JUSTICE INTRIGUE
After 2013’s Man of Steel, Warner Bros. released last year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad — both derided by critics. At that point, it looked like the Justice League might be in trouble. Then Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot, put things back on track. Gadot and Justice League co-star Ezra Miller, a.k.a. The Flash, discussed the DC universe in an interview with Postmedia’s Mark Daniell.
Q Steppenwolf is one of DC’s earliest villains. What did you think of him as the main antagonist for the Justice League to face off against?
Miller You know Steppenwolf is this ancient mythical force of evil. So he’s a deeply exciting character to have face-off against the Justice League ... The origin story of the Justice League in the original comic book series dealt with them fighting off the Appellaxians. So Steppenwolf ’s a great character for the team to go up against.
Q In Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad there were several antagonists. In Justice League, there’s only one baddie. Did you like that it was slimmed down in that way?
Gadot When you simplify a story, especially the ones we’re exploring in the Justice League where there’s so much going on with the villain and the end of the world and the fact that we’re introducing three new characters, I think it was a smart call to limit the villain to just one person.
Q Joss Whedon came in and helped complete the film. What did he add to the finished product?
Miller Zack (director Snyder, who left the film for personal reasons) put eight years of work into this and in the absence of our beloved captain, Joss very generously volunteered to complete Zack’s vision. Really, we all wanted to fulfil that.
Q Gal stole the show in Batman v Superman, but I think people are going to fall in love with the Flash. What is going on with the solo Flash movie — Flashpoint?
Miller It’s been a long process to make sure we’ll get it right, but Warner Bros. is being very careful with it and that’s something I feel really honoured by ... but I’m stoked to get going. I can’t reveal specifics, but it is coming up really soon.
Q Gal, Wonder Woman is now the highest-grossing superhero origin movie of all time. What has that ride been like for you?
Gadot It’s been an unbelievable experience that’s still going. I started to portray this character three years ago and I feel like I’ve been going non-stop. When I first saw it, I told (director) Patty (Jenkins) that she’d done a magnificent job. She’s such an amazing conductor and she managed to create something that’s really unique and I’m proud to be a part of that.
Q What was your favourite scene to shoot in Justice League?
Gadot The first time all of us came to the set together, dressed as the characters. It was so surreal and I just remember standing in a corner and watching everyone and I started to laugh out loud because it was just so unbelievable.
Miller The scenes where we’re all in it together really stand out, especially the ones where stunts were involved. There’s one fight scene that happens in the middle of the movie that I think fans are going to love. I also suggest that they stay for the credits.
Q After fans exit Justice League, they’re likely going to be saying: I can’t wait for Justice League 2. Who would you want the team to go up against in the sequel?
Miller The Injustice League. I think I can speak for everyone in the League when I say that we’re extremely excited by the prospect of continuing this journey. We don’t really know for sure, and we’re usually the last people to find out, but ... each of the heroes in this movie has specific nemeses, and I think seeing some incarnation of the Injustice League (which includes Lex Luthor, Joker, Deathstroke and more) would be something that DC fans would be pretty stoked about. Gadot There are so many good villains in the DC universe, but I would love to fight Cheetah. She’s a girl and that could be very interesting.
Q What should excite fans most about DC’s upcoming slate of films?
Gadot The DC movies we were exposed to earlier explored Batman and Superman. I think now we’re bringing new, exciting characters who are very different from each other and every one of them has a unique flavour and story and background that I think is going to make (the DCEU, a.k.a. the DC Comics Extended Universe) very interesting.