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 $300million, 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 $661.3million worldwide against an assumed break-even point of $750million. 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
Years ago, Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons attempt to conquer and remake Earth through the combined energies of the Mother Boxes before they are foiled by a unified army that included the Amazons, Atlanteans and humans. After repelling Steppenwolf's army, the Mother Boxes are separated and hidden in locations around the world.
In the present, the world is in mourning following the death of Superman. Sensing humanity's fear, Steppenwolf and his Parademons return to Earth to resume their hunt for the Mother Boxes through kidnapping several employees of S.T.A.R. Labs, which is in possession of one box. Having investigated the kidnappings and encountered a Parademon himself, Bruce Wayne decides to move forward in recruiting his planned team of metahumans as he believes an invasion is coming.
Steppenwolf manages to retrieve the Mother Box from Themyscira, prompting Queen Hippolyta to warn her daughter Diana Prince. Diana joins Wayne's group and informs him about Steppenwolf and the Mother Boxes. The two of them fail to persuade Arthur Curry and Victor Stone, but manage to recruit Barry Allen into the team. Stone later joins the group after his father Silas is among those kidnapped, and Steppenwolf attacks Atlantis to retrieve the second Mother Box.
The team receives intel from Commissioner James Gordon that the Parademons are traveling underground, and conclude that Steppenwolf's army is based in an abandoned facility. Although the group manages to rescue the kidnapped employees, the facility is flooded during combat, which traps the team until Curry rescues them, having decided to join them after Steppenwolf's attack on Atlantis. Stone retrieves the last Mother Box from S.T.A.R. Labs for the group to analyze. Wayne decides to use the Mother Box to resurrect Superman not only to help them fight Steppenwolf's army, but also to restore hope in humanity. Diana and Curry are hesitant about the idea, but Wayne forms a secret contingency plan.
Clark Kent's body is exhumed and placed in the waters of the Kryptonian ship, and Allen provides a strong energy blast to activate the Box and resurrect Superman. Superman, however, possesses few memories, and he attacks the group after Stone accidentally launches a projectile at him. On the verge of being killed by Superman, Wayne enacts his contingency plan: Lois Lane. Superman calms down and leaves with Lois to his family home where he reflects and tries to recover his memories. With the last Mother Box unguarded, Steppenwolf retrieves it with ease.
Without Superman to aid them, the remaining five heroes travel to a village in Russia where Steppenwolf plans to unite the boxes once again and reshape the world for his nephew Darkseid. The team fight their way through the Parademons to reach Steppenwolf, although they are unable to distract him enough for Stone to separate the boxes. Superman arrives and assists Allen in evacuating the city, as well as Stone in separating the Mother Boxes. The united heroes manage to defeat Steppenwolf, who, overcome with fear, is attacked by his own Parademons, before they are all taken away by a Boom Tube.
In the aftermath of the battle, Wayne decides to rebuild Wayne Manor as a base of operations for the team and he and Diana agree that more heroes could join. Diana as Wonder Woman begins engaging more with the public. Allen manages to acquire a job in Central City's police department. Stone continues to explore and enhance his abilities with his father in S.T.A.R. Labs. Curry returns to Atlantis. Clark returns as a Daily Planet reporter and resumes his role as Superman.
In a mid-credits scene, Flash and Superman decide to race. In a post-credits scene, Lex Luthor has escaped from prison and recruits bounty hunter Slade Wilson to form their own league.
Cast
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman: The benefactor of the group of meta-humans, a wealthy socialite and the owner of Wayne Enterprises, who also dedicates himself to protecting Gotham City from its criminal underworld as a highly trained, masked vigilante equipped with many powerful tools and weapons.
Henry Cavill as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman: A Kryptonian survivor and journalist for the Daily Planet with superhuman abilities, who seemingly died after the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In February 2016, Cavill announced on social media that he had already started exercising for the film in advance of principal photography.
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman: Cast list break|An antiquities dealer and acquaintance of Wayne who is actually an immortal Amazonian warrior princess from Themyscira and daughter of Zeus, who possesses superhuman attributes and abilities inherited from her parents.
Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry / Aquaman: The king of the undersea nation of Atlantis, whose meta-human aquatic abilities and superhuman physical attributes originate from his Atlantean physiology.
Ray Fisher as Victor Stone / Cyborg: A former college athlete who, after being cybernetically reconstructed with a Mother Box after a nearly fatal accident, has powers that allow him to manipulate technology and to turn his arms to cannons. Fisher portrays the character through the assistance of motion capture performance, for the cybernetic portion of his body.
Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf: A general of the alien race, the New Gods, from the planet Apokolips who is charged with hunting down the three Mother Boxes on Earth for his nephew and commanding officer Darkseid. The character had previously appeared in the extended Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which he communicates with Lex Luthor through Kryptonian hologram technology. In March 2017, Ciarán stated that Steppenwolf is old, tired and trying to get out of his enslaved position under Darkseid. Hinds will portray the villain through use of motion capture performance and received help in that process from his friend Liam Neeson, who had recently done similar work in A Monster Calls.
Amy Adams as Lois Lane: An undaunted and compassionate award-winning journalist for the Daily Planet and the primary love interest for Clark/Superman.
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor: The hereditary CEO of LexCorp who is incarcerated following the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Joe Morton and Robin Wright reprises their roles as Dr. Silas Stone, a scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs and Victor Stone's father, and as General Antiope, Hippolyta's sister and Diana's aunt/mentor, from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Wonder Woman, respectively. Amber Heard, Billy Crudup, and Kiersey Clemons will portray Mera, Dr. Henry Allen, and Iris West, respectively. Julian Lewis Jones and Michael McElhatton have been cast in undisclosed roles.
Background
Main filming for Justice League began on April 11, 2016 in London. Filming ended on October 14, 2016.
In March 2016, Hans Zimmer, who composed the score for Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, stated that he is officially retired from the "superhero business". By June 2016 he was replaced by Junkie XL, who wrote and composed the soundtrack of Dawn of Justice alongside Zimmer himself. In 2017, it was announced that Danny Elfman would also compose the movie.
The movie was released on November 17, 2017 with an IMAX release.
Immediately after the theatrical release of Justice League, fans created an online petition to release the "Snyder Cut" that gained more than 180,000 signatures. The movement, which used the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut on social media. This was due to fans not liking the released version as Zack Snyder left production after his daughter committed suicide. After Joss Whedon took over, only 25% of the movie was from Snyder. Members of the Justice League cast and crew showing support for the Snyder Cut's release.
In May 2020, it was announced that the Snyder Cut would be released on the streaming service HBO Max in 2021.
12Snyder was the director during principal photography, but was replaced by Joss Whedon during post-production. Snyder retained directorial credit for the finished film, though reports have indicated Whedon reshot a majority of the film.
12On home media releases, the RatPac Entertainment logo was replaced with the Access Entertainment logo (RatPac's current owner), following the rape and sexual harassment allegations against RatPac's CEO, Brett Ratner.
