The untold story of George Miller’s cancelled 2008 DC film, Justice League Mortal.
With recent reports suggesting that we may never see Zack Synder’s Director’s Cut of Justice League, there will no doubt be continued speculation as to what version the director would have released had he remained in sole control of the movie.
It’s not the first time that DC fans have had to suffer such a fate. Way back in 2009 Mad Max: Fury Road helmer George Miller was attached to direct his take on the superhero team-up with Justice League Mortal. Filming was said to be weeks away from beginning after a delayed start due to a writers strike in 2007. The production had got itself back into gear to begin again, only for the plug to be pulled at the eleventh hour.
Picked for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman was the then virtually unknown Armie Hammer who recently spoke about the abandoned project whilst a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Speaking of what his version of the caped crusader would have been like, he had this to say;
“It was pre-Christian Bale but the Christian Bale Batman had a lot more in common with it than any of the previous ones, whether it be George Clooney or Michael Keaton, which were almost campy. This was one about a guy who is severely psychologically, almost deranged. It was dark and it was really intense and this guy had major trust issues, the whole thing. It was a great concept and a really cool idea.”
The actor also told of his surprise at landing the role at such an early stage in his career;
“That was crazy. That was nuts, I was just a kid with a goofy name. I can specifically remember getting the phone call, and them being like, ‘You got the part in the movie.’ We didn’t know what part we were going in for. They didn’t say you were going in for Batman. It was nothing. Literally nothing. They didn’t even give you scenes from the movie. My audition scene was the Ned Beatty monologue from Network.”
Miller’s Justice League would have featured a predominantly younger cast with D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as The Flash, Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman and Common as Green Lantern. One stand-out scene in particular was said to feature an epic battle between Wonder Woman and Superman.
Hammer was later asked if he’d ever reconsider a return to the comic book genre, given that rumours were swirling earlier this year that he may be linked to a new Green Lantern movie within the DC Cinematic Universe but he seemed slightly hesitant;
“For me there’s not like a huge rush. Would I love to own a huge house? Yes, for sure. But at the end of the day I’m more interested now in my artistic credibility. If a great director came around and said ‘I have this idea’… but at the end of the day, no one’s asked and I’m not going out of my way to do it.”