As we get close to the opening of Justice League this week, it’s worth a look back at some pre-production publicity that happened even before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was released. Producer/director Zack Snyder had gone on a radio morning show and touted how bad-ass Aquaman is (and on that point, at least, he and I agree). And then a few weeks later he instagrammed the following image:
Though heavily washed in SnyderVision(tm), that’s pretty much how Jason Momoa seems to look in the Justice League trailers and his brief branding cameo in Batman v Superman: Forget How Much of This Happened. What’s more interesting is that catch phrase — Unite the Seven. It got winnowed down to “UNITE” and then became “ALL IN.”
Let’s count how many are in, shall we?
Ezra Miller as the Flash, that’s one. Ray Fisher as Cyborg, that’s two. Gal Gadot as the first reason people really want to see this movie, that’s three. Ben Affleck as Batman, that’s four. Momoa as the second reason people really want to see this movie, that’s five. Now we know they’re being coy about the return of Henry Cavill as Superman, even though of course we know that Henry Cavill is returning as Superman, with an invisible moustache. That’s six.
There’s a reference in the one of the trailers to the Lantern Corps, and for a long time it’s been rumored that one or more Lanterns would appear at the end of Justice League, but I’ll be honest: if one does, it’s the single best-kept secret in the brief history of DC Films, because every other one of their movies has leaked the current U.S. administration, and this thing opens in two days!
I’m more inclined to believe that this gets filed under “Warner Brothers has no plan. And if you believed them when they said they had a plan, please ignore that plan because now they have a new plan. Is it Saturday yet?” Still, it would be so refreshing if some wild surprise hit opening night — like one of the actual original seven. Give me a CG Martian Manhunter and cast the role later, like Marvel did with Thanos.
A fanboy can dream. And often does.
