With a cast that included Armie Hammer as Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Adam Brody as the Flash, Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter, Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman, Common as Green Lantern, Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord, and Teresa Palmer as Talia Al Ghul, the unproduced Justice League: Mortal movie was ambitious, but perhaps a little ahead of its time. The film began development in 2007, but fell apart by 2009, leaving it in the “what if?” category in which films like Superman Lives now reside.
Now, fans may be getting a tell-all documentary titled Miller’s Justice League: Mortal that chronicles the journey Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller undertook in an effort to bring his vision of the Justice League to life. As long as documentary director Ryan Unicomb can first clear the substantial hurdle of getting permission from Warner Bros., that is.
After being encouraged by certain producers originally associated with Mortal, Unicomb has reached out to the studio, inquiring about permission to use concept art and costume designs to give the audience an idea of what the film might have looked like. In an interview he did with If.com.au, the documentarian stated he’s already begun preliminary research and interviews with various comic book industry professionals, and he plans to move forward with more interviews from the producers and actors who were cast in the film. Unicomb has even secured help from Indiegogo, with the intent to crowd fund the project with a sponsored campaign. The only thing he’s waiting on is an official “okay” from Warner Bros.
When questioned about his motivations for bringing the documentary to life, Unicomb is quoted as saying he has a particular goal in mind:
“…to celebrate the genius of George Miller and the amazing artists who worked tirelessly to bring the production’s vision to fruition, while we also examine the cultural immortality of the Justice League characters across all forms of media.”
Since the studio deemed this version of the Justice League unworthy to produce, the question becomes: Why would they give permission to utilize unused materials for the purposes of a behind-the-scenes documentary? And while the answer seems obvious, there is some precident for that kind of move, however, as just last year a similar documentary The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? was released, offering an amazing look into what could have been, had the 1990s Tim Burton Superman film seen the light of day.
The sanctioned version of the Justice League is finding its legs this coming spring when Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters and gives us our new DC Cinematic Universe with Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and perhaps even the Flash (Ezra Miller). Is this the right time for Warner Bros. to give the okay for a documentary that shows not only their development failures, but an alternate vision to what they are trying to sell the fans on for the next several years to come?
What do you think, would fans like to see Miller’s Justice League: Mortal, or is this one better left to the dustbin of history?
Source: If.com.au
