Four Movies DC Should Make Before ‘Justice League’

It’s no secret that Warner Bros. has fairly grand, Avengers-grade plans for the DCU. That is, however, being led by something of a mistake; putting the team movie first, and then making the individual movies thereafter.

So, Warners, because we nerds always have your best interest at heart, here are five movies you should make, based on comic books you already own, before Justice League hits theaters.

All of this, by the way, is based on the rumored new roster that has leaked: It’s pretty much the classic lineup, but that presents its own problems.

The Flash

Here’s what the general public knows about the Flash: He runs really fast, and he wears a red jumpsuit. Considering how important the Flash is to the DCU, and considering some of the great writing work that’s been put into the book, and also since we all know Justice League 2 will probably be Crisis On Infinite Earths, a little backstory would be nice. Really, just pay Mark Waid whatever he wants and have him write it, it’ll be great.

A Green Lantern movie that’s a little more serious

The first Green Lantern movie is… well… Martin Campbell tried, really hard, to make a Green Lantern movie that encompassed the mythology, and really the movie, while it doesn’t quite work, does deserve credit for not just sticking Hal Jordan somewhere cheap and having him fight Goldbug or something.

That said, you can actually make a Green Lantern movie that’s a little more serious. Part of what defines Hal Jordan is that he really is trying to save the world, to have absolutely nothing ever go wrong, and that’s ultimately what breaks him. You can get a great movie out of that, Warners, and you really should try.

Wonder Woman, specifically an adaptation of Brian Azzarello’s current run

Again, we’ve got a filmgoer problem. Your average filmgoer associates Wonder Woman not with George Perez but with Lynda Carter. But this can be fixed: Wonder Woman is currently one of the best books DC publishes and that’s largely due to Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang. Put Chiang in charge of the design and Azzarello in charge of the script, and you’ll have a great Wonder Woman movie.

Martian Manhunter

In the script circulating Hollywood, he’s supposedly been around for a hundred years, so why not explore that? The best Martian Manhunter stories generally take place in the ’50s, and a Martian trapped in, say, a post-war noir would be a lot of fun to watch, and give the character some backstory for audiences.

Mostly what we’re saying is give our friends and parents some backstory. It will help them appreciate the rich history DC has built for nearly a century.

It will also mean we can watch the Justice League movie without having to explain who “that guy” is, every five seconds. But that’s just a bonus.

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