Why Not Justice League?

[Peter Suderman]

Jeffrey Overstreet and Peter Chattaway are both dismayed by the rumor that Hayden Christensen, otherwise known as Stephen Glass, might play Superman in George Miller's upcoming Justice League film. In fact, they're more than dismayed. Chattaway wants the project to just go away entirely.

I'm not sure the casting Christensen, if confirmed, would be particularly good news, but I don't see why this project ought to be sunk. Yes, it's low on star power, but the first X-Men film showed you could make a fine superhero picture without any A-list performers. (Hugh Jackman, an unknown at the time, was catapulted to his current status by that film's success.) And I'd rather see something made rather than nothing at all. More than that, I'm just curious what would happen if you gave the director of Mad Max and The Road Warrior $100 million and said "Go make a superhero movie!" Sure, it might be terrible; but it might not be either -- directors who start doing gonzo, low-budget genre films have a history of coming through on big-budget projects. Just look what happened when the guy behind Army of Darkness was put in charge of Spider-Man. Miller's got a great eye for action and archetypal characters (Max was essentially a comic book anti-hero). I see no reason not to give him the chance on this one.

Comments

I'm sure the investors are relieved that Peter Suderman has green-lighted this project.

Can't wait for your take on the Fanboys kerfuffle!

Posted by Worst. Blogger. Ever. | March 31, 2008 12:54 PM

Yes, it's low on star power, but the first X-Men film showed you could make a fine superhero picture without any A-list performers.

Are you sure? -Halle Berry as Storm. Granted, she won the Oscar after X-Men I, but she was hardly unknown at the time. -Ian McKellen also is a fine actor, though perhaps better know for other wizardly roles. -Patrick Stewart as supporting role shows a better than average strength of cast for a comic book movie. You could make a real case that X-Men had a much more star studded cast than Spiderman, both in terms of critically acclaimed work and successful movies.

Posted by Kristian | March 31, 2008 12:59 PM

I won't watch this movie, but Army of Darkness was awesome.

Posted by Half Canadian | March 31, 2008 1:32 PM

I think the problem with Justice League is the difficulty of doing - if you'll excuse the choice of words - justice to each of the characters. With X-Men all of the characters were associated primarily with the X-Men. The members of the Justice League, by contrast, come from radically different milieux. Superman is an alien, Wonder Woman a demigod, Batman a nonpowered vigilante. The challenge comes from presenting a world where all could plausibly co-exist.

Posted by jeet | March 31, 2008 1:56 PM

Just look what happened when the guy behind Army of Darkness was put in charge of Spider-Man.

The cat who did Dead Alive turned out pretty well too.

Posted by Aaron | March 31, 2008 2:08 PM

It's not necessarily a matter of star power as it as a matter of casting a really useless actor. I don't see how Hayden Christensen managed to get anything bigger than a car-dealership commercial after the shit he dropped in the Star Wars movies.

Posted by alan | March 31, 2008 2:10 PM

Dead Alive? Meet the Feebles was his artistic triumph.

Posted by Geof | March 31, 2008 3:08 PM

Zack Snyder's 'The Watchmen' will blow it out of the water

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409459/

Posted by Judson | March 31, 2008 3:16 PM

True enough, Geof, but some folks here might not yet have had their memories of the Muppets forever tainted.

Posted by Aaron | March 31, 2008 3:33 PM

Rumor seems to have been denied by Christensen's agent (link in signature). And a million comic book fans breathed a sigh of relief.

Posted by Tel | March 31, 2008 3:44 PM

I must say that I have always thought Jerry Seinfeld had the best take on The Justice League:

"You mean Superman can't handle it all? For crying out loud, he's Superman!".

Posted by Yancey Ward | March 31, 2008 4:12 PM

It isn't a question of "star power," it's a question of miscasting. Hayden Christensen as Superman is nearly as poor a choice as Tim Burton's attempt to cast Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel.

Superman is one of the best-established fictional characters of all time. Everyone knows exactly what he's like, and AFAIK he's never been miscast, even once, in a production that actually made it to the screen, big or small.

From serial actor Kirk Alyn to Christopher Reeve to Brandon Routh, from TV's George Reeves to Dean Cain and even Tom Welling (who technically wasn't Superman, but Clark Kent), every actor credibly plays the same character. AFAIK, the abortive Burton-Cage debacle was the closest Superman ever came to being miscast.

Christensen is just wrong, and it's nothing to do with his star power. Johnny Depp or Will Smith or Orlando Bloom or Tom Cruise would be just as wrong. I don't care if they cast unknowns, stars or someone in between. I do care if they miscast established characters.

Posted by SDG | March 31, 2008 4:23 PM

As long as Jar-Jar stays at home it will be OK.

Posted by John Lynch | March 31, 2008 5:03 PM

I wonder how this movie will effect the box office of future Batman movies starring Christian Bale and future Superman movies starring Brandon Routh. Would a bad Justice League movie dilute those other movies?

Posted by Thomas | March 31, 2008 6:48 PM