DO ICELAND ‘JUSTICE’
Explore dramatic landscapes of the Nordic isle where superhero flick ‘Justice League’ was filmed
J USTICE is best served cold. At least that’s what the cast and crew of “Justice League” (out now) think. Key scenes were shot in some of Iceland’s bleakest — and most beautiful — corners.
Arresting sights including glaciers in Vatnajökull National Park and the tiny coastal village of Djúpavík lured the “League” team.
With Superman out of the picture, Batman (Ben Affleck) attempts to honor the superhero’s legacy by rallying “a team of metahumans” to stop Steppenwolf, a horned villain set on taking over the world.
During the opening scenes, the camera careens over a foreboding landscape blanketed with snow and ice that’s riddled with ragged crevices. Across this barren heath, Batman makes a pilgrimage on horseback to convince Aquaman (Jason Momoa) to join the good guys’ crew.
The backdrop for these montages of Batman’s journey is Fjallsjökull. A valley glacier that descends from an ice-covered volcano, it is located within the stunning Vatnajökull National Park. Directors Zack Synder and Joss Whedon wanted to capture the vastness of the landscape as well as the feeling of isolation Batman experiences, executive producer Jim Rowe says.
In reality, the park is a hiker’s paradise. Spanning 14 percent of the country’s southeastern swath, Vatnajökull’s combination of volcanoes and geothermal activity, like plumes of steam and hot springs, are breathtaking.
The village of Djúpavík — located in the Westfjords, Iceland’s least populous area — also sets the tone at the beginning of the movie. It’s where, after his cross-country equestrian slog, Batman descends to woo Aquaman.
The municipality of Árneshreppur, where Djúpavík is, has a mere 53 inhabitants. Today six or so residences tucked into the craggy Strandir coast serve as bucolic summer homes for Iceland’s city dwellers. (It’s all relative: Reykjavik’s population doesn’t even crack 125,000.)
A 1917-built herring factory was abandoned in the ’40s due to the fish’s plummeting price. The factory makes a cameo in “Justice League” as a meeting point for Batman and Aquaman. Exterior shots were filmed on location, but the concrete interior was recreated on a UK soundstage.
Djúpavík quickly won over Rowe when he was searching for places outside the UK to shoot the Aquaman-Batman encounters. “Once we saw the remoteness of this part of Iceland, we found it to be most intriguing,” he says. “I would return in a heartbeat. If not with a movie crew, then definitely with my family.”
The otherworldliness of Djúpavík is highlighted in another scene that shows Batman perched atop a cliff — a waterfall called Djúpavíkurfoss that overlooks the hamlet.
Cinematic vistas meant filming in Iceland was relatively easy. “Here, there was no need for visual effects — just good old-fashioned camerawork and capturing the natural environment,” says Rowe. “We set up three crane cameras, including one strapped onto a helicopter, and shot Ben as his character peered into the tiny village.”
For eight days of filming in October 2016, its local hotel (from $193; Djupavik.is) was converted into a production office, with 200 mobile homes for cast and crew.
Rowe recalls Momoa’s good spirits — especially his willingness to plunge into icy waters during one scene. Momoa’s Instagram feed reveals the 38-year-old actor (Khal Drogo of “Game of Thones”) was clearly captivated by Iceland. He likened the wildness and quietude to his home state of Hawaii — albeit chillier. In Djúpavík, there are activities from mountain walks to kayaking. Drive along narrow roads to reach Krossnes pool. There, take a dip in geothermal waters that are a soothing 100 degrees.
See, even in fall and winter, Iceland is appealing to visit. The cast and crew, in fact, filmed on-site during a month when temperatures ranged from 36 to 45 degrees. So bundle up and get going.