The Live Action History of the JLA
Following the Justice League from Inception to the Modern Era
Nov 15, 2008
The Justice League of America first debuted in 1960 in The Brave and the Bold #28, in a classic story that gathered together the seven most popular heroes of the era, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and The Martian Manhunter.
Live Action Television
In the 1970's, two shows entitled Legends of the Superheroes were broadcast. One involved various members of the League and their efforts to stop a bomb from exploding and the other was a superhero version of the celebrity roast, hosted by Ed McMahon. To say the shows were campy takes on classic characters would be an understatement. Comedians Ruth Buzzi and Charlie Callas were part of the show, as were many terrible jokes.
Adam West, Burt Ward and Frank Gorshin reprised their roles as Batman, Robin and the Riddler from the Batman show of the 1960's and other heroes like Hawkman, Black Canary, The Flash and Captain Marvel made appearances. Little known villains such as Mordru, Solomon Grundy, Giganta and Sinestro also appeared, marking the first and only time they have been portrayed by live actors.
In 1997, a live action pilot of The Justice League was produced but never picked up as a series. Due to legal issues, the more well known characters of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were not included on the team, leaving few marketable names on the list. The roster included the Guy Gardener version of Green Lantern, The Flash, The Atom, female heroines Fire and Ice all led by a heavily made up David Ogden Stiers, of M*A*S*H fame, as The Martian Manhunter.
The villain in the pilot was the Weatherman, played by character actor Miguel Ferrer. Ferrer had earlier voiced the character of The Weather Wizard in the Superman Animated Series episode, Speed Demons. In that episode Superman and fellow Justice Leaguer, The Flash, have a race around the world for charity.
The Justice League has appeared on Smallville, with various heroes teaming up with Clark Kent to fight crime, culminating in a sixth season episode entitled Justice which gathered Clark Kent (Superman), Impulse (Bart Allen, in the comics the nephew of The Flash), Green Arrow, Aquaman and Cyborg (In the comics, a member of the Teen Titans) toghether. In season seven, Black Canary also joined the team which is lead by Oliver Queen, a.k.a. Green Arrow.
The Silver Screen
In 2007, plans for a live action Justice League film were announced, but in 2008, Warner Brothers announced that instead it would focus on creating four live action movies from the DC Universe, including a reboot of Superman.
Given the success of The Dark Knight, one of those four announced movies is likely to be another Batman film. Beyond that, Warner Brothers intends to bring at least two other unnamed DC heroes to the big screen individually, before considering the possibility of a Justice League film.
 |
