Justice League: Mortal

Justice League: Mortal is a film that was shelved and is no longer in production. Actor Armie Hammer was cast as Batman.

Story
The script opens on a funeral in Metropolis for a fallen hero. Thousands of people are in attendance. All of the League are present accept for Batman. The heroes are wearing all black versions of their normal costumes. As the fallen hero's coffin is placed in the grave the story flashes back to "two days ago".

Batman is in the Batcave using a satellite known as the "Brother Eye" to spy on the other heroes. Alfred enters the cave and informs him that "Bruce Wayne" has a birthday party to attend. Batman shuts down the Brother Eye and exits the cave. After he leaves Brother Eye reactivates itself.

Denver, Colorado: Detective John Jones(a.k.a. the Martian Manhunter) is investigating a crime scene 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 Jones takes off, accidentially setting everything he comes into contact with on fire.

Barry Allen is having lunch with his wife Iris at a superhero themed resaturant known as Planet Krypton. He sees a news story on one of the televisions over the bar in the restaurant 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.

Back at Wayne Manor: Bruce is greeted by his friend, & owner of the Planet Krypton restaurants, Maxwell Lord. Talia al Ghul also mysteriously appears at the party. Maxwell tells Bruce the story about how Talia helped Batman defeat her own father, Ra's al Ghul, and how afterwards Batman abandon her and left her alone. Alfred interrupts and informs Bruce of the situation in Denver.

Back in New York: 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. Superman arrives and meets the Flash for the first time. The Manhunter tells Superman about the "seahorse" and says whoever set this up knew the Manhunter's weakness, fire.

The Flash returns home to do some research. Once home his wife informs him that his nephew, Wally, has come to visit. Wally, like Barry, also possesses super speed. Barry ask Wally to help him with his research.

Superman travels deep under the sea to speak to "King Arthur" (a.k.a Aquaman) about the mysterious "seahorse" John mentioned. Arthur goes on a tirade about how he's to come to the aid of mankind several times and yet they continue to harm and pollute the enviroment. He shows Superman his proshtetic water hand and says "I have given my pound of flesh". Arthur eventually agrees to come to the surface and help the Manhunter "for her" (Wonder Woman).

It's revealed that the people behind the attack and the ones who took control of Brother Eye are Maxwell Lord & Talia al Ghul.

In Gotham, Batman saves two Gotham City Police Officers from being tortured by a biker gang. One of the gang members flees into a movie theatre. Batman 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. Before the Omac can kill Batman Maxwell Lord, who is watching the fight via the Brother Eye, orders the Omac to stand down.

Batman returns to the cave and tries to access Brother Eye, but the satellite tells him that he no longer has control of it.

New York: Architect John Stewart(a.k.a. Green Lantern) is working in his office. He bites down on a pencil while studying a green energy construct of his next project. Something comes off the pencil goes into his mouth. A moment later Stewart is blind. He looses control of his Green Lantern ring and his energy constructs begin destroying his office.

Meanwhile back at Wonder Woman's conservatory, Aquaman is stung by a robot mosquito which gives him aquaphobia. 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. Superman and Flash go to Green Lantern's aid and bring him back to join the others.

The heroes travel to the Fortress of Solitude where they are eventually joined by Batman, who is now forced to wear "high-tech braces" due to the injuries he sustained during his battle with the Omac. 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 he wanted to know their weaknesses so he could defeat them in case they ever turned against humanity. 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 happen to him. He tells them about his fight with the Omac.

The Flash receives a cell phone call from who he believes is his wife. 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 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 discovers there's a file on him in Brother Eye's database. When he inquires what his weakness is Brother Eye responds: Love. Batman remembers his last night with Talia. He realizes that when she kissed him she put a "nanoscopic homing device" in his mouth, which he swallowed.

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 "laser 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, which he then uses to cure Green Lantern and restore his sight.

Wonder Woman takes the Flash to a Planet Krypton restaurant in order to consume enough calories to get his strength back. While at the restaurant they are joined by Wally West. While helping Barry with his research Wally discovered something called the OMAC(One Man Army Corps) Project. The program started off dealing with nanotechnology & roboitcs, but then shifted it's focus to mind control. Several children were experimented on in order to see if humans could be turned into psychic warriors, 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 to see what he would look like today. The result: Maxwell Lord.

Batman finds Talia and follows her back to Maxwell Lord's hideout. After confronting Talia Batman realizes she can't be the one behind the attacks. It's at this point that Maxwell reveals himself to be the one in control of Brother Eye. Max is joined by three of the bikers from Gotham. He orders Brother Eye to initiate "Phase One". Suddenly people all over the world begin transforming into Omacs. The bikers also transform into Omacs and attack Batman.

At the Fortress of Solitude, the Martian Manhunter senses Batman's in danger and, with Aquaman & Green Lantern, rushes to help him.

While in the restaurant, Wonder Woman & Flash see a news report about Omacs attacking the capital. Wonder Woman receives a psychic message from the Manhunter about Batman and flies off to help him, while the Flash rushes out to deal with the Omacs.

Wonder Woman and Superman arrive at Maxwell's hideout before the other heroes and defeat the Omacs saving Batman. Maxwell uses his pyschic abilities to take control of Superman's mind. He forces the Man of Steel to attack Wonder Woman. Batman attempts help Wonder Woman by electrocuting Superman with two "high voltage electrical cables". Superman is stunned for a moment, but quickly recovers and back hands Batman through the ceiling. The battle between Superman and Wonder Woman extends all the way into outer space. At one point Wonder Woman throws Superman into the Moon. He recovers and, using her own lasso, flings Wonder Woman back to Earth where crashes into the Hudson River.

Aquaman arrives in the river and resuscitates Wonder Woman allowing her to escape back Maxwell's hideout. 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 slash Superman's chest with his trident. Wonder Woman ensnares Maxwell with her lasso and demands to know how she can free Superman. Wonder Woman discovers that the only way she can free Superman is by killing Max, which she refuses to do because she swore she would never again to take a human life.

Superman returns to the hideout to continue his attack on Wonder Woman, but this time he's confronted by Green Lantern. Stewart creates a green energy contruct clone of the Man of Steel. Now it's Superman vs "Green Superman". Everytime Superman hits his Green Clone it grows larger. It finally becomes large enough grip Superman with one hand. Superman uses his super breath to colloapse 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 mother Lara-El. Superman, however, sees through the deception and knocks the Manhunter out.

Superman seizes Wonder Woman and is about to kill her when Batman reemerges and breaks Maxwell's neck, killing him and freeing Superman.

Maxwell's mind jumps into a nearby computer, which then merges with Talia. The Maxwell/Talia computer reveals that Maxwell used his Planet Krypton restaurant chain to infect people with the Omac "virus". Maxwell/Talia then orders the "Omac War" to commence. Batman attempts to free Talia from the computer but she dies. Maxwell's mind leaves the computer in search of a new host.

Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, & Martian Manhunter are joined by the Flash along Wally West, who is now wearing his own Flash costume.

As the Omacs begin their attack on the heroes, Maxwell Lord's mind possesses Barry Allen and transforms him into "Omac Ultra". Superman fights Ultra while the rest of the team battles the Omac army. Barry struggles to free his mind from Maxwell's/Ultra's control. He realizes that the only way to defeat Maxwell and stop the Omac army is to sacrifice himself. Barry races off the battle field and runs around world getting faster & faster until he reaches light speed. He slams into the "speed barrier", described as a "Cosmic Wall of Light", killing himself and finally destroying Maxwell Lord & the Omacs.

Present Day: Fortress of Solitude: The heroes meet together and decide it's time join forces and form a team. Just then the team notices something descending upon the Earth from space.

The script ends with THE JUSTICE LEAGUE "launching themselves through outer space to battle Starro The Conqueror."

Cast

 * Armie Hammer as Batman/Bruce Wayne
 * D.J. Cotrona as Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent
 * Megan Gale as Wonder Woman/Princess Diana of Themyscira
 * Adam Brody as The Flash/Barry Allen
 * Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter/J'onn J'onzz
 * Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul
 * Zoe Kazan as Iris Allen
 * Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman/Arthur Curry
 * Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord
 * Common as John Stewart/Green Lantern
 * Anton Yelchin as The Flash/Wally West

Crew

 * Dean Semler - Director of Photography
 * Owen Paterson - Production Designer
 * Weta Workshop - Costume Design (initially Marit Allen until she passed away)
 * Ken Ralston - Visual Effects Supervisor
 * Mark Rogers - Still Photographer

Production
Casting for the project began in October of 2007. Director George Miller flew to Los Angeles where he met with several young actors. The list of actors auditioning included Adam Brody (Fox's "The O.C."), Joseph Cross ("Running With Scissors"), D.J. Cotrona ("Windfall"), Mary Elizabeth Winstead ("Grindhouse"), Michael Angarano ("Sky High"), Teresa Palmer ("Wolf Creek"), Max Thieriot ("Jumper") and rapper Common. Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki and Scott Porter from the television show "Friday Night Lights" also attended. Jessica Biel was originally offered the role of Wonder Woman, but turned the part down.

The actors ultimately chosen for the film were Megan Gale( Wonder Woman), D.J. Cotrona(Superman), Armie Hammer(Batman), Adam Brody(Flash), Santiago Cabrera(Aquaman), Hugh Keays-Byrne(Martian Manhunter), & Common(Green Lantern).

In January 2008, Warner Bros. announced the film was on indefinite hold, allowing options lapse for the cast. The studio felt the script needed perfecting, which was impossible because of the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

In February 2008 it was announced that production would go to Canada, despite George Miller's wishes to keep production at Fox Studios Australia. The filmmakers are still adamant for a mid-2009 theatrical release date, and hope to have filming start in mid-July 2008.

In a 2010 interview with aintitcool.com Armie Hammer discussed how he and his fellow cast members went about getting into character for the film. "We had a brain surgeon, a psychiatrist, a Joseph Campbell expert, and all of these people in every single table meeting we had for a month and a half and then all of the actors were also training as their characters, so the Flash, Adam Brody, was training as the Flash with rubber bands, so he’d be fast and twitchy. Aquaman, Santiago Cabrera, was swimming a lot and Miller would send him to go swim with Dolphins in Northern California for hours so he would be used to being around sea creatures. Batman, being the only human of the Justice League and having to really prove himself there, he had to be the consummate martial artist, as well as the ultimate detective, so he was playing psychological games with all of us".

"He would leave me out of things, like intentionally, but I wouldn’t know this until months later when I would just get the feeling of like “What is going on? Why is everybody?” Because he wanted me to constantly be getting into that paranoid mind frame of the Batman."

During an interview with vulture.com Armie Hammer divulged a few details about his costume. Hammer describes his suit as being "very, very character-specific". He continues, "it did have a semblance of a battle-armor feel, but at the same time, because it was so character-specific, it was all made out of the finest materials. Because Batman has such incredible resources, his utility belt was made from the finest Italian leather and highly polished, and the things that would come out of his forearm, they were titanium but wrapped in very fine leather. I mean, it was all really well-done, very utilitarian. This was before Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight had come out, and this was going to be the first movie where Batman would be able to turn his head [in the cowl]. We had the first bat-suit that let the head turn, it just never got the chance to make it onto the screen".