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What Is Justice League International?
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How Is Justice League International Taking Shape In Superman?
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What Happened To Justice League International, And Could That Happen In The DCU?
Highlights
- Behind-the-scenes images of
Superman
(2025) suggest Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl are part of a lesser-known superhero society. - Sean Gunn is set to play Maxwell Lord in the film, a character who played a pivotal role in forming a different kind of Justice League in the mid-1980s.
- The presence of Justice League International could pay tribute to a fascinating era of DC Comics and hint at how a more familiar Justice League will arrive in the DCU.
With filming of James Gunn’s Superman well underway, the heroes populating the new-look DC Universe are slowly being revealed. Filming in Cleveland in June 2024, behind-the-scenes snaps gave fans the first look at characters supporting the Man of Steel in the flagpole movie. Some well-known names from the history of DC Comics are set to make their DCU debuts in the film, but from what fans have seen of the shoot so far, a classic superhero society could debut, too.
Mr Terrific, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl are all seen on set wearing similar costumes, including jackets and a distinctive logo. The three appear to be working together, although not with Superman and not as part of any kind of superteam moviegoers have seen on film before. Long-time fans of DC Comics and the many incarnations of the Justice League will see the similarities to one particular and curious era: Justice League International.
What Is Justice League International?
The Justice League has been through many incarnations since it formed in four colors in the pages of The Brave and the Bold #28 in March 1960. Bringing together DC’s biggest superheroes was an inspired idea that played a massive role in the success of comic books’ Silver Age and influenced Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to create Fantastic Four shortly after.
However, creating a super team isn’t easy. Early on, there was an effort to keep Superman and Batman off the Justice League roster so less popular characters could shine. Strength in numbers, a recurring theme for the League, won out, and an expanded roster incorporating characters like Green Arrow and Atom allowed readers to enjoy adventures featuring the whole gamut of DC heroes.
While the League’s predecessor, the Justice Society, provided a base for its heroes to embark on individual adventures, the League was all about conquering massive threats through teamwork. As the DC’s premier superteam supported crossovers, the group’s make-up remained an essential aspect. However, things took a sharp turn after DC’s groundbreaking continuity reset, Crisis on Infinite Earths.
In the wake of the mid-1980s crossover, editorial policy limited character use — such as John Byrne’s ring-fenced Man of Steel series, which was busy redefining Superman for a new era across the character’s titles. The new Justice League creative team of writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, as well as artist Kevin Maguire, were left without the big hitters that had led the League for years. One exception was Batman, who could be included after legendary editor Dennis O’Neil felt a similarly legendary amount of pity for the new Justice League creative team.
Still, Giffen and co. made the most of the circumstances, drawing on uncontroversial characters that had not originated in DC Comics. That included Blue Beetle, who came from Charlton Comics, and Captain Marvel, AKA Shazam, who debuted in Fawcett Comics before DC folded both publishers into its universe. Newer DC characters like Dan Jurgens’ Booster Gold bolstered the ranks.
The new mix lent itself to character-driven stories. A key to the new title and its spin-offs’ success was the humorous tone of the dysfunctional unit, helped by Giffen’s idea to exaggerate character traits: Green Lantern Guy Gardner was more insufferable than usual; Black Canary was a feminist firebrand; Booster Gold was more of a chance; Captain Marvel was undoubtedly a child in a man’s super-powerful body.
The characters weren’t the only change. In the aftermath of the Crisis and Legends crossovers, this league operated under an international political entity, establishing embassies worldwide through the United Nations. The new-look outfit would dominate for over a decade — an era that, despite the team variously going by Justice League Europe and Justice League America, is known as Justice League International.
How Is Justice League International Taking Shape In Superman?
Bringing Guy Gardner, a loutish member of the Green Lantern Corps., into the DCU will make many fans think of the JLI, while Hawkgirl and Mr. Terrific’s presence suggests Gunn’s blended the League with a modern incarnation of the Justice Society. But the real hint is in the superheroes’ uniforms.
For all the fun and idiosyncratic super-clash of the JLI, which could make any day in the office as eventful as a supervillain takedown, there was a dark element behind it. Arguably ahead of its time, like its political affiliation, millionaire businessman Maxwell Lord was introduced as the power behind the team. He was instrumental in their creation, bankrolled them, and took on the thankless task of administering them. Lord was subject to attacks from enemies of the League more than once and showed he could be ruthless in sacrificing people to reach his goals.
In the DCU, Maxwell Lord will be played by Sean Gunn (following in the footsteps of Pedro Pascal, who played a much-changed version of the character in Wonder Woman 1984). On-set images show that Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific, and Gardner are all sporting Lordtech logos, suggesting they are working for Maxwell Lord’s superteam. It seems James Gunn’s DCU will kick off with Lord successfully launching his team of supers, removed from big hitters like the Man of Steel, and thanks to their absence from the film, Batman and Wonder Woman.
It’s a nice touch, picking up from a much-loved but little-explored part of the DC Universe with some instant world-building and enormous potential. It could also give us an indication of how the Justice League forms in the DCU.
What Happened To Justice League International, And Could That Happen In The DCU?
Maxwell Lord underwent quite a journey, especially after the Invasion crossover activated a latent metagene and revealed him as a powerful telepath. At considerable personal expense, he could control the minds of others and would go on to play a significant role in the epic crossover Infinite Crisis as a confirmed supervillain.
During the sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Lord was revealed as the leader of the covert agency Checkmate, where, having amassed information on superheroes for years, he implemented his long-planned attempt to destroy them. Powerful enough to mind control Superman, Lord was soon in control of Batman’s powerful Brother Eye network and near victory as he transformed sections of humanity into cyborg OMACs. To stop Lord, Wonder Woman was forced to take extreme action, killing him in moments that inspired the controversial scenes in the climactic fight that closed Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.
The biggest hint of what might happen is how the League bounced back in DC Comics in the late 1990s. Justice League International faded in the mid-1990s thanks to the greatest evil in comic books: low sales. What emerged from the ashes was another astonishing era of the Justice League that proved to be massively influential on the Modern Age of comics.
Grant Morrison’s epic run reframed the League as the JLA, drawing the biggest hitters in the DC Universe into an undeniable superteam in a premium title. The new-look JLA has defined and influenced every incarnation since, across DC comics, games, the DC Animated Universe, and the DCEU. The JLA took on the might of Darkseid, Mageddon, Starro, and an Injustice League featuring Lex Luthor and Joker. It was a far cry from the JLI’s quirky scraps against Champions of Angor, Despero, and the Grey Man.
The JLI has resurfaced in the comics, as you can’t keep a good team down, but it could be about to have its finest hour. James Gunn, an explorer in the depths of DC Comics’ incredible history and undoubtedly an admirer of an era that prioritized character, is a great fit to bring the JLI to live-action. Sneak peeks at the map of Superman’s Metropolis show Gunn has used it to pay tribute to many of the creators mentioned above, reinforcing the legacy that was once part of the film’s name.
While Superman will be skipping another retelling of Big Blue’s origins, fans might be about to experience the origin of a Justice League they’ve never seen before.
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