Gal Godot and her Heroes

BY: Zak Wojnar

It’s no secret that superheroes are hotter than ever in 2017. On one side, we have Marvel’s Avengers, and on the other, DC’s Justice League. While DC has been struggling with critically divisive movies like Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, they recently got a shot in the arm from this Summer’s smash hit, Wonder Woman. Now, just three weeks after the record-breaking launch of Thor: Ragnarok, Warner Brothers is releasing their long-awaited super hero team-up extravaganza, Justice League. Directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen, Sucker Punch), the film finally brings together DC’s most legendary characters in a battle for the fate of the world. Let’s take a closer look at the heroes of Justice League and the beautiful actors who bring them to life.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

To say that DC’s superhero films can be polarizing is a huge understatement. They all made reasonably large sums of cash at the box office, but each and every one of them, from Man of Steel to Suicide Squad, were met with a mixed-to-negative critical reception (the less said about Jared Leto‘s take on The Joker, the better!).

However, that all changed with Patty Jenkins‘ Wonder Woman. The WWI-set action adventure turned Gal Gadot into a global superstar and finally put the DC Extended Universe, as it is called, on the map. After all the doom and gloom of a neck-snapping Superman, a Batman who paraphrases the Cheney Doctrine, and the Viola Davis’s disturbingly callous portrayal of Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad, the optimistic (but still serious) Wonder Woman came as a refreshing respite from the nihilistic bent of DC’s universe thus far. In the United States, Wonder Woman became the highest-grossing DCEU film by a wide margin, beating Batman v Superman by over $80 million!

Was Wonder Woman‘s tonal shift, one which appears to continue in Justice League, a deliberate choice? Did these movies need to start so dark and brooding to earn their place in the sun? Perhaps…regardless, any way you cut it, the boys have to step aside – Gal Gadot is the undisputed star of DC’s super hero universe.

Henry Cavill as Superman

The road to Justice League started with Henry Cavill. In 2013’s Man of Steel, he joined the ranks of George Reeves and Christopher Reeve (among others) as one of the chosen few allowed to wear Superman‘s iconic blue and red costume. While the film was certainly uneven, to say the least, Cavill himself earned significant praise for his unique take on Clark Kent.

2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice saw the Man of Steel suffer from a bleaker characterization, with a lot more scowling and a permanently furrowed brow. By the end of the film, Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton, was dead and buried. Of course, super heroes don’t tend to stay dead for long, and Superman will return to life in Justice League. Hopefully, he’ll turn his frown upside down and finally become a universal beacon of “truth, justice, and the American Way.”

Fun Fact: After wrapping initial production on Justice League, Cavill moved on to Mission: Impossible VI, where he was contractually obligated to grow a mustache. However, he had to return to JL for extensive reshoots, which led to his facial hair being digitally removed in post-production. Hollyweird, am I right?

Ben Affleck as Batman

Love him or hate him, at least Ben Affleck did something different with his take on the Caped Crusader. After all, following Christian Bale’s award-worthy performance as the personification of vengeance and the night, Affleck needed to avoid coming off as a cardboard copy of Bale’s vision for the character. A lot of people hated Affleck’s batsuit, which looked bizarrely wool-like and soft (even though his steamy shirtless scenes prove that he definitely was not soft in the role!), and much has been made of the eschewing of Batman’s all-important “No-Kill Rule,” but it was undeniably a different version of a familiar character.

How long will Ben remain in the role? If only we knew the answer to that question! Originally, Affleck was set to write, direct, and star in a Batman solo film with a tentative release date in 2018. As of now, however, he is neither writing nor directing (those duties have passed to Matt Reeves), and he might not even stick around to star, with the actor himself saying that he’s seeking a “graceful and cool way to segue out of it.”

Whatever happens, at least we’ll always have that epic warehouse fight.

Jason Momoa as Aquaman

For the better part of…well, forever, Aquaman has been kind of a joke character. While he’s always had his dedicated fanbase, he’s often regarded as corny or silly by mainstream audiences. Even in the first trailer for Justice League, Batman incredulously asks, “So, you talk to fish?”

Jason Momoa is here to prove that Aquaman, in addition to his magically awesome ability to commune with ocean life, is a supreme badass. Aquaman is often visualized as a blonde pretty boy with a gaudy orange and green outfit. Jason Momoa, while downright beautiful in his way, isn’t exactly what most would classify as a “pretty boy.”

Although he had a brief cameo in Batman v Superman, the character is making his first proper appearance in Justice League, and he will also star in his own solo film, currently slated for December 2018. Aquaman is being directed by James Wan (Furious Seven, Death Sentence, Saw), and is already anticipated to be one of 2018’s biggest hits.

Ray Fisher as Cyborg

Like Aquaman (and The Flash, but more on him in a bit), Cyborg made a brief cameo in Batman v Superman. In that film, Batman and Wonder Woman come across a series of files kept by Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who has been keeping tabs on people with special powers. One of these files shows Joe Morton (Terminator 2) as Silas Stone, father to Victor, his teenage son who is crippled and strapped to a table like a vivisected creature. Using a mysterious object (which comic fans will recognize as a Mother Box), he turns his son into a half-man/half-machine ass-kicker.

At one point, Cyborg was due to appear alongside The Flash as the co-lead of the latter’s solo film, but it seems those plans have been altered. As of right now, Cyborg is scheduled to get his own solo film, though it likely won’t come before 2020 at the earliest. Of course, if the handsome and charming Ray Fisher manages to become a fan-favorite, then we’ll probably start hearing a lot more about a Cyborg solo film sooner, rather than later.

Ezra Miller as The Flash

Ezra Miller may not be as dreamy as Grant Gustin, who plays the TV version of the Scarlet Speedster on CW’s The Flash, but he’s still a beloved actor and we’re eager for him to win us over with his take on “the fastest man alive.”

The future of the DC Extended Universe is in the hands of Barry Allen, AKA The Flash. After Justice League, the character is due to appear in Flashpoint, based on an important comic book storyline which sees Flash using his super speed to travel back in time to save his mother from being murdered, but inadvertently causing a ton of unexpected changes in the timeline.

This thread could be used as a tool to replace Ben Affleck as Batman, or undo some of the more controversial plot points of Batman v Superman. The possibilities are endless!

Just one thing… Ezra, honey. We’ve got our own ideas about your hair in the movie. Bangs really don’t suit you. Call us. We’ll work this out.