News

JUSTICE LEAGUE | Official Logo, Synopsis and What we Know So Far

Published

on

Releasing in Kenya Friday November 17, 2017 and directed by Zack Snyder starring Ben Affleck,Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, and Ray Fisher.

SYNOPSIS:
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.  Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat.  But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Courtesy of Collider.com who went on a set visit recently, we have the following near exhaustive rundown, for now atleast, of what official info there is so far on Justice League:

  1. Justice League takes place a few months after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
  2. Even though when Warner Bros. announced Justice League it was talked about as two parts, the production is acting like Justice League is one movie. Deborah Synder said it’s not a two-part movie.
  3. Batman feels something is coming and the need to assemble a group that can fight the threat. The story is finding the group and putting them together and part of the fun is watching the different personalities of all the members of the Justice League interact with one another.
  4. The movie’s MacGuffin are the three Mother Boxes and who controls them. There are three and they belong to mankind, the Amazonians and in Atlantis with Aquaman and his people. Each looks similar but they are distinctive by color (red, silver and brownish) and the symbols and shapes of the designs on the boxes themselves.
  5. The film will help to explain the Mother Boxes by offering some sort of history lesson. I think Justice League opens many years in the past and attempts to explain how these boxes came to our planet.
  6. Steppenwolf is the villain, but they haven’t closed on the actor’s contract yet so they couldn’t reveal who will be playing him.
  7. The Parademons seen in the “Batman’s Knightmare” scene in Batman v Superman play a major role in Justice League.
  8. Willem Dafoe plays Vulko. He’s from another generation than Aquaman. He has more layers to his costume.
  9. Deborah Snyder says Zeus has a small part in the movie in the Mother Box history lesson.
  10. Zack Snyder said they have yet to film a scene with all the members of the Justice League together.
  11. They’re shooting on film but not in IMAX.
  12. Justice League is about the purpose of being a hero. Batman was hit hard by the death of Superman and he feels like he didn’t honor him while alive. He wants to make it up to him and also protect the planet from an incoming threat.
  13. A big change from BvS is Batman is learning to trust people in Justice League.
  14. Junkie XL is doing the score without Hans Zimmer.
  15. Producer Debbie Snyder said one of the things they learned from the reaction to Batman v Superman is audiences don’t want their superheroes deconstructed. She also said the darkest part of the story has already been shown (which was the last film).
  16. Justice League is going to appeal to a younger audience. Snyder went on to say “Justice League is much more inclusive. I think also you have these two very young characters, Flash and Cyborg. And you know, they’re definitely lighter. I think they’re going to appeal to a younger audience.”
  17. Ben Affleck said that the version of Batman in Justice League is “a little bit more sardonic, humor, a little more irony. He’s on a little more man on a mission this time. As opposed to like he was so full of anger because of what happened at the Black Zero Event. That kind of character, that sort of rage that possessed him. And now he’s on a mission to get this group together.”
  18. On being an executive producer and what it means, Affleck said it’s because he’s directing one of the upcoming DC movies (Batman).
  19. One of the things fans have wanted to see is Batman using his detective skills. Affleck says in Justice League “the world’s greatest detective aspect of Batman is more present in this story than it was in the last one, and will probably be expanded upon further in a Batman movie that I would do. I think all the great Batman stories are, at their heart, detective stories.”
  20. BVS was dark and gritty but that’s not Justice League, according to Affleck. The film has “room for more humor. It’s not going to be – DC movies I think, by their nature are a little more – gothic, or mythic rather, excuse me, than some comic book movies are. But that movie was very dark and heavy because it was really rooted in Dark Knight Returns which is a heavy, dark book. And this is not that.”
  21. Another change about Batman in Justice League is that he’s trying to redeem himself from his experiences in the last film. Affleck says “Batman definitely went to a very dark place that was rooted in trauma that occurred to people that he loved and worked with and what he saw. This movie is not about that issue for him so much anymore, he’s no longer sort of extreme in that way. From the experiences of the last movie, he’s sort of learned and now he’s sort of wanting to redeem himself and wanting mankind to be redeemed and he’s wanting to make the world better.”
  22. On his solo Batman movie, Affleck says he doesn’t want to start filming until he has a script that’s 100% ready to go because, “I’ve been on the end of the things when you make movies when you have a script that’s not good yet and it doesn’t pan out.” He says they’re currently working on it but he’s not finished.
  23. Wayne Hangar: Imagine an old hangar that’s been abandoned and taken over by Bruce to tinker with Batman’s tech and build new vehicles. One of the signs on the ground said Gotham Iron Foundry Company established 1920. I believe the hangar was located on or near Gotham Warf. Along the tables I saw vintage newspapers with numerous car, missile parts, and little miscellaneous pieces scattered about. In one corner of the room twenty missiles were stacked in four rows of five. In another area a Honda motorcycle. In another area the Batmobile. I’d say the hangar was big enough to hold at least 20 Batmobiles and still have some room. Also, in another corner, which looks like Batman’s desk, the monitors were displaying the scenes from Batman v Superman when Batman was discovering Luthor’s footage about Flash, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Aquaman.
  24. Producers Debbie Snyder and Chuck Roven say that while each DC film is independent of one another, all the films are interconnected by bits of connective tissue. She said, ”All the films kind of fit in a timeline, but they’re independent films. You can see one and not need to see the other. They operate on their own. They all have their own tone and they deal with different characters. Yet they’re all in the same film universe and there is little bits of crossovers that we see. But that isn’t essential to the story.”
  25. We will see Atlantis in different time periods in Justice League. The culture is being created from the ground up. It’s a very ancient culture.
  26. The producers wouldn’t comment on the way Superman is in the film.
  27. We get a very classic looking Commissioner Gordon in the film. We were on set for J.K. Simmons’ first day and he was wearing a hat, tie, long trench coat and glasses. He looked like the animated series Gordon and also like he was literally ripped out of the comics. Fans will be very happy.
  28. Justice League features a number of new vehicles for Batman and his team to play with including the Flying Fox and the Nightcrawler.
  29. The interior of the Flying Fox is massive. It’s a three story ship that can fit the Batmobile and tons of other Bat gadgets. The ship is self-contained and a fantastic piece of equipment.
    We’re going to see an upgraded Batmobile in Justice League. Due to the additional threats Batman has added machine guns and a missile launcher to the top of the vehicle.
  30. The Nightcrawler is MASSIVE. Imagine the main part of the Batmobile except where the wheels would normally go you have four spider like legs from the largest spider you can imagine. These legs allow the Nightcrawler to climb and move in ways a car or plane can’t. It also allows the vehicle to access hard to reach terrain. Something else to know is when the Nightcrawler moves it damages the terrain due to the base of its legs.  While the backstory of the Nightcrawler won’t be explained in the film, production designer Patrick Tatopoulos said that he imagined it’s an old piece of Wayne Technology created by Bruce’s father that was originally going to be used by the military.
  31. The production only built the top of the Nightcrawler and the rest will be added in with CG.
  32. The Nightcrawler is part of a massive action set piece that takes place in a tunnel between Gotham and Metropolis. We got to tour part of the set they built for the scene and learned the tunnel was built by the Gotham W.P.A. between 1925-1929 and it sounds like it was never completed. My guess is the action set piece takes place around half way through the film.
  33. Zack Snyder said Jack Kirby’s New Gods influenced the Justice League movie.
  34. When comparing the version of Wonder Woman we’ll see in Justice League to Batman v Superman and her solo film, Gadot said, “The Wonder Woman we see in the Justice League is similar to the Wonder Woman we saw on BvS. The Wonder Woman that you’ll see in the solo movie she’s different…it’s the coming of age story. It’s about her becoming an adult really. From a child to adult and understanding the complexities of life and human beings.”
  35. Justice League is manufacturing all their costumes in-house and 3D printing is a huge part of making the costumes. The big challenge of creating them is making sure they not only look great but they’re functional for fighting and maneuverability.
  36. Michael Wilkinson is the costume designer. He also worked on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel, Watchmen, 300, and tons of other films.
  37. Cyborg’s costume is being created digitally from the neck down but still has to be designed. Not a lot of Victor Stone from the neck down.
  38. Cyborg is using technology that he got from one of the Mother Boxes which was shown in Batman v Superman. His technology is mysterious and he discovers his “gun arm” in the film.
  39. Cyborg’s suit can enlarge when provoked or when he goes into battle mode.
  40. We’ll see Cyborg in civilian clothes during parts of the film. I think he wears sweatpants.
  41. Flash’s costume is made up of 148 pieces and the cowl alone has 70 pieces. All the pieces have numbers on them to help put it together and two people need to assist Ezra Miller when dressing. However, while you might think it would take hours to assemble the outfit, it’s about five minutes!
  42. Justice League is manufacturing all their costumes in-house and 3D printing is a huge part of making the costumes. The big challenge of creating them is making sure they not only look great but they’re functional for fighting and maneuverability.
  43. When we first meet up with Flash the suit he’s wearing is a prototype. From what I gathered, it seems that Barry Allen may have broken into NASA and is using 3D printers to help make the outfit protect him when running at super speed. The design is very aerodynamic and, as many of you know, when Flash runs he generates electricity which circles around his body. The help make the effect come to life, the costume has black stretchy wires which will show the electricity and will be added in post-production. Once Barry Allen connects with Bruce Wayne and Wayne-Tech, Flash’s costume will probably get an upgrade….
  44. Flash has a cool pair of sneakers with the Flash symbol on both sides and on the base. I’d imagine we’ll get some sneaker company releasing these sneakers when the movie is coming out.
    When Wilkinson was designing Flash’s costume he didn’t feel the need to compete with the TV show because the design he needed to come up with had to work in Zack Snyder’s universe.
    There are two Batsuits in the film. The first one looks like the Batman costume you’ve already seen excerpt it has new armor plates under the costume to give added protection. Also, on Batman’s forearms they’ve added spikes on the outside of the costume. The second Batsuit is towards the end of the film but it has added carbon fiber, more protection, and a new cowl which adds more strength and protection around the neck and added levels of communication with Alfred and the members of the Justice League. The second costume also has new goggles which help pilot a new vehicle. The costume also helps amplify his strength even when dealing with an old injury.
  45. Wonder Woman’s costume has a few changes from Batman v Superman but it’s nothing major. From what I gathered it has a slight color adjustment (a bit more red) and has been designed to make the costume more comfortable and maneuverable.
  46. Did you know Wonder Woman’s costume is 5,000 years old? That’s what Wilkinson revealed about her costume.
  47. In the costume department we saw some concept art of Wonder Woman with a pretty big blue cape over her costume and on her back. I’m not sure it’s in the movie but it looked pretty cool.
  48. Everything Gal Gadot wears as Diana Prince is being made by the costume department. Nothing is store bought.
  49. Justice League has to dress 3,000 extras and it has 200 speaking parts.
  50. Bruce Wayne has a new car in Justice League but no one would reveal what it was.l.
  51. Justice League is filming in London until September and after they wrap there they go to Los Angeles and another still to be determined location. Filming is currently scheduled to wrap in October.
  52. Ray Fisher (Cyborg) talked about how he came to be in the film: “I was in a play off Broadway playing Muhammad Ali at the New York Theatre Workshop three years ago now. And around the time, Ang Lee, one of his upcoming projects was a 3D boxing movie about Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier and he came and saw the show at that time. And I hadn’t had an agent or a manager up until that point, but once people caught word of that, they started coming to the show to see who’s this guy that people are coming to look at and from there I signed up and went out to California for a visit and met up with Lord Kennedy and Kristy Carlson from Warner Brothers and they said, “we have something that may be right for you, but we can’t tell you what it is. It’s just in the realm of the Batman/Superman universe.” And I was like, “I’m done, I’m done. Sign me up. I’ll play a tree.”
  53. The production spent six months working on the costumes in research and development before any of the actors got involved.
  54. Producer Debbie Snyder confirmed Amber Heard is still playing Mera in Justice League.
  55. Batman continues to change the Batmobile to fight new enemies; concept art showed two massive machine guns and a missile launcher on top.
  56. Alfred and Bruce Wayne develop a lot of tech for the members of the Justice League.
  57. Steppenwolf, the creature we saw in the Batman v Superman deleted scene with Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) has not yet been cast. The creature will be voiced by someone but not acted the way some motion capture characters have recently been done.
Exit mobile version