Live Action Casting - The Justice League

I had really meant to have this up last month but life got in the way, especially in the last week. (See, if I had one of those Black Lantern rings that wouldn't be an issue!)  So, here we are with the culmination of our months long project... the Justice League movie.

The roster for the Justice League is as follows:

Man of Steel has already established Henry Cavill here (in all his crotch bulging goodness) as Supermen...

and Ryan "2 Flops in 1 Week" Reynolds as Green Lantern.

Here are the other members we introduced in earlier Live Action Castings:

Alexander Skarsgard as Aquaman

Gina Carano as Wonder Woman

Patrick Wilson as The Flash

and Armie Hammer as Batman (which seems doubtful since he apparently doesn't want to play him.)

In this movie we would also add Cyborg to complete the current New 52 Justice League...

For Cyborg we pick Michael B. Jordan. Its funny because we picked him long before we heard he was chosen to voice Cyborg in the "Flashpoint Paradox" animated movie that just came out! We loved him from Parenthood, though. His performance in Chronicle only sweetens the casting for me.

Now for the main villain of the film, we are going back to the puppet master from Wonder Woman's movie Ares, played by Javier Bardem.

But Justice League will feature three other villains. The first is Maxwell Lord...

We want Luke Evans for Maxwell Lord. You may recognize him from Immortals or as the bad guy from Fast and Furious 6. He's a good actor and can play the master manipulating millionaire businessman with ties to the clandestine government organization Checkmate.

The second is Professor Ivo...

Michael C. Hall seems like a great candidate to play the twisted genius Professor Ivo. Granted, Ivo's role in the movie would be limited, it would establish him for future movies... possibly involving a certain "amazing" android?

The third isn't so much a villain but a whole mess of villains...

The OMACs, an army of robotic soldiers created to neutralize metahumans, will play a major role in the movie.

What follows is just a basic idea for the plot that Jonny and I came up with. If I were to actually write this, it would have to be enhanced greatly, with locations and subplots, to be a fully functioning story. We think its a great concept, so without further ado, here is what we came up with...

The movie would begin in S.T.A.R. labs where Dr. Stone is working with Professor Ivo are working on a breakthrough in Artificial Intelligence. Stone's son Vic (the future Cyborg) comes to speak to his father when an explosion occurs in the lab. Vic is mortally wounded and Ivo is (seemingly) killed with much of the research destroyed. Dr. Stone quickly uses what robotic technology he has save his son's life.

While at a fancy humanitarian fundraiser Maxwell Lord seeks out Bruce Wayne to offer him the "oppurtunity" to get in on the ground floor by helping to fund what he calls "a worldwide peace-keeping deterrent."  He won't divulge any further details but does admit to already having a major benefactor. Whane Wayne asks "Who, Luthor?" Lord replies "Bigger." Wayne politely rejects the offer until he can know more about the project. Lord walks away with a smirk. His nose begins bleeding, but he immediately stops the flow with a handkerchief.

Soon after, blue robots begin to attack various metahumans like Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash and Green Lantern. All of these robots feature adaptive means of taking on their opponents such as being equipped to to match Aquaman's speed and strength underwater while resisting deep ocean pressures. A robot takes on Superman, matching his immense strength, speed and durability. Batman shows up (I am assuming they would be friends by the end of Man of Steel 2) to disarm the robot with an EM Pulse grenade. Batman and Superman investigate the source of these robots.

It is revealed that Maxwell Lord has quickly risen up the ranks in the clandestine Checkmate organization and become its Black Bishop. Lord has been displaying the power of the OMAC project to other leaders of Checkmate (the various attacks on heroes, the OMACs sight capabilities also record what they see). He claims it to be a project to subdue the rising threats that metahumans have to the rest of the world. Lord goes onto explain that with the 'generous' permission to use of WayneTech's satellite, they can provide worldwide coverage.The White Bishop (Amanda Waller) is suspicious and decides to investigate Lord's newfound status and plans.

Superman and Batman follow the clues to S.T.A.R. labs where they meet the rebuilt Vic Stone (Cyborg), his new body built using the OMAC technology that was being developed. Vic is helping with the clean-up and efforts to get the advanced laboratory back online, partially by his own accessing of the computer systems to recover lost or damaged files. Vic tells his father as well as Superman and Batman that there seems to a lot of files missing concerning the manufacture and artificial intelligence research his father and Ivo had been working on. A small group of OMACs appear and fighting breaks out. Cyborg ends up being helpful in the battle. Cyborg should accompany Superman and him in order to stop the robotic menace.

Maxwell Lord arrives at his massive OMAC building factory and a massive super-computer to coordinate them. It is revealed that Professor Ivo survived the explosion, though not without suffering disfiguring injuries. The mysterious benefactor, remaining in shadows, tells Lord that he obtained Ivo along with the research necessary. Now it Lord up to him to get the Brother Eye system online. Maxwell Lord states that not only everything is going according to plan, but he is stepping up the attacks on metahumans. With this, Lord launches several more OMACs.

An OMAC attacks Green Lantern when Flash intervenes. They work together to defeat the robot. Wonder Woman arrives in Metropolis seeking Superman's help against the increasing robot attacks. Another OMAC appears and after a brief battle, is grabbed by the tentacles of a giant squid and smashed to bits by a blue whale... signaling the arrival of Aquaman.

Amanda Waller and an army of Checkmate agents storm Maxwell Lord's OMAC facility, citing suspicion of psychic persuasion on her fellow agents and superiors, evidenced by Lord's repeated nosebleeds after every encounter (an earlier scene would have shown Waller reviewing video records from the Checkmate 'Castle' headquarters). With a smile, Lord confesses. He is about to launch a swarm of OMACs on Waller and company when the benefactor stops him; he steps out into the open (revealing to the audience that he is Ares). The God of War decides to take them on by himself, something he hasn't had the joy of doing in quite some time. Ares kills the entire Checkmate squad by himself but only wounds Waller so that she might be able to witness the fall of man before she takes her final breath. Maxwell Lord, in a state of shock, wonders who his benefactor really is. Ares tells him that he is a God and that mortal men such as he should know that loyal servitude is the only thing that will keep his head attached to his neck. Then Ares commands Lord to launch an OMAC attack on Checkmate's Castle headquarters, resulting in an awesome, but one-sided battle that sees most of Checkmate killed... all witnessed by Waller. The OMACs then access Checkmate's computer files on every metahuman in the world.

Our details get a little hazy here. I'm not sure where Maxwell Lord's headquarters is nor where the future League members should congregate (probably Metropolis). Batman will find out that his alter ego Bruce Wayne actually did supply the information for his company's satellite to get jacked by Ivo and Lord, due to the latter placing a mental suggestion in Wayne at the fundraiser. The satellite aligns with Brother Eye's coordinates and activates 10,000 OMACs, which Ares has launched to attack every metahuman from the Checkmate files. Superman, Batman, Cyborg, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash and Green Lantern are forced to team up to both launch an assault on Lord's OMAC complex and fight off hundreds of the robots. There will also be scenes from around the world of other metahumans battling OMACs such as Booster Gold, Hawkman, Zatanna, Plastic Man, Shazam and more (setting the stage for more movies!).

After defeating a few hundred OMACs, the Justice League is met by Ares, whom Wonder Woman instantly recognizes and attacks. The God of War knocks her into a building, then proceeds to explain to the others that his strength increases when there is conflict across the Earth. Since the age of Gods ended centuries ago, he has been far weaker. Humans can only generate so much of the violent energies he needs to thrive, so he laid low and sowed the seeds for all out global conflict. (He almost succeeded twice.) Recently, he found that the rise of metahumans has brought him strength not felt since those days of old. Basically, with his newfound strength and invincibility, he's going to conquer the world of men.

Ares magically summons his full armor and takes on Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Aquaman in a huge fight that sees the God of War holding his own against them all. Batman takes on Maxwell Lord in a distraction so Cyborg can break into Brother Eye and disable the OMACs. Not sure how, but the good guys win (really not sure how Ares will be stopped, but I would want him to return in a third Wonder Woman movie called "Fall of the Amazons" cuz that sounds awesome!). Cyborg disables the OMACs, Batman kicks the crap out of Maxwell Lord, Professor Ivo escapes. More shots of other super heroes having defeated OMACs or just fighting them when the robot shuts down. Waller is rescued, but it implies she now has a deep distrust for metahumans. In the end, the Justice League forms.

Look for future installments of Live Action Casting that will feature some of those other superheroes in the DCU. Until then, Stay Strange.

Live Action Casting: Wonder Woman

 We begin the series of DC Comics run-up to Justice League films with the Amazon Princess herself... Wonder Woman!

For the starring role of Wonder Woman, we go with Gina Carano. This isn’t really that shocking, especially given the rumors that she is going to play Diana Prince. Honestly, Carano brings something to the table that casting your average pretty brunette actress can never hope to… and that is legitimacy. What I mean by that is Carano moves like an actual fighter because (newsflash) she was one! Her moves are fluid, not the staged awkwardness that we usually get from actresses pretending to be bad-asses. Gina Carano looks the part too. After seeing her in last year’s Haywire, I have no doubt she could pull off Wonder Woman. Casting anyone else, in my opinion, would be a step down.

  Next we have Diana’s love interest and first glimpse of “Man’s World”… Steve Trevor. To be fair, this is not a part that requires anyone too specific. You need a handsome tough guy that can play off Wonder Woman. But Jonny and I both agree that what we need is a proven performer who can make up for Gina Carano’s acting inexperience and possibly give her some guidance.

 So we have chosen Matt Damon as our top choice. He is attractive, a big name and a great actor. Plus, Damon has played a convincing action movie bad-ass in those Bourne movies. Like I said, Trevor could be replaced if Mr. Damon were busy with one of the thousands of movies he appears in every year, but he is our first choice for all the reasons given. 

 As a special shout out to the fan-boys and in recognition of her legacy, we have to have Lynda Carter play Queen Hippolyta, the mother of Wonder Woman. 

 For those unfamiliar, Lynda Carter played Wonder Woman in a live action television show in the 70’s. This is especially funny when it was said that the “golden age” Wonder Woman was actually Hippolyta!

Moving on, we decided to cast the role of Artemis, the battle-ready Amazon and rival of Diana. 

 For her, I am going with Deborah Ann Woll. You might know her as Jessica Hamby on True Blood. She is a definite stand-out actress on that show and her performance as a vampire makes me believe she could easily play a tough as nails, chip on her shoulder Amazon warrior.

Now I’m not sure where she would appear in the film, but we wanted to have Donna Troy there somewhere, probably on the island home of the Amazons, Themyscira. Given the amount of material to cover, I am figuring that Donna Troy’s involvement would be little more than a cameo, but it would set the stage for her to become Wonder Girl (in a sequel?) and for a possible Teen Titans movie!

 So for Donna Troy, we decided to go with Victoria Justice. She’s a pretty talented actress and really fits the part in the looks department. I have a feeling that she could pull it off.  

 Moving on the villain of this movie, I am going to go with goddess of witchcraft… Circe. I think the idea of Diana venturing into the “world of man” on a mission of goodwill would contrast nicely with this sorceress’ eternal hatred of men. Essentially, Circe would seek to rein some destruction onto “man’s world” in a quest to free women of their bonds to them… and to serve her will instead.

 For the role of Circe we are going with Kate Beckinsale. She has star power and can definitely play a bad-ass as we have seen from the Underworld movies. I think she could easily carry the film as the villainous sorceress.

Which leads me to the big reveal… once Circe is defeated she finds herself banished (as she is immortal, she couldn’t be killed). She is visited by a deity who manipulated her from the start… Ares, the god of war. 

 He had enamored Circe with ideas of conquest and glory, perhaps with the promise of support, to attain more power to break free of his banishment. Ares reveals that he gains strength and power from war, but discovered that battles fought between beings beyond the level of ordinary humans (superheroes?) provide him with a greater lever of power than the paltry squabbling of mere mortals. To that effect, his plans are coming to fruition.

 For the part of Ares, we want Javier Bardem. Jonny came up with this one and at first I was skeptical; but the longer I thought about it, the more I loved the idea. Bardem has shown that he makes for one hell of bad guy. Remember him as creepy Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men? Or how about the awesomely charismatic and twisted Silva from Skyfall? He will be an amazing god of war. I figure he would be introduced looking human, then form his magic trademark armor to reveal who he really is. Jonny and I would have big plans for Ares… but that is yet to come.

Stay tuned for the next installment for Live Action Casting: Justice League!