like to see a higher-resolution image of that one. Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter all look good. Green Lantern is less impressive. I can't really judge the batsuit based on such a blurry image.

Now, more than ever, I'd really like to see what the finished outfits looked like.

[thecolorsblend]

I kind of like that Superman outfit. It's a lot brighter and more colorful than the Superman Returns outfit... which should tell us something about how eager the costumer designers were to avoid any comparison to that movie.

As to Batman's outfit, it looks like the costume designers were also trying to separate their version from Nolan's as much as possible. Probably for different reasons than they wanted to separate themselves from Superman Returns but the end result is the same.

More and more I'm starting to think of this movie as a tremendous missed opportunity.

[Silver Nemesis]

I think I'd like this Superman costume more if there was some red (ideally trunks and boots) to break up the blue on his lower half. In these images, it looks a bit too much like a onesie for my tastes.

More and more I'm starting to think of this movie as a tremendous missed opportunity.

Agreed. I doubt it would have harmed any of the other DC movies in production at the time. It's not as if it was the beginning of a shared universe or anything. This project was always conceived as separate from Nolan and Singer's films. Plus it would have allowed Warner Bros to beat The Avengers to the big screen. And even if it had sucked, we still could have gotten a DC universe reboot in 2013 anyway. JL Mortal would have been a good cinematic project to follow The Dark Knight and Watchmen (2009). I wish it had been made.

[thecolorsblend]

I think I'd like this Superman costume more if there was some red (ideally trunks and boots) to break up the blue on his lower half. In these images, it looks a bit too much like a onesie for my tastes.

I totally understand. And I even agree.

But the costume designers had to play the ball where it lay. They had to be different from Singer's design. And that design (final or not) is certainly different from Singer's design while still remaining recognizably Superman.

Not sure if you remember but there was early unsubstantiated gossip that Tom Welling had been offered the role of Superman in JLM. And unlike Ratner, word was that Welling was seriously considering it for a change. Obviously somebody else would've played Superman had the movie been made. But I tend to believe there was a lot of truth to this. Whatever happened happened. Or didn't happen. But I maintain that the offer to Welling was real and there was some kind of effort make a deal on this.

But I look at that design now and wonder if it's not partly an enticement to Welling to sign the dotted the line. "See? This version doesn't have undies on the outside! It's a pretty respectable outfit. Pretty cool, huh? SIGN THE DOTTED LINE PLEASE!"

Agreed. I doubt it would have harmed any of the other DC movies in production at the time. It's not as if it was the beginning of a shared universe or anything.

It's hard to say. Ego is the fuel of Hollywood. Even more than money, ego determines what happens, what doesn't happen, who gets credit, etc. At that time, DC on film had a ton of competing egos wanting mutually exclusive outcomes. It's hard to say what the end might've been had JLM gotten made.

This project was always conceived as separate from Nolan and Singer's films. Plus it would have allowed Warner Bros to beat The Avengers to the big screen. And even if it had sucked, we still could have gotten a DC universe reboot in 2013 anyway. JL Mortal would have been a good cinematic project to follow The Dark Knight and Watchmen (2009). I wish it had been made.

I always assumed that Singer's "trilogy" died the day Superman Returns came out. Nolan was never sticking around beyond three movies (if even that). So JLM could've been a handy way to do the opposite of what Marvel did: Create a shared universe through a team-up movie and then split the breakout characters off into their own individual franchises. It would've saved a lot of money on otherwise risky movies and nobody would've compared DC on film to the MCU since their approaches were so different.

A shared universe could have been made. But, as above, lots of dueling egos were happening. Such is life.

[Silver Nemesis]

But the costume designers had to play the ball where it lay. They had to be different from Singer's design. And that design (final or not) is certainly different from Singer's design while still remaining recognizably Superman.

Yeah, that's a fair point.

But I look at that design now and wonder if it's not partly an enticement to Welling to sign the dotted the line. "See? This version doesn't have undies on the outside! It's a pretty respectable outfit. Pretty cool, huh? SIGN THE DOTTED LINE PLEASE!"

This is an interesting theory. I hadn't actually heard the rumours about Welling being up for JL Mortal until now. I knew Ratner was interested in him, but not that he was rumoured for this too. If he'd accepted, would they have tied the rest of the film in with the Smallville universe? Or would Welling have played a different version of the character from the one he portrayed on television?

Here's some more concept art.

[Azrael]

Definitely medieval armour-inspired, with "ninja" boots. Interesting.





Superman looks a bit like Eradicator from Reign of the Supermen.

I wish this was available in better quality to have a better look of the Batsuit.

[thecolorsblend]

This is an interesting theory. I hadn't actually heard the rumours about Welling being up for JL Mortal until now. I knew Ratner was interested in him, but not that he was rumoured for this too.

Yeah, it caused quite the kerfluffle when the news broke in the late summer of 2007.

If he'd accepted, would they have tied the rest of the film in with the Smallville universe? Or would Welling have played a different version of the character from the one he portrayed on television?

Based on absolutely nothing at all, I assume it would've been Tom Welling playing Superman with no connection to Smallville at all.

As to the Batman outfit, I kind of lament the fact that we didn't see JLM just for that. Armie Hammer is absurdly tall and has solid chops. He would've made an amazing Batman, I'm convinced. But that might've caused trouble with Bale's portrayal of Batman. People can love Bale's performance or hate it but maybe it's best for all of us in the long run that he didn't have competition.

[The Dark Knight]

More and more I'm starting to think of this movie as a tremendous missed opportunity.

Nah, not for me. I was never invested in this project and therefore have nothing to mourn. The concept art doesn't really do anything for me either. I'm glad it didn't happen. I also don't think the time was right back then.

[Silver Nemesis]

Here's one of Armie Hammer's cowls from Justice League Mortal. Alex Ross' influence is apparent in the furrowed brow.

Here's what it might have looked like in colour.

[thecolorsblend]

Hm. Seems like Miller would've gone pretty far out of his way to distance his version of Batman from Nolan's. Good find!