Will Warner Bros. 'Justice League' Be "Dark & Mature"? Pathological Exaggerator Mark Millar Says Yes

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by Edward Davis
June 7, 2012 4:50 PM
5 Comments

Hired over a year ago (with the news just surfacing this week), Beall is an interesting choice. A former LAPD anti-gang officer and homicide detective (no joke), Beall is the author of "L.A. Rex," a 2006 crime drama that earned comparisons to the work of legendary crime writers Richard Price and James Ellroy. He's also the former Los Angeles Times Op-Ed pages writer on police issues (here's one example) -- it's no wonder he was pegged by Warner Bros. to write the LAPD noir, "Gangster Squad" (he also wrote a version of "Lethal Weapon 5" and "Logan's Run" for the studio).

And so, while the idea of several adult males running around in superhero costumes feels less implausible thanks to Joss Whedon's tonally well-managed "The Avengers," the use of words like "dark and mature" in reference to superhero films, is generally reserved for the likes of Christoper Nolan films. But Beall could just be the man for the job. "Gangster Squad" like "Justice League" does have to juggle several characters (there's at least 11 well-known actors in the former with major parts) and the man does know gritty and real from experience. "This city is so wild in every sense of the word that to try and craft spectacular fiction about it, I feel like you do find yourself struggling with... the city refuses to be upstaged," Beall said in 2007 video interview about "L.A. Rex," which you can watch below.

While Marvel's gamble of four individual films leading up to one super-hero team-up was seen as a very risky endeavor (until it was successfully pulled off by Whedon and his team), one now struggles to conceive how managing the stories, egos and plot lines of several super hero characters could be calculated and calibrated any other way. With Zack Snyder already noting that his "Man Of Steel" Superman film will not lead into the "Justice League" film and neither will Nolan's films, it will be incredibly fascinating to see if Beall, Warner Bros. and whatever director they hire can pull off a supergroup superhero film that has no runway leading up to its launch.

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More: Mark Millar, Justice League, Will Beall, Warner Bros.

5 Comments

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Annoymous | June 9, 2012 5:58 PMReply

I'm getting annoyed at M Millar. He has okish comics and fancies himself big. He is mostly hype and delivers very little.
karloshuddos | June 7, 2012 6:50 PMReply

So glad some one else agrees that M.Millar is a pathological liar! As soon as some news breaks, he jumps straight on it claiming he has some inside knowledge. For example, claiming he knew the main villain for The Dark Knight Rises and that they were from his "childhood". Bane was introduced in 1993 :/. He thinks he's got the inside scoop because one of his comics was turned into a semi-decent movie.
Zack | June 8, 2012 12:06 AM

Yeah, Millar only ACTS like someone who was a child in 1993.
Ryan Sartor | June 7, 2012 5:43 PMReply

That headline's amazing.
Zack | June 7, 2012 5:00 PMReply

Bear in mind Millar thinks "dark and mature"= "all the characters are dicks".