While everyone seems to be preoccupied with wondering if Armie Hammer will end up starring in either Green Lantern Corps or Shazam – it certainly didn’t help when Dwayne Johnson, Black Adam himself, fanned the flames when he told us exclusively that he’d like to see Hammer play opposite as him in the role of Shazam – it’s important that we not forget he remains an important part of DC on film trivia.
You see, ten years ago at this time, Hammer and a cadre of other young actors were readying themselves for Warner Bros.’ first attempt at bringing DC’s premier team of superheroes to the big screen. Set to be directed be George Miller, Justice League Mortal would have united the Caped Crusader with other icons such as Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern John Stewart, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter in a battle against Talia al Ghul and Maxwell Lord, with the OMACs set to play a key antagonistic role as well.
As fate would have it, the writers’ strike was among many factors that killed the project. Another was said to be that Christopher Nolan, who was already waist-deep in filming The Dark Knight Trilogy, wasn’t too keen on another cinematic Batman concurrently existing alongside Christian Bale. As you probably guessed, Bale’s and Hammer’s Batmen would’ve existed in separate universes, something that would’ve no doubt confused moviegoers.
What’s more is that that Talia was said to be out for revenge on Bruce Wayne for him having killed her father, Ra’s al Ghul, thus creating a back door to Batman Begins. Having shared that knowledge, you can assume why Nolan would’ve been less than thrilled.
Still, we can’t help but sympathize for Hammer, who tried on the costume in anticipation of cameras being ready to roll – which they pretty much were. And, should you not believe us, know that he once again confirmed having done so in a recent interview with Screen Rant:
“Oh yeah, for sure. I put on the whole suit. Weta made our suit. It was all functioning. It had like carbon fiber, and it had like pistons and gears that would function. It was amazing! It was like a exoskeleton suit.”
In addition to that, he outed someone who has photographic evidence:
“It was really awesome. Uh… I don’t know if I was supposed to say all that. But anyway… By the way, who was I talking to… I think Quint, from Ain’t It Cool News. He’s got pictures.”
Should those never see the light of day, let’s keep our fingers crossed that the documentary detailing the life and death of Justice League Mortal comes to fruition because, let’s be honest, who wouldn’t like to see what could’ve been with this project?