The Superman vs Batman Movie

[Clark_Kent]

LOL I'm glad you liked it!


Edit: I should also add that any non-Superman/Batman/JL film should be titled "Justice League Confidential: ___" to fully maximize interest. For example, the public might be lukewarm on the idea of another GL solo (even if it's a Hal & Jon buddy cop movie), so slap "JL Confidential" on there & butts in seats will be had. I thought about something like "JL Origins" or "JL Secret Origins", but decided it was too similar to "X-Men Origins: Wolverine".

[Auguste Dupin]

If WB/DC want to get Darkseid on the big screen without the general audience thinking it's a copy of Marvel (I know it's the other way around, but non-readers don't know that), then they almost have to use him in JL. And really, Johns' first arc was more or less a movie script anyway. A few tweaks & it would work.

As for topping him, I say go for the Crime Syndicate. After fighting the evil outside the gates in JL 1, it makes perfect sense to fight the evil "within". Or, in this case, exact mirror images. I'd change it up so that Superwoman is an evil WW instead of Lois Lane, and Owlman is Bruce & not Thomas Jr. Sort of like in "Justice Lords". And you have the actors play dual parts.

I'd save Brainiac for a Superman solo.

I'd tie it all in with hints in the solo movies forshadowing the Syndicate coming in JL 2, and then the solo's in "phase 3" would foreshadow Darkseid's return for an adaptation of Final Crisis in JL 3.

They've said 9 films after JL, right? to hell with Sandman & others, I'd love to see something similar to this:

Phase One

• Man of Steel: complete

• Man of Steel 2 (Bats vs Supes): on the way

• Justice League: Darkseid invades. Adapt JL: Origin by Johns.

Phase Two

• Justice League Confidential: Wonder Woman. This would be where we would see, in flashback, her time on Paradise Island. I'd go full on "Clash of the Titans" with it. Mythological creatures, Hades, Zeuss, you name it. Show her as a badass warrior. Guest-starring Bruce Wayne at some point, helping her set up a civilian I.D.

• Man of Steel 3: Doomsday crashlands on Earth, and Superman with no idea who sent him. Guest-star Wonder Woman. Superman dies at the midpoint. Funeral happens, mourning period. End on a Cliffhanger: Superman appears, suddenly alive (but it's actually Ultraman in a Superman suit. Some people hail him as the "second coming".

• Justice League Confidential: The Flash. Guest-starring Green Lantern (Hal or Jon, no difference here) and Cyborg. A CSI drama with superheroes. News reports on "Superman activities".

• Batman. Guest star Wonder Woman & "Superman". WW has doubts about "Superman", Batman investigates while also dealing with Gotham. Ends with "Superman" revealed as Ultraman & the arrival of the Crime Syndicate.

• Justice League 2. Batman, WW, Flash, Cyborg & Green Lantern vs the Syndicate. When all seems lost, Superman returns to save the day. His resurrection made possible by the codex hidden in his cells. Jor El's final gift.

Phase 3

• Justice League Confidential: Wonder Woman 2. While still adapting to "mans world", Paradise Island is attacked by Circe & the Female Furies from Apokolips.

• Batman 2: Batman does Batmanny stuff. Investigates the Dark Side Club in Gotham City. Perhaps a gang war between the Dark Side Club & Penguins Iceberg Lounge.

• Justice League Confidential: Guardians of Oa. The Green Lantern Corps, led by Hal & Jon, vs Sinestro. Guest-starring Superman in a cameo. The universe is at war: Apokolips & New Genesis have fallen, and everyone wants a piece of control. You could really throw in the cosmic characters here. Lobo, Thanagar, Mongul, etc. The Guardians warn that this is only the beginning.

• Justice League Confidential: Injustice League. A villain-centric film. Luthor amasses the Injustice League. Every villain you can toss in there, with adequate screen time for the big players. Could intro Black Adam. They fight each other at first, naturally, with Luthor striking a bargain and forming a league. Libra appears.

• Justice League 3: Final Crisis adaptation. No monitors, no Mandrak. Time begins to break down. Injustice League is forced to side with Libra. Cyborg is destroyed, instead of killing Martian Manhunter. Batman captured. Granny goes to Oa. Superman taken by a mysterious figure to the future (instead of by a monitor into the bleed) to see a machine that can save the timestream. Since Michael Irons is a badass, let it be Alfred that Darkseid incarnates into. batman shoots DS, Batman is killed (for real). Superman returns from the future to battle Darkseid. At the end, he makes his wish, Earth is saved. In the epqilogue, we find out the strange hooded man from the future was Superman himself, older.

Epilogue Phase

• Justice League Confidential: Crisis Aftermath. The World rebuilds. The heroes mourn Batman and Cyborg. Wonder Woman contemplates her mission, now that the God of Evil is destroyed. Clark Kent asks Lois to marry him. Nightwing becomes the new Batman. Wonder Woman returns to Paradise Island. The Amazons fade from our plane, ala Infinite Crisis, taking WW with it. Flash fights some rogues. GL returns to Oa.

• Man of Steel 4. Lois & Clark marry. Brainiac arrives. It's revealed that Brainiac was the one who sent Doomsday to kill the Kryptonian. Your general Superman vs Brainiac story. At the end, Superman narrates as we see the world, through montage, turn into a futuristic utopia. During the montage, we see Superman build the machine that he will later show his younger self. Here we'd get the ending of Millar's (or was it Waid?) planned story...as the sun goes red, and the Earth slowly dies, we see that Superman is the last being on this barren rock. His powers almost gone. He looks to the sun, smiling, as he says "It's been a good life. To be continued..." As the sun goes nova, the Earth & Superman are destroyed, their remains & atoms spread across the stars. An after credits scene reveals that millenia later, a piece of Kal's skull survived, and passes through a wormhole, and lands on ancient Krypton....

The End.


Ok, that would be 12 after JL. But I'd still love to see something like that.

That'd be.....too much continuity for me, quite frankly. I'd rather not have this kind of "comic book crossover" thing in the movies, at least not to that extend.

[Clark_Kent]

I agree that it would be a lot to process...but I figure "go big or go home". With Marvel's lead over them, if they really want to "out-do" Marvel then they need to go bigger than Marvel.

[DochaDocha]

I don't think you need to outdo Marvel. Sometimes, if you have a similar but different product, you should emphasize the differences and focus on what you do well, instead of doing exactly what the other guy is doing. If you make great movies, people won't care if it's connected to a previous one.

[Clark_Kent]

I agree completely, which is why I have no problem with them not doing solo's before JL like Marvel did. But I'm not so sure WB agrees with us, I would bet they very much want to match or outdo the competition.

At any rate, what I posted will NEVER in a million years happen. It's just something I'd personally love if they did.

[Punisher007]

There's also going to be people who accuse them of simply "ripping off" Marvel if they take the same approach. I don't think that they necessarily have to have a bunch of solo films leading up to JL. A lot of people who saw The Avengers didn't see the individual movies leading up to it, or at least not all of the movies. And yet they had no problem following the story of identifying the characters because Whedon did a good job of distinguishing them in that movie. You could introduce characters in JL, given them a few character-establishing moments, and then spin them off into solo movies after JL. That idea isn't bad in theory, it will just all depend on the execution.

[normanosborn]

If WB/DC want to get Darkseid on the big screen without the general audience thinking it's a copy of Marvel (I know it's the other way around, but non-readers don't know that), then they almost have to use him in JL. And really, Johns' first arc was more or less a movie script anyway. A few tweaks & it would work.

As for topping him, I say go for the Crime Syndicate. After fighting the evil outside the gates in JL 1, it makes perfect sense to fight the evil "within". Or, in this case, exact mirror images. I'd change it up so that Superwoman is an evil WW instead of Lois Lane, and Owlman is Bruce & not Thomas Jr. Sort of like in "Justice Lords". And you have the actors play dual parts.

I'd save Brainiac for a Superman solo.

I'd tie it all in with hints in the solo movies forshadowing the Syndicate coming in JL 2, and then the solo's in "phase 3" would foreshadow Darkseid's return for an adaptation of Final Crisis in JL 3.

They've said 9 films after JL, right? to hell with Sandman & others, I'd love to see something similar to this:

Phase One

• Man of Steel: complete

• Man of Steel 2 (Bats vs Supes): on the way

• Justice League: Darkseid invades. Adapt JL: Origin by Johns.

Phase Two

• Justice League Confidential: Wonder Woman. This would be where we would see, in flashback, her time on Paradise Island. I'd go full on "Clash of the Titans" with it. Mythological creatures, Hades, Zeuss, you name it. Show her as a badass warrior. Guest-starring Bruce Wayne at some point, helping her set up a civilian I.D.

• Man of Steel 3: Doomsday crashlands on Earth, and Superman with no idea who sent him. Guest-star Wonder Woman. Superman dies at the midpoint. Funeral happens, mourning period. End on a Cliffhanger: Superman appears, suddenly alive (but it's actually Ultraman in a Superman suit. Some people hail him as the "second coming".

• Justice League Confidential: The Flash. Guest-starring Green Lantern (Hal or Jon, no difference here) and Cyborg. A CSI drama with superheroes. News reports on "Superman activities".

• Batman. Guest star Wonder Woman & "Superman". WW has doubts about "Superman", Batman investigates while also dealing with Gotham. Ends with "Superman" revealed as Ultraman & the arrival of the Crime Syndicate.

• Justice League 2. Batman, WW, Flash, Cyborg & Green Lantern vs the Syndicate. When all seems lost, Superman returns to save the day. His resurrection made possible by the codex hidden in his cells. Jor El's final gift.

Phase 3

• Justice League Confidential: Wonder Woman 2. While still adapting to "mans world", Paradise Island is attacked by Circe & the Female Furies from Apokolips.

• Batman 2: Batman does Batmanny stuff. Investigates the Dark Side Club in Gotham City. Perhaps a gang war between the Dark Side Club & Penguins Iceberg Lounge.

• Justice League Confidential: Guardians of Oa. The Green Lantern Corps, led by Hal & Jon, vs Sinestro. Guest-starring Superman in a cameo. The universe is at war: Apokolips & New Genesis have fallen, and everyone wants a piece of control. You could really throw in the cosmic characters here. Lobo, Thanagar, Mongul, etc. The Guardians warn that this is only the beginning.

• Justice League Confidential: Injustice League. A villain-centric film. Luthor amasses the Injustice League. Every villain you can toss in there, with adequate screen time for the big players. Could intro Black Adam. They fight each other at first, naturally, with Luthor striking a bargain and forming a league. Libra appears.

• Justice League 3: Final Crisis adaptation. No monitors, no Mandrak. Time begins to break down. Injustice League is forced to side with Libra. Cyborg is destroyed, instead of killing Martian Manhunter. Batman captured. Granny goes to Oa. Superman taken by a mysterious figure to the future (instead of by a monitor into the bleed) to see a machine that can save the timestream. Since Michael Irons is a badass, let it be Alfred that Darkseid incarnates into. batman shoots DS, Batman is killed (for real). Superman returns from the future to battle Darkseid. At the end, he makes his wish, Earth is saved. In the epqilogue, we find out the strange hooded man from the future was Superman himself, older.

Epilogue Phase

• Justice League Confidential: Crisis Aftermath. The World rebuilds. The heroes mourn Batman and Cyborg. Wonder Woman contemplates her mission, now that the God of Evil is destroyed. Clark Kent asks Lois to marry him. Nightwing becomes the new Batman. Wonder Woman returns to Paradise Island. The Amazons fade from our plane, ala Infinite Crisis, taking WW with it. Flash fights some rogues. GL returns to Oa.

• Man of Steel 4. Lois & Clark marry. Brainiac arrives. It's revealed that Brainiac was the one who sent Doomsday to kill the Kryptonian. Your general Superman vs Brainiac story. At the end, Superman narrates as we see the world, through montage, turn into a futuristic utopia. During the montage, we see Superman build the machine that he will later show his younger self. Here we'd get the ending of Millar's (or was it Waid?) planned story...as the sun goes red, and the Earth slowly dies, we see that Superman is the last being on this barren rock. His powers almost gone. He looks to the sun, smiling, as he says "It's been a good life. To be continued..." As the sun goes nova, the Earth & Superman are destroyed, their remains & atoms spread across the stars. An after credits scene reveals that millenia later, a piece of Kal's skull survived, and passes through a wormhole, and lands on ancient Krypton....

The End.


Ok, that would be 12 after JL. But I'd still love to see something like that.

Great stuff. That's the kind of scale I wanna see getting realized.

Just rewatched MOS. It is not a too bad start to build from. Better than the ASM movies for sure and I am saying this as a huge Spidey fan.

[Hapless Henchman]

I agree completely, which is why I have no problem with them not doing solo's before JL like Marvel did. But I'm not so sure WB agrees with us, I would bet they very much want to match or outdo the competition.

At any rate, what I posted will NEVER in a million years happen. It's just something I'd personally love if they did.

I would love it too but realize that it would never happen. They would have to recast almost everyone to get through all of that for one thing. It is nice to dream though...

[Top Carnivore]

I agree completely, which is why I have no problem with them not doing solo's before JL like Marvel did. But I'm not so sure WB agrees with us, I would bet they very much want to match or outdo the competition.

At any rate, what I posted will NEVER in a million years happen. It's just something I'd personally love if they did.

Really cool ideas, man. Great contribution to the boards! I especially like the actors playing evil versions of the heroes. Sweet.

[Robotman]

If WB/DC want to get Darkseid on the big screen without the general audience thinking it's a copy of Marvel (I know it's the other way around, but non-readers don't know that), then they almost have to use him in JL. And really, Johns' first arc was more or less a movie script anyway. A few tweaks & it would work.

I totally agree that if they ever want to get Darkseid to the big screen they have to use him before the Avengers face Thanos in Avengers 3. Marvel has basically forced them to use Darkseid as soon as they possibly can. Though holding Thanos off until Avengers 3 has given WB/DC a great opportunity to showcase their #1 villain first.

But they need to make him far better than he was in Johns' Justice League arc. It was pretty pathetic to see The Lord of Apokolips reduced to a mindless thug villain. Maybe they can make him more like he was in Final Crisis. A true god of evil able to manipulate and control an entire population.

[Legato]

I totally agree that if they ever want to get Darkseid to the big screen they have to use him before the Avengers face Thanos in Avengers 3. Marvel has basically forced them to use Darkseid as soon as they possibly can. Though holding Thanos off until Avengers 3 has given WB/DC a great opportunity to showcase their #1 villain first.

But they need to make him far better than he was in Johns' Justice League arc. It was pretty pathetic to see The Lord of Apokolips reduced to a mindless thug villain. Maybe they can make him more like he was in Final Crisis. A true god of evil able to manipulate and control an entire population.

About as equally pathetic as Smallville's version of Darkseid. Apparently DCAU's Darkseid was the only decent version. Hopefully, when Darkseid is introduced, the live action adaptation would be a little close to the DCAU version in terms of characterization.

[Legato]

If WB/DC want to get Darkseid on the big screen without the general audience thinking it's a copy of Marvel (I know it's the other way around, but non-readers don't know that), then they almost have to use him in JL. And really, Johns' first arc was more or less a movie script anyway. A few tweaks & it would work.

As for topping him, I say go for the Crime Syndicate. After fighting the evil outside the gates in JL 1, it makes perfect sense to fight the evil "within". Or, in this case, exact mirror images. I'd change it up so that Superwoman is an evil WW instead of Lois Lane, and Owlman is Bruce & not Thomas Jr. Sort of like in "Justice Lords". And you have the actors play dual parts.

I'd save Brainiac for a Superman solo.

I'd tie it all in with hints in the solo movies forshadowing the Syndicate coming in JL 2, and then the solo's in "phase 3" would foreshadow Darkseid's return for an adaptation of Final Crisis in JL 3.

They've said 9 films after JL, right? to hell with Sandman & others, I'd love to see something similar to this:

Phase One

• Man of Steel: complete

• Man of Steel 2 (Bats vs Supes): on the way

• Justice League: Darkseid invades. Adapt JL: Origin by Johns.

Phase Two

• Justice League Confidential: Wonder Woman. This would be where we would see, in flashback, her time on Paradise Island. I'd go full on "Clash of the Titans" with it. Mythological creatures, Hades, Zeuss, you name it. Show her as a badass warrior. Guest-starring Bruce Wayne at some point, helping her set up a civilian I.D.

• Man of Steel 3: Doomsday crashlands on Earth, and Superman with no idea who sent him. Guest-star Wonder Woman. Superman dies at the midpoint. Funeral happens, mourning period. End on a Cliffhanger: Superman appears, suddenly alive (but it's actually Ultraman in a Superman suit. Some people hail him as the "second coming".

• Justice League Confidential: The Flash. Guest-starring Green Lantern (Hal or Jon, no difference here) and Cyborg. A CSI drama with superheroes. News reports on "Superman activities".

• Batman. Guest star Wonder Woman & "Superman". WW has doubts about "Superman", Batman investigates while also dealing with Gotham. Ends with "Superman" revealed as Ultraman & the arrival of the Crime Syndicate.

• Justice League 2. Batman, WW, Flash, Cyborg & Green Lantern vs the Syndicate. When all seems lost, Superman returns to save the day. His resurrection made possible by the codex hidden in his cells. Jor El's final gift.

Phase 3

• Justice League Confidential: Wonder Woman 2. While still adapting to "mans world", Paradise Island is attacked by Circe & the Female Furies from Apokolips.

• Batman 2: Batman does Batmanny stuff. Investigates the Dark Side Club in Gotham City. Perhaps a gang war between the Dark Side Club & Penguins Iceberg Lounge.

• Justice League Confidential: Guardians of Oa. The Green Lantern Corps, led by Hal & Jon, vs Sinestro. Guest-starring Superman in a cameo. The universe is at war: Apokolips & New Genesis have fallen, and everyone wants a piece of control. You could really throw in the cosmic characters here. Lobo, Thanagar, Mongul, etc. The Guardians warn that this is only the beginning.

• Justice League Confidential: Injustice League. A villain-centric film. Luthor amasses the Injustice League. Every villain you can toss in there, with adequate screen time for the big players. Could intro Black Adam. They fight each other at first, naturally, with Luthor striking a bargain and forming a league. Libra appears.

• Justice League 3: Final Crisis adaptation. No monitors, no Mandrak. Time begins to break down. Injustice League is forced to side with Libra. Cyborg is destroyed, instead of killing Martian Manhunter. Batman captured. Granny goes to Oa. Superman taken by a mysterious figure to the future (instead of by a monitor into the bleed) to see a machine that can save the timestream. Since Michael Irons is a badass, let it be Alfred that Darkseid incarnates into. batman shoots DS, Batman is killed (for real). Superman returns from the future to battle Darkseid. At the end, he makes his wish, Earth is saved. In the epqilogue, we find out the strange hooded man from the future was Superman himself, older.

Epilogue Phase

• Justice League Confidential: Crisis Aftermath. The World rebuilds. The heroes mourn Batman and Cyborg. Wonder Woman contemplates her mission, now that the God of Evil is destroyed. Clark Kent asks Lois to marry him. Nightwing becomes the new Batman. Wonder Woman returns to Paradise Island. The Amazons fade from our plane, ala Infinite Crisis, taking WW with it. Flash fights some rogues. GL returns to Oa.

• Man of Steel 4. Lois & Clark marry. Brainiac arrives. It's revealed that Brainiac was the one who sent Doomsday to kill the Kryptonian. Your general Superman vs Brainiac story. At the end, Superman narrates as we see the world, through montage, turn into a futuristic utopia. During the montage, we see Superman build the machine that he will later show his younger self. Here we'd get the ending of Millar's (or was it Waid?) planned story...as the sun goes red, and the Earth slowly dies, we see that Superman is the last being on this barren rock. His powers almost gone. He looks to the sun, smiling, as he says "It's been a good life. To be continued..." As the sun goes nova, the Earth & Superman are destroyed, their remains & atoms spread across the stars. An after credits scene reveals that millenia later, a piece of Kal's skull survived, and passes through a wormhole, and lands on ancient Krypton....

The End.


Ok, that would be 12 after JL. But I'd still love to see something like that.

Great stuff you have there man.

[Damos40]

There's also going to be people who accuse them of simply "ripping off" Marvel if they take the same approach. I don't think that they necessarily have to have a bunch of solo films leading up to JL. A lot of people who saw The Avengers didn't see the individual movies leading up to it, or at least not all of the movies. And yet they had no problem following the story of identifying the characters because Whedon did a good job of distinguishing them in that movie. You could introduce characters in JL, given them a few character-establishing moments, and then spin them off into solo movies after JL. That idea isn't bad in theory, it will just all depend on the execution.

Those people are few and far between. Mainly their fanboys. I doubt the general public could care less.

Also those people who saw the Avengers and didn't see the other film, may have seen the other films on DVD or blu-ray.

[Clark_Kent]

Really cool ideas, man. Great contribution to the boards! I especially like the actors playing evil versions of the heroes. Sweet.

Thanks! The idea of the actors playing their evil selves just makes the most sense to me. That's something that really bugs me a lot in animation (JL: Crisis on Two Earths) and in comics (Final Crisis: Superman Beyond). Ultraman should look & sound exactly like Superman, because they're the same person from different universes. If everything is reversed on Earth 3, then evil versions Diana & Bruce should be present as well, not Thomas Jr. & Lois.

I totally agree that if they ever want to get Darkseid to the big screen they have to use him before the Avengers face Thanos in Avengers 3. Marvel has basically forced them to use Darkseid as soon as they possibly can. Though holding Thanos off until Avengers 3 has given WB/DC a great opportunity to showcase their #1 villain first.

But they need to make him far better than he was in Johns' Justice League arc. It was pretty pathetic to see The Lord of Apokolips reduced to a mindless thug villain. Maybe they can make him more like he was in Final Crisis. A true god of evil able to manipulate and control an entire population.

I think they could use him much the same way as Johns did, as long as they specifically mention in the film that this is not the "real" Darkseid, but an avatar of him. Thus, everyone can perceive how he looks & can fight him.

In my JL 3 movie, obviously he'd be fightable after incarnating in Alfred (or whomever); but at the end, when everything is dark & only Superman remains in the fortress? I'm not sure if I'd even show what Darkseid's true form looks like. In my mind, his true form would be so great that a human mind wouldn't be able to process it. I'd make it obvious that Superman can see him, though. But we as an audience would only hear his voice.

Darkseid should be about the scariest thing imaginable that the league could face...but in the 3rd film, not the first.

[Hapless Henchman]

About as equally pathetic as Smallville's version of Darkseid. Apparently DCAU's Darkseid was the only decent version. Hopefully, when Darkseid is introduced, the live action adaptation would be a little close to the DCAU version in terms of characterization.

One of my favorite scenes ever in the DCAU is when SM and Darkseid are fighting on Apokalyps. SM wins and throws him down to the peasants below and says something to the effect of "Let your own people take care of you" (paraphrasing) expecting the citizens of Apokalyps to kill Darkseid. Instead, the peasants come up and start caring for him and start to carry him off (presumably to heal and get medical attention). As they start, Darkseid has them stop and says to SM (again paraphrasing) "Here on Apokalyps, I'm not only a ruler. I'm a God."

That is the type pf Darkseid we need in the DCMU.