Justice League: Everything We Know A Year Before Release

Today, November 17, 2016, marks the official one-year countdown to Justice League.

To say that Zack Snyder’s DC Comics superheroes team-up movie has been a long time coming would be an understatement; as one of the oldest major comic book superhero teams around, it’s baffling that Justice League has taken so long to make it into movie theaters.

There have been a lot of rumors circling the film, but we’re here to sort fact from fiction.

Here is Everything We Know About Justice League (so far).

The Official Team Roster

In case you missed it, here’s the official roster for the DCEU version of The Justice League: 

• Batman / Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck)
• Superman / Clark Kent (Henry Cavill)
• Wonder Woman / Diana Prince (Gal Gadot)
• Aquaman / Arthur Curry (Jason Mamoa)
• The Flash / Barry Allen (Ezra Miller)
• Cyborg / Victor Stone (Ray Fisher)

Sorry Green Lantern fans – you’ll have to wait for Justice League 2 and/or Green Lantern Corps to see GL return to the big screen. 

The First Trailer Worked

During Comic-Con 2016, DC Films put out the first teaser trailer for Justice League, and it went over pretty well with fans. 

The trailer succinctly demonstrated that Snyder has added a lighter, more humorous tone to things, while cast members that fans were skeptical about (Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash) really seemed to shine. 

With the cast and concept now sold to fans, the next trailer just needs to show off some slick superhero action (check back for it soon!). 

Steppenwolf is the Villain

Many DC Comics fans expected Justice League to bring iconic villain Darkseid onto the battlefield, but in fact it will be Darkseid’s general, Steppenwolf, who takes on the League. 

Steppenwolf will be played by actor Ciarán Hinds (Game of Thrones, Rome) and will be created through motion-capture technology like Marvel’s Thanos (Josh Brolin). Steppenwolf will look different than what fans saw of him in that deleted scene from Batman v Superman – so if you were worried about the character design, there’s still hope.  

Lex Luthor & Deathstroke Are Involved

Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor has been confirmed for Justice League – as has the DCEU version of Deathstroke the Terminator/Slade Wilson, who will be played by True Blood‘s Joe Manganiello. 

Some storyboards revealed by Snyder hint at Luthor hiring Deathstroke, who will seemingly be on the Justice League’s tail as they try to stop Steppenwolf’s invasion. 

Superman Will Return

It’s not a spoiler: Henry Cavill’s Superman died during the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but the final shot of the film teased his resurrection. 

Cavill will return in Justice League – although when, where and in what capacity (righteous savior, or dark destroyer like in Batman’s vision) remains to be seen…

 

Motherboxes are the MacGuffins

Every superhero movie these days needs its “MacGuffin” – that object (or objects) the heroes and/or villains must collect in order to save the day or destroy the world. 

In Justice League, the MacGuffins are the Motherboxes, cubes that act as “living computers” and come from Steppenwolf’s home planet, Apokolips. In DCEU mythos, three boxes were left on earth with human beings, Atlanteans and Amazons – and in Batman v Superman, we saw one used to create Ray Fisher’s Cyborg. 

There’s a Big Supporting Cast

We’ll be spending time getting to know the Justice League heroes and meet some fearsome new bad guys in Justice League – but we’ll also get to know the larger supporting characters that make up the DCEU, and will populate the solo character films. 

That list includes the following: 

• Commissioner Gordon (J.K. Simmons) and Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons), Batman’s allies/advisors. 
• Deathstroke – who will appear in The Batman solo film. 
• Mera (Amber Heard) and Nuidis Vulko (Willem Dafoe), Aquaman’s Queen and Chief Advisor in Atlantis. 
• Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), Barry Allen’s love interest. 
• Various Amazons from Wonder Woman’s home, Themyscira.

By the time Justice League is done, we’ll have a solid roadmap to the larger DCEU. 

More Justice League

LINKS: New Justice League Trailer Teased | First Look at Iris West | Batman and Flash’s Relationship | Justice League Testing Well? | First Look at Mera

Suicide Squad is now avialable on home video. Wonder Woman opens in theaters on June 2, 2017, followed by Justice League on November 17, 2017; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League 2 on June 14, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020. The Flash, The Batman, Dark Universe and Man of Steel 2 are currently without release dates.