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Justice League
Justice League poster 3
Director: Zack Snyder
Joss Whedon
(Post production)
Producer: Charles Roven
Deborah Snyder
Jon Berg
Geoff Johns
Writer(s): Chris Terrio
Joss Whedon
Release Date: November 17, 2017
Running Time: 120 minutes
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Justice League is the fifth film in the DC Extended Universe which focuses on the formation of the Justice League and their battle against Steppenwolf. The film was initially directed by Zack Snyder, then additional post-production material was written and directed by Joss Whedon following Snyder's departure from the project.

Plot[]

Thousands of years ago, Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons attempt to conquer and remake Earth through the combined energies of the Mother Boxes. They are foiled by a unified army that included the Olympian Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, ancient humans, and Green Lanterns. After repelling Steppenwolf's army, the Mother Boxes are separated and hidden in locations around the world.

In the present, the death of Superman triggers the Mother Boxes to activate, resulting in Steppenwolf's return to Earth in an effort to regain favor with his master, Darkseid. Steppenwolf manages to retrieve the Mother Box from Themyscira, prompting Queen Hippolyta to warn her daughter, Diana Prince, of Steppenwolf's return. Diana joins Bruce Wayne in his attempt to unite the other metahumans, with Wayne going after Arthur Curry and Barry Allen, while Diana tries to locate Victor Stone. The two of them fail to persuade Curry and Stone, but manage to recruit Allen onto the team. Stone later joins the group after his father Silas is kidnapped, along with several other S.T.A.R. Labs employees, by Steppenwolf who is looking for the box left with mankind.

Meanwhile, Steppenwolf attacks Atlantis to retrieve the second Mother Box, forcing Curry to decide to take action. The team receives intel from Commissioner James Gordon that the Parademons are traveling underground, and conclude that Steppenwolf's army is based in an abandoned facility. Although the group manages to rescue the kidnapped employees, the facility is flooded during combat, which traps the team until Curry helps delay the flood so they can escape. Stone retrieves the last Mother Box, which he had hidden, for the group to analyze. Wayne decides to use the Mother Box to resurrect Superman, not only to help them fight Steppenwolf's army, but also to restore hope in humanity. Prince and Curry are hesitant about the idea, but Wayne forms a secret contingency plan in case Superman returns as a nemesis.

Clark Kent's body is exhumed and placed in the incubation waters of the Kryptonian ship alongside the Mother Box, which activates with Allen's help and successfully resurrects Superman. However, Superman's memories have not returned, and he attacks the group after Stone accidentally launches a projectile at him. On the verge of being killed by Superman, Batman enacts his contingency plan: Lois Lane. Superman calms down and leaves with Lois to his family home in Smallville, where he reflects and tries to recover his memories. With the last Mother Box unguarded, Steppenwolf retrieves it with ease.

Without Superman to aid them, the remaining five heroes travel to a village in Russia where Steppenwolf plans to unite the boxes once again and reshape the world. The team fight their way through the Parademons to reach Steppenwolf, although they are unable to distract him enough for Stone to separate the boxes. Superman arrives and assists Allen in evacuating the city, as well as Stone in separating the Mother Boxes. The united heroes manage to defeat Steppenwolf, who, overcome with fear, is attacked by his own Parademons, before they all teleport away.

In the aftermath of the battle, Wayne and Diana agree on the decision to rebuild Wayne Manor as a base of operations for the team, with additional space for more heroes in the future. Prince steps back into the public spotlight as a hero; Allen manages to acquire a job in Central City's police department; Stone continues to explore and enhance his abilities with his father in S.T.A.R. Labs; Arthur embraces his Atlantean heritage; and Clark resumes his role as Superman. In the mid-credit scene, Superman and The Flash decide to race to see who is the fastest person alive. In the post-credits scene, Lex Luthor has escaped from Arkham Asylum and recruits Slade Wilson to form their own league.

Cast[]

References to the broader DC Extended Universe[]

Taglines[]

  • Unite
  • Unite the League.
  • Justice for all.
  • You Can't Save The World Alone
  • All in.

Production[]

The film was shot in London, Scotland, Los Angeles and in Djúpavík in the Westfjords of Iceland.

The Justice League movie suffered many problems behind the scenes. The script underwent major changes before and during production between 2016 and 2017 and Snyder was mandated to keep the film at two hours long to allow for more screenings despite his insistence that it would be almost impossible as the film would be introducing three new characters (Aquaman, Cyborg, and Flash) as well as establish the villains. Most of the changes were driven by the negative reception to the previous installments of the DCEU, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. In May 2017, shortly after post-production began, Snyder announced that he would be stepping down from the movie to properly grieve the death of his daughter Autumn, who had committed suicide after struggling with clinical depression for much of her life, stating that the tragedy left him with no energy to deal with the studio anymore.

Co-writer Joss Whedon, who had previously directed Marvel's The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014), was hired to finish the film, completing it as an uncredited director. Whedon oversaw reshoots and other changes that incorporated a brighter tone and more humor, and kept the runtime in accordance with the mandate from Warner Bros. The theatrical version of Justice League was a box office disappointment and received mixed-to-negative reviews, with critics and viewers calling it a "Frankenstein's monster" of a film with an inconsistent tone, a weak and rushed story, and underdeveloped characters. Deborah Snyder (wife of Zack Snyder and co-manager of their production company The Stone Quarry) and Christopher Nolan (an executive producer on the film) were especially vocally displeased with the final product to the point that they told Zack not to see the theatrical cut.

When details surfaced about the film's troubled production (including allegations of abusive behavior from Whedon towards the cast members) and the state of the film before Snyder stepped down, some expressed interest in the idea of an alternate cut closer to Snyder's original vision for the film. Fans, members of the cast and crew, and other film industry figures petitioned for the release of this alternate cut of the movie using the hashtag "#ReleaseTheSnyderCut". Despite Warner Bros. stating they wouldn't release the film and were taking the DC Extended Universe into a different direction focused on individual franchises and standalone movies rather than a connected universe building up to an arc, fans drew up petitions and kept the hashtag trending on social media, engaging in acts of fan activism to promote the cause. Ultimately, in February 2020, WarnerMedia decided to move forward with releasing Snyder's original after chairman Toby Emmerich acknowledged the movement and reached out to Snyder. After refusing to air his footage unfinished, Snyder was granted $70 million by the studio to add on the special effects and do extra reshoots, adding in about five minutes of new footage to the final product. On May 20, 2020, Snyder personally confirmed that his cut of the movie would be released on HBO Max as Zack Snyder's Justice League during a watch party for Man of Steel. The film was released on March 18, 2021.

Gallery[]

Promotion, Filming and Concept Art[]

Videos[]

References[]


External links[]

DC Extended Universe
Released Films Man of Steel | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | Suicide Squad | Wonder Woman | Justice League | Aquaman | Shazam! | Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
Wonder Woman 1984 | Zack Snyder's Justice League | The Suicide Squad | Black Adam
Shazam! Fury of the Gods | Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom | The Flash | Blue Beetle
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