An adaptation of the original
Justice League Mortal script, changed primarily to connect DCU continuity of my previous posts & expand/improve upon plot ideas—
2009: Wonder Woman
2010: Green Arrow: Escape the Super Max
2011: Green Lantern
2012: Flash
2013: Man of Steel
2016: The Dark Knight Returns
Open on a MONTAGE of each hero in action—SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN, FLASH, MARTIAN MANHUNTER, and GREEN LANTERN—highlighting them FIGHTING CRIME in all their glory, etc. intercut with their ORIGINS (from their solo films) as the lengthy credits run over:
JUSTICE LEAGUE
Fade in on a FUNERAL in METROPOLIS for a FALLEN HERO. THOUSANDS OF MOURNERS are in attendance. All of the League are present except for Batman. The heroes are wearing all DARKENED VERSIONS of their normal costumes (Wonder Woman wears AMAZONIAN CEREMONIAL ROBES). As the fallen hero's COFFIN is placed in the GRAVE the story flashes back to...
"Two Days Ago"
Batcave, Gotham City:
BRUCE WAYNE a.k.a. BATMAN sits in front of his cave’s MAIN COMPUTER CONSOLE using a SATELLITE known as the "
BROTHER EYE" to spy on the other heroes (a digital surveillance file version of the opening montage—our triumphant introduction of the heroes was actually them being SECRETLY RECORDED).
ALFRED PENNYWORTH enters the cave and informs him that "Bruce Wayne" has a PARTY upstairs to attend. Batman shuts down the Brother Eye and exits the cave.
After he leaves, Brother Eye REACTIVATES itself...
Denver, CO:
Retired
GENERAL SWANWICK (a.k.a. J'ONN J'ONZZ / MARTIAN MANHUNTER) is returning to his home cabin when he discovers a JAR containing what looks like a SEAHORSE. When he removes the "seahorse" from the jar, the creature sprays him with an UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE that causes him to burst into FLAMES. In a panic, J'onzz takes off, accidentially setting everything he comes into contact with on fire.
Central City:
BARRY ALLEN (a.k.a. FLASH) is having lunch with his girlfriend
IRIS at a superhero-themed restaurant known as PLANET KRYPTON. On the TV overhead, we see news coverage of Ambassador
DIANA PRINCE (a.k.a. WONDER WOMAN) speaking at the UN which catches Barry’s gaze. It’s interrupted by a breaking news story about a HUGE INFERNO raging through Denver, Colorado. Barry puts on his Flash costume and races off to Denver to help.
When the Flash arrives in Denver, he's greeted by Wonder Woman. Together they are able to subdue the Manhunter by tying him up with Wonder Woman's LASSO and blasting him with a constant STREAM OF WATER.
Wayne Manor, Gotham City:
At Bruce’s party, Bruce is greeted by the eccentric owner of Planet Krypton,
MAXWELL LORD. Wayne comments how quickly Lord seems to have come into his wealth. Meanwhile,
TALIA AL GHUL is at the party too, along with
LEX LUTHOR—a proverbial LION’S DEN (intentionally done so Bruce can keep an eye on them all). Bruce next bumps into
OLIVER QUEEN (a.k.a. GREEN ARROW) who playfully mentions Dinah’s not going to like that he’s out in Gotham so late. Alfred interrupts and informs Bruce of the situation in Denver.
New York, NY:
Wonder Woman and the Flash have the Manhunter submerged in an "ORNATE BATHING POOL" in Wonder Woman's CONSERVATORY to keep him from bursting into flames (Manhunter has caught WW and Flash up-to-speed on his origins off-screen, and Flash catches the audience up with some helpful exposition).
SUPERMAN arrives and meets the Flash for the first time—there’s some quick banter about the Planet Krypton restaurant; Flash is clearly a bit NERVOUS/EXCITED. Manhunter tells Superman about the "seahorse" and says whoever set this up knew the Manhunter's one weakness: FIRE.
Central City:
The Flash returns home to do some research. Once home, Iris informs him that her nephew
WALLY WEST is going to stay with them for the week. Wally, like Barry, also possesses SUPER SPEED (established in a sequel to 2012’s
Flash) . Barry asks Wally to help him with his research.
Atlantis:
Wonder Woman brings Superman with her to the DEEP DEPTHS of the sea to speak to
KING ARTHUR (a.k.a. AQUAMAN) about the mysterious "seahorse", while Flash stays behind to tend to J’onn. There is a LONG HISTORY between ATLANTIS & THEMISCYRA, and it’s more-than-hinted that Arthur has FEELINGS for Wonder Woman (which she uses to her advantage later to convince him to help).
Arthur goes on a TIRADE about how he's come to the aid of mankind several times over the years and yet they continue to harm and POLLUTE the oceans. He shows Wonder Woman his PROSTHETIC WATER HAND and says "I have given my pound of flesh". Arthur does not know anything about the seahorse—other than it’s been perverted by someone with little regard for another’s life. Arthur eventually agrees to come to the surface and help the Manhunter "for her" (Wonder Woman).
Elsewhere:
It's revealed that the people behind the attack, and the ones who took control of Brother Eye, are Maxwell Lord & Talia al Ghul.
Gotham City:
ROBIN saves TWO GCPD OFFICERS from being tortured by a BIKER GANG. One of the gang members flees into the MONARCH MOVIE THEATER, and Batman arrives. He follows the biker inside but before he can apprehend him, the biker transforms into a HUGE ARMORED SUPER-SOLDIER known as an
OMAC. The OMAC easily defeats Batman, who orders Robin to stand down. Before the OMAC can kill Batman, Robin stands in front of him—which reveals there is a coding to Brother Eye to protect Robin/stand-down when’s she’s endangered. This allows Robin enough time to get Batman into the BATMOBILE & escape.
Back at the cave, Batman rushes to the computer despite Alfred’s insistence for medical attention and tries to access Brother Eye, but the satellite tells him that he no longer has control of it.
Coast City:
HAL JORDAN (a.k.a. GREEN LANTERN) arrives at FERRIS AIRFIELD, thinking he was called by CAROL FERRIS. When he arrives, a series of EXPLOSIONS set off amongst the hangars. Hal scans the debris ADMIST THE SMOKE,
FEARING he’s too late to save Carol & the people. Moments later, Jordan realizes he’s become BLIND. Panicking, he LOSES CONTROL of his GL RING and his energy constructs begin destroying the airfield further as he succumbs to his fears.
New York, NY:
Meanwhile back at Wonder Woman's conservatory, Aquaman is stung by a ROBOT MOSQUITO which gives him AQUAPHOBIA (later revealed to be engineered from SCARECROW’S FEAR TOXIN). He tears off his water hand and throws it aside. However, the Manhunter is able to use the water hand as a SUIT OF WATER ARMOR which will prevent him from bursting into flames.
Coast City:
Superman and Flash go to Green Lantern's aid in Coast City. They manage to calm him down, & both Superman and Flash confirm to GL neither Carol nor any of his friends are/were here at the airfield. He was set up to believe they died. To be afraid. They bring GL back to join the others, though he is still blinded.
The Arctic:
The heroes travel to the FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, fearing that the attacks against them may endanger the city & civilians around them. At the Fortress, they are eventually joined by Batman, who arrived via BATPLANE, and is now forced to wear "HIGH-TECH BRACES" (akin to TDKR comics) due to his INJURIES he sustained during his battle with the OMAC in the theater.
Batman, concealing his injuries under his cape, tells the heroes about the Brother Eye and how he used it learn about their powers and weaknesses. He explains that, after his battle with Superman in
The Dark Knight Returns, he wanted to prepare and know the HEROES’ WEAKNESSES so he could defeat them in case they ever turned against humanity—or “stood in his way”, as Flash likes to call out. Batman then tells them that someone, he doesn't know who yet, has taken over Brother Eye and is using the data it collected to attack them.
Wonder Woman PUNCHES Batman, dropping him down to one knee. When he stands up the other heroes notice the braces he's wearing and inquire what happened to him. He tells them about his fight with the OMAC.
The Flash receives a cell phone call from who he believes is Iris (“Wow—that is some great cell service, Supes”). When he answers the phone, a NANOBOT comes out of it and goes into his body where it attaches itself to his SPINE. The Flash's body starts VIBRATING UNCONTROLLABLY. His body vibrates so fast that he PHASES COMPLETELY through the center of the Earth. He rockets out of the ground on the other side of the planet and flies into the air before plummeting back into the Earth, shooting back to his original position. Wonder Woman ensnares him with her lasso, which is able to temporarily prevent him from phasing through the Earth.
Batman leaves the group in order to search for the one behind the attacks—he needs time to think, but tells the group not to leave the Fortress. Manhunter goes to follow but Batman stops him: “You’ve got to prepare for surgery.”
Moments later, in transit in the Batplane, Batman tries to access Brother Eye again & discovers there's a NEWLY-CREATED FILE on him in the satellite’s database. When he inquires what his weakness is, Brother Eye responds: “you are only human.”
Flashback, Middle East.
Batman remembers his LAST NIGHT with Talia—she told him the same thing (“you are only human”). He realizes that, when she kissed him, she slipped a "NANOSCOPIC HOMING DEVICE" in his mouth which he UNKNOWINGLY SWALLOWED. He deduces that, through this device, she herself was able to keep surveillance on Bruce and monitor his work while building Brother Eye—she’s the architect of her own backdoor into Batman’s greatest weapon, all while it was still being built.
Fortress of Solitude:
Manhunter, using his TELEPATHY, guides Green Lantern through a SURGICAL PROCEDURE to remove the nanobots from the Flash's spine. This SUCCESSFULLY STOPS him from vibrating. Next, they do the same for Aquaman, which cures him of his aquaphobia. Manhunter gives himself a "LASE DERMABRASION" using his MARTIAN HEAT VISION and an ENERGY MIRROR created by Green Lantern. This cures him of his spontaneous combustion. Aquaman reclaims his water hand.
Manhunter goes into Lantern’s mind, and sees that his blindness is PSYCHOSOMATIC—brought on by an acute form of fear toxin. Hal snaps out of it and begins to see clearly, promising to punch Batman next time he sees him. Flash quips there might be a line...
Later, Wonder Woman is watching over Flash as he recuperates. Soon after, Wally runs to the Fortress with some (lots) of Planet Krypton takeout (Barry’s favorite) so he can CONSUME ENOUGH CALORIES to get his strength back. While Barry eats, the team gathers around and Wally BRIEFS THEM what on what he discovered helping Barry with his research—something called the OMAC (One Man Army Corps) PROJECT...
Flashback, OMAC Project:
The program started off dealing with NANOTECHNOLOGY & ROBOTICS but then shifted its focus to MIND CONTROL—all of which was funded through SHELL CORPORATIONS & OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS tracing back to the future-Planet Krypton LLC. & it’s surprise benefactor: Lex Luthor.
Years ago in the OMAC Project and under Luthor (with
AMANDA WALLER), SEVERAL CHILDREN were EXPERIMENTED on in order to see if humans could be turned into PSYCHIC WARRIOR - soldiers with the ability to control the enemy with just the power of their minds. All of the children in the program died except one: JONAH WILKES.
Wally runs a picture of Wilkes through a FORENSIC-AGING PROGRAM he pirated on his phone to see what he would look like today.
The result: Maxwell Lord.
Batcave, Gotham City:
Before continuing the crusade, Batman FIRES Robin—feeling that the mission has too dangerous now and far beyond Gotham City, and it’s ALL HIS FAULT.
Alone, Batman locates Talia, tailing her back to Maxwell Lord's HIDEOUT. After confronting Talia, Batman realizes she can't be the one behind the attacks, and that Maxwell Lord is no super-genius to have done this himself. It's at this point that Lex Luthor REVEALS HIMSELF, not Lord, to be the one in control of Brother Eye.
Lord is still OBEDIENT to Luthor due to DEEP-SEEDED PROGRAMMING from the OMAC Project experimentation and is carrying out his orders. Lord is joined by THREE OF THE BIKERS from Gotham. Luthor then orders Brother Eye to initiate "PHASE ONE". Suddenly people in each of the heroes’ cities begin TRANSFORMING into OMACs. The bikers also transform into OMACs too and ATTACK Batman.
- LUTHOR’S PLAN: Since Batman’s protocols failed to stop the heroes, the OMACs will do the job. And once that’s done, LexCorp will save the day and neutralize the OMAC threat—with sizable MILITARY CONTRACTS, etc.
Luthor leaves aboard a HELICOPTER for WASHINGTON DC with a smile as Batman is being beaten to death by the OMACs: “There’s business to be done.”
Lord, MIND BLANK & SLAVE to Luthor, stands watching. Talia begins to REGRET HER ACTIONS as she watches the already-weakened Batman fight for his life.
Fortress of Solitude:
The Martian Manhunter senses Batman's in danger as news report about OMACs attacking the capital flood the monitor screens in the Fortress. Despite his actions against them, the heroes unanimously decide they need to help Batman (Aquaman & Green Lantern are both humorously begrudging to go help).
Wonder Woman & Superman boom ahead, while Flash and Wally agree to do “CROWD CONTROL” against the attacking OMACs.
Gotham City:
Wonder Woman and Superman arrive at the villains’ lair before the other heroes and defeat the OMACs, saving Batman. Lord uses his PSYCHIC ABILITIES to take control of Superman's mind. He forces the Man of Steel to attack Wonder Woman. Batman attempts to help Wonder Woman by electrocuting Superman with two "HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL CABLES". Superman is stunned for a moment, but quickly recovers and backhands Batman through the ceiling.
The battle between Superman and Wonder Woman extends ALL ACROSS THE CITY. At one point, Wonder Woman flies with Superman into the UPPER ATMOSPHERE. He counters and, using her own lasso, flings Wonder Woman back to Earth, where she crashes into the GOTHAM RIVER.
Aquaman arrives in the river and RESUSCITATES Wonder Woman, allowing her to escape back to the villains’ lair. Superman dives into the River in search of Wonder Woman, but instead finds Aquaman and an ARMY OF SEA CREATURES waiting for him. Superman defeats Aquaman and his army, but not before Arthur is able to slash Superman's chest with his MAGICAL TRIDENT. Wonder Woman ensnares Maxwell with her lasso and demands to know how she can free Superman, discovering that the only way is by killing Max, which she refuses to do.
Central City
Flash is fighting against OMACs invading the city & even protecting Iris—all while trying to zip across the country and gauge the situation.
Wally too finally has his BIG HERO MOMENT, having been inspired by Barry & the other superhero’s throughout the story.
Gotham City
Superman returns to the lair to continue his attack on Wonder Woman, but, this time, he's confronted by Green Lantern. Jordan creates a GREEN ENERGY CONSTRUCT of the Man of Steel. Now it's Superman vs "Green Superman". Every time Superman hits his GREEN CLONE, it grows larger. Jordan jokes that Superman can take harder hits than Batman ever could and, right now, GL needs to hit something. The Green Clone finally becomes large enough to grip Superman with one hand. Superman uses his SUPER BREATH to collapse part of a building on top of Green Lantern, knocking him out and destroying the Green Clone.
The Martian Manhunter then attempts to stop Superman by SHAPE-SHIFTING into the image of Kal-El's father,
JOR-EL. Superman, however, sees through the deception and knocks the Manhunter out.
With the league all down, Maxwell orders Superman to “KILL THEM ALL.” At the last possible moment, Wonder Woman BREAKS MAXWELL’S NECK, killing him instantly, and freeing Superman—believing it was the only way. She’s horrified with her actions, and Superman tries to console her. Manhunter comments that there was little left to Lord’s mind after the OMAC Project.
Batman barks at them for trying to justify the murder of Maxwell Lord—this is the very reason he made Brother Eye.
But just as the argument begins, the true being responsible for the corruption of Brother Eye emerges:
BRAINIAC, a SENTIENT ALIEN AI who seeks to record all life in the universe; deleting lifeforms & whole civilizations after they’ve been recorded. One such world, Krypton as he reveals to a bewildered Superman (It was General Zod’s use of the world engine in
Man of Steel that first alerted Brainiac to Earth and drew him to co-opt Brother Eye upon his arrival, which was already collecting data).
Brainiac used the Planet Krypton restaurant chain to INFECT PEOPLE with the OMAC "virus"—Luthor thought this was for a personal army to defeat the League, but Brainiac has grander purposes. He then orders the "COLLECTION" to commence, downloading information from each new OMAC soldier as they BURN AWAY the Earth. Talia is KILLED by Brainiac, despite Batman’s efforts to save her. She dies in his arms: “MY BELOVED”
Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Lantern & Martian Manhunter are joined by the Flash, along with Wally, who is now wearing his own Flash COSTUME.
As the OMACs begin their attack on the Earth, Brainiac POSSESSES Barry Allen—seeing the opportunity to touch every corner of the universe at LIGHTNING SPEEDS—and transforms him into "BRAINIAC OMEGA". Superman fights Brainiac Omega while the rest of the Team battles the Brainiac-OMAC army. Robin is showcased in action, protecting Gotham City from the OMAC invasion with Alfred in her ear. By her side, dressed in his classic green hood, is GREEN AREOW!
Barry struggles to free his mind from Brainiac's control. He realizes that the only way to defeat Brainiac and stop the Brainiac-OMAC army is to SACRIFICE HIMSELF. Barry races off the battlefield and runs around world, getting faster & faster until he reaches light-speed. He slams into the SPEED FORCE, described as a "COSMIC WALL OF LIGHT.” In the space between seconds, Barry’s able to call out to Iris and the two have an EMOTIONAL, TEARFUL GOODBYE. Barry sacrifices himself, destroying Brainiac & ending his OMAC army across the planet.
The day is WON, but the League mourns Barry’s passing. Wally collapses into Wonder Woman’s arms.
It’s his first day as the Flash...
As the world calms calms and humans everywhere are freed from their nano-control, THE TRINITY (Superman, Batman, & Wonder Woman) arrives together in Washington DC to arrest Lex Luthor in front of the US President.
“Today”
Batcave, Gotham City:
During the FUNERAL PROCESSION, Batman sits in the cave. Robin arrives, ready to get back to work—she needs no explanation or apology from Bruce.
He gives her a knowing nod to her: “GOOD SOLDIER.”
Later, Superman arrives and entrusts Batman a PIECE OF KRYPTONITE. Bruce admits to Superman that he too was willing to kill Lord in the moment, and that Wonder Woman made the RIGHT CALL—the only call, given his mistakes.
- The film even cuts back to scene w/ Wonder Woman about to snap Lord’s neck—with Bruce narrating to Superman—and we see a NEW PERSPECTIVE on the EVENTS: Batman, for a brief moment, glanced over at a policeman’s tossed-away FIREARM nearby Lord amidst the chaos while they were all trying to figure out how to stop him and save Superman.
Superman understands and can only place A HAND on Batman’s shoulder, “we’re only human, Bruce.”
Before leaving, Superman still challenges Batman, “all that power unchecked...”
To which Batman responds: “I do have a contingency plan. You.”
The two SHAKE HANDS.
Fortress of Solitude:
Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Wally West Flash meet together to join forces and form A LEAGUE—GL will still have his duties with the Corp, and Aquaman to his kingdom in the sea.
Then, the heroes notice something descending upon the Earth from space on the Fortress’ MONITOR.
The film ends with The JUSTICE LEAGUE launching themselves through OUTER SPACE to battle
STARRO THE CONQUEROR.
in putting out great content in a speedy time.
