Justice League

Over the weekend, USA Today dropped their 2017 movie preview featuring new photos of some of the year’s most anticipated movies. One of those was, of course, DC’s Justice League. We’ve seen some behind-the-scenes footage and some new looks at Wonder Woman, Batman, and The Flash, but now the whole gang has arrived.

Rough year for Ben Affleck, noted Jennifer Garner spouse and one-time star of Gigli. His big starring vehicle Batman v Superman made a whole lot of money but was critically reviled almost across the board, his latest directorial effort Live by Night got a quiet and unceremonious limited release that was buried in the holiday craziness, he was spotted sadly vaping in a car, and now a pall of uncertainty has been cast over his future. He’s confirmed for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Justice League crossover, but Affleck’s relationship with the Dark Knight’s cowl and cape may be getting a bit strained. In a new interview, Affleck indicated that what was once presumed to be set in stone is, in fact, still up for debate.

Not long ago, we published a list of suggestions for how Warner Bros. could fix some of the issues with the DC Extended Universe. To date, the studio has delivered three superhero blockbusters — all of which were massively budgeted and hugely successful at the box office, sure, but they could have performed even better had they been genuinely good films. Although recent comments from WB execs and Ben Affleck imply that the studio has learned a few lessons from its mistakes, new comments from a top DC movies producer prove otherwise.

From the new heavy metal logo to set photos of Aquaman rocking a guitar and Ben Affleck’s Batman showing off his midlife crisis sunglasses, I’ve been pretty certain that Justice League is actually the story of how a Cool Dad puts together a hard rock cover band of superheroes. Thanks to an interview accompanying a new still from Zack Snyder’s film, my beliefs are, once again, validated.

How much does Jason Momoa, hulking star of the upcoming Aquaman and eventual Justice League member, love his family? So much that he cut together an 8-minute video about his devotion and commitment to his beautiful children, and then ensured that millions of people would have to watch it by nestling some exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the set of Justice League along with the golden-hued shots of his children playing in what appears to be the wheat field from Gladiator. The things we do for our kid

While he was da foe of Peter Parker in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, when Willem Dafoe joined the cast of Justice League, his role was, at first, kept a mystery. We later learned over the summer that he’d be playing Nuidis Vulko, one of the Aquaman comics’ mainstays, and now Dafoe has confirmed it himself, with a few interesting facts about his involvement in the Aquaman and Justice League movies.

To commemorate the last day of shooting in the U.K., Justice League director Zack Snyder tweeted this video, which shows a surprising amount of behind-the-scenes footage from the set. Get ready to see Ben Affleck flying around on wires! Get ready to see 4/6ths of the Justice League on an elevator! Get ready to see Jason Momoa not handle his trident properly! (And no, that’s not a sexual euphemism.) Ah, what a glorious time to be alive.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a tale of two heroes and a tale of two outcomes. The film made $873 million worldwide. But it was also a deeply polarizing film, satisfying many hardcore DC fans but putting off others with its dark tone and heroes that I would characterize as, how should I put this, kinda dumb. It will lead directly into the Wonder Woman and Justice League movies, along with an entire DC Extended Universe, but the film was so dark and dour, that it made a lot of viewers less excited than nervous about all the stuff to come.

Warner Bros. has made plenty of decisions with its DC Cinematic Universe that don’t sit quite right with fans, but credit where credit is due, the casting of J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon is not one of them. Simmons  —  now available in a bulked up version 2.0  —  is one of our generation’s great character actors, the rare talent who can switch from utterly terrifying to kindly paternal in the blink of an eye. Since Batman looks to Gordon as both a hard-boiled police officer and a surrogate father figure, Simmons is the perfect addition to both the standalone Batman movie and the Justice League film.

That whooosh you just heard is the entire cast of Justice League breathing a collective sigh of relief.

Hard to believe, but production on Justice League, which doesn’t hit theaters until next fall, is already nearing an end — at least according to Zack Snyder, who shared a new photo revealing Batman’s latest costume upgrade. What, you didn’t really think Batman would make another on-screen appearance without getting a fancy new super-suit, did you?

Following Batman v Superman’s underwhelming box office, DC’s Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns was promoted to the position of creative head for WB’s DC Film franchise, overseeing the studio’s upcoming slate of comic-book movies. In addition to co-writing the new solo Batman film with Ben Affleck, Johns (who recently confirmed Joe Manganiello’s casting as DC villain Deathstroke) is heavily involved with Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and in a new interview, the exec reveals how they’re making some adjustments to address complaints about Snyder’s Dawn of Justice.