A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Warner Bros. was planning a ‘Justice League’ movie and a then-unknown Armie Hammer was cast as Batman. The only problem was: Christian Bale was already Batman. Fans balked at having multiple universe Batmen. Then came the writer’s strike, and the project was shut down indefinitely. Then came Marvel’s slew of superhero films, and it seemed any attempt to relaunch DC Comics’ superhero super team would seem like riding Marvel’s coattails. Armie Hammer went on to do a little movie called The Social Network, and The Avengers became the highest grossing movie of the year.
But as The Joker knows all too well, you can’t kill Batman.
/Film is reporting that the ‘Justice League’ movie is back on, and Warner Bros. is again eyeing Hammer for The Dark Knight. This seems like a smart move for everyone now that Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy is done for good, and now that Hammer is headlining his own giant franchise for Disney, The Lone Ranger. But even if The Lone Ranger under-performs (or if Johnny Depp steals the show), the beauty of The Justice League is that no one character is the leader. It would also provide ample potential for individual, spin-off movies for characters such as Wonder Woman and reboot potential for a new Green Lantern film.
Will Beall (of the upcoming ensemble Gangster Squad) is writing the script, and it is rumored that Warner Bros. is interested in Ben Affleck to direct. Sounds like great credentials to me–and a ‘Justice League’ film has infinite franchise potential–but right now, the prospect of Batman returning to the big screen (with a few friends), is still speculation.
