Justice League is a 2017 American superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero team. Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, and Cruel and Unusual Films, and distributed by Warner Bros., it is the fifth installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Directed by Zack Snyder, and written by Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon, the film features an ensemble cast including Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, and J. K. Simmons. In the film, following the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Batman and Wonder Woman recruit the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg after the death of Superman to save the world from the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons.
Warner Bros. began to develop a live-action Justice League film in 2007 with George Miller set to direct, but the project was canceled due to production delays and budgetary concerns. Principal photography took place from April to October 2016. After Snyder stepped down from the film following the death of his daughter, Whedon was hired to oversee the remainder of post-production, including writing and directing additional scenes, as well as reshooting a large portion of the film, which changed many aspects of it; Snyder ultimately retained sole credit as director. With an estimated production budget of $300 million, Justice League is one of the most expensive films ever made.
Justice League premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on November 13, 2017, and was released in the United States four days later. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, and grossed $661.3 million worldwide against an assumed break-even point of $750 million, becoming a box-office bomb. A director's cut, titled Zack Snyder's Justice League, was released on HBO Max in 2021, following a fan campaign that advocated for Snyder's vision for the film.
Plot
Steppenwolf and his legions of Parademons attempt to take over the Earth using the combined energies of the three Mother Boxes. The attempt is foiled by a unified alliance including the Olympian Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, humanity, and extraterrestrial beings. The Mother Boxes are separated and hidden in different locations. Thousands of years later, Superman's death following the battle with Doomsday reactivates the Boxes, attracting Steppenwolf again to Earth. He aims to gather the Boxes to form "The Unity", which would instantly devastate Earth and terraform it into a copy of his homeworld.
Steppenwolf retrieves one Mother Box from Themyscira, prompting Queen Hippolyta to warn her daughter Diana. Diana joins Bruce Wayne in an attempt to unite other metahumans to their cause: Wayne goes after Arthur Curry and Barry Allen, while Diana locates Victor Stone. Bruce fails to persuade Arthur but finds Barry enthusiastic. Victor joins after his father Silas and other S.T.A.R. Labs employees are kidnapped by Steppenwolf, who is seeking the Mother Box protected by humanity.
Steppenwolf attacks an Atlantean outpost to retrieve the next Mother Box, forcing Arthur into action. Victor retrieves the last Mother Box for the group, revealing that his father used it to rebuild Victor's body after an accident almost killed him. Knowing this information, Bruce decides to use the Mother Box to resurrect Superman, not only to help them fight off Steppenwolf's invasion but also to restore hope to humanity.
Clark Kent's body is exhumed and placed in the amniotic fluid of the genesis chamber in the Kryptonian scout ship, along with the Mother Box, successfully resurrecting him. However, his memories have not returned, and he attacks the group. Batman enacts his contingency plan: Lois Lane. Superman calms down and leaves with her to his family home in Smallville, where his memories come back. In the turmoil, the last Mother Box is left unguarded, allowing Steppenwolf to retrieve it. Without Superman to aid them, the five heroes travel to a village in Russia, where Steppenwolf's lair is located. They fight their way through the Parademons; just when all hope seems lost, Superman arrives and assists Victor in separating the Mother Boxes. The team defeats Steppenwolf, who is attacked by his own Parademons when they smell his fear.
After the battle, Bruce and Diana set up a base of operations for the team. Diana and Arthur resume their heroic duties; Barry acquires a job in Central City's police department; Victor continues to enhance his abilities with his father in S.T.A.R. Labs; Superman resumes his life as reporter Clark Kent and protector of Earth. In a post-credits scene, Lex Luthor has escaped from Arkham Asylum and recruits Slade Wilson to form a league of their own.
Cast
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A wealthy socialite, and the owner of Wayne Enterprises. He dedicates himself to protecting Gotham City from its criminal underworld as a highly trained, masked vigilante equipped with various tools and weapons. Affleck noted on how the film gave him an opportunity to reinvent Batman and portray a more classic take on the character. He described that in the film, audiences will see Batman as more heroic, and more of a leader. "Batman is by nature, [while] not necessarily anti-social, pretty private, pretty a loner," Affleck says. "And then in this movie he's thrust into the role of having to not only work with people, but bring them together and convince them to come in and try to ... somehow with Wonder Woman hold all that community effort together. That was a really interesting thing to play for me, and it also does take us to a more traditional role for Batman in the Justice League comics, and his role with the Justice League versus the sort of less typical version we saw in Batman v Superman, where he was blinded by rage and wanted to take on Superman." Henry Cavill as Clark Kent / Superman: A member of, and inspiration for, the Justice League. He is a Kryptonian survivor and a journalist for the Daily Planet based in Metropolis. In Justice League, Superman was portrayed as more optimistic and hopeful. The character was intentionally excluded from all Justice League marketing materials to emphasize his death as depicted on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman: An antiquities dealer, acquaintance of Wayne, and an immortal Amazonian warrior who is the crown princess of Themyscira and daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus. She is endowed with metahuman attributes and abilities inherited from her parents. Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / the Flash: A Central City University student who can move at superhuman speeds with his ability to tap into the Speed Force. Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry / Aquaman:Half-human and half Atlantean metahuman with superhuman strength and aquatic abilities. Momoa was cast as Aquaman in June 2014, and made a cameo appearance in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Ray Fisher as Victor Stone / Cyborg: A former college athlete who, after being cybernetically reconstructed after a nearly fatal car accident, is turned into a techno-organic being enhanced by reactive, adaptive biomimetic alien technology. His enhancements include the abilities of flight, variable weaponry and technopathy. Fisher portrays the character through the use of motion capture for the cybernetic portion of his body. Fisher was cast as Cyborg in April 2014, and made a cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Amy Adams as Lois Lane: An undaunted and compassionate award-winning journalist for the Daily Planet and the love interest for Kent. Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth: Wayne's butler, chief of security, and trusted confidant. Diane Lane as Martha Kent: Kent's adoptive mother. Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta: Diana's mother and the Amazonian Queen of Themyscira. J. K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon: The Gotham City Police Department Commissioner, and close ally of Batman. Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf:An alien military officer from Apokolips who leads an army of Parademons and is searching for the three Mother Boxes held on Earth. The character is described as "old, tired" and trying to find a way to escape his role of servitude under Darkseid. Hinds portrayed the villain through use of motion capture and received some advice in the process from Liam Neeson, who had recently done similar work in A Monster Calls. After the release of the film, Hinds was reportedly unhappy with the final cut of the film, which trimmed down the backstory and characterization of Steppenwolf. Amber Heard as Mera: A princess of Xebel who approaches Curry to discuss the nature of the Mother Boxes. Joe Morton as Silas Stone: Victor Stone's father and head of S.T.A.R. Labs.
During a scene a half-hour into the film, depicting Steppenwolf's first invasion thousands of years earlier, Olympian Old Gods Zeus, Ares, and Artemis are portrayed by fitness model Sergi Constance, stuntman Nick McKinless, and MMA fighter Aurore Lauzeral, respectively. All three were required to reach a specific degree of physicality, with Snyder instructing McKinless to sport "veins like worms and paper thin skin". In the finished film, McKinless' face was replaced with that of David Thewlis using special effects; Thewlis received the credit as Ares. The scene also shows a Green Lantern, named Yalan Gur, created through motion-capture CGI and embodied by an uncredited actor. Two ancient leaders of Earth appear during the scene, including King Atlan of Atlantis and King Arthur Pendragon of ancient England; portrayed by Julian Lewis Jones and Francis Magee, respectively. Billy Crudup appears, uncredited, as Henry Allen, Barry Allen's father. Joe Manganiello and Jesse Eisenberg appear uncredited in a post-credits scene as Slade Wilson / Deathstroke and Lex Luthor, respectively. Michael McElhatton appears as the leader of a group of terrorists who clash with Wonder Woman early in the film, while Holt McCallany makes an uncredited appearance as a burglar. Marc McClure, who portrayed Jimmy Olsen in the Christopher Reeve Superman film series, has a brief cameo as a police officer.
Willem Dafoe and Kiersey Clemons filmed scenes as Nuidis Vulko and Iris West, although their roles were cut from the final film. A scene depicting Green Lanterns Kilowog and Tomar-Re visiting Batman was filmed as an additional post-credits scene, further teasing the upcoming Green Lantern Corps, but the scene was later scrapped. Other scenes that were filmed, but cut from the theatrical film, include: Ryan Zheng as Ryan Choi, setting up the character's future as The Atom; a fight between Ares and Darkseid, with the villain portrayed by Ray Porter; Harry Lennix reprising his role from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman as Calvin Swanwick, in a scene where it would have been revealed that his character is actually J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter; and scenes featuring Darkseid's servant DeSaad, with the character voiced by Peter Guinness. These characters were included in Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Production
Background