Star Trek Into Darkness Review

Now that the Iron Man 3 hype has settled, it's time for me to take a look at that other giant nerd event film released in May- "Star Trek Into Darkness." As with many others, I've been hyping this film since the last one, and it's been one of my most anticipated releases all year. While I'm not exactly a Trekkie, I have an enormous amount of respect for Star Trek due to its contributions to the sci-fi genre. When the reboot hit back in 2009, I loved it, mainly because, thanks to its time travel/parallel universe plot line, it managed to be a reboot, sequel and prequel all at once, honoring the Star Trek canon while doing its own thing and making it accessible to non-Trekkies like myself.

Even though I'm not a full-blown Trekkie, that doesn't mean I'm not familiar with the Trek mythos. I've seen several of the old films (Wrath of Khan and First Contact being my favorite, although I'm also fond of Voyage Home), and watched multiple reruns of The Next Generation, and even on occasion episodes of Voyager and Enterprise (although not as often). I prefer Captain Picard and Data to Kirk and Spock, but of course the old crew is comprised of a great cast of characters, which the reboot did a magnificent job of introducing to new audiences. I'm glad to say that this sequel continues that trend, introducing more classic Trek elements while finding ways to breath new life into the universe for newcomers.

As glimpsed from the trailers, the story concerns Captain James T. Kirk, First Officer Spock, and their loyal crew hunting down ex-Starfleet officer John Harrison, who is committing terrorist acts against the Federation.  The film begins with a great "Raiders of the Lost Ark" moment, wherein our heroes attempt to render a volcano inert on a primitive planet and end up exposing themselves to the natives. Since they violated the sacred Prime Directive (no interference with underdeveloped worlds), Kirk is demoted to First Officer under Admiral Pike and Spock is reassigned.

It is here where Harrison begins his attacks, causing Pike's death. As a result, Kirk becomes captain again and leads a vengeful mission to the Klingon homeworld Kronos, under orders from Admiral Marcus, to kill Harrison, carrying with him 72 prototype photon torpedoes. While Kirk is gung-ho about the mission, several of his crewmembers, including Scotty, are suspicious of the torpedoes' payload, and on edge about how traveling to Kronos could start a war with the Klingons.

First off, this is a great set-up. The opening screams classic Trek, and the story up to this point, while maybe too action packed for old Trek fans, displays the classic moral and ethical debates that defined old Trek films and episodes. Throughout the film there is a running theme of whether to use logic and seek diplomatic solutions, or go on gut instinct and possibly start a war. Like most genre films nowadays, there's a parallel to post-9/11 politics, in this case focusing on how the government is dead set on capturing a terrorist and willing to go to war to achieve this goal.

All the cast members perform their roles admirably. Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Bruce Greenwood all deliver, once again bringing these iconic characters to life. Peter Weller and Alice Eve also are standouts as Admiral Marcus and his daughter Carol, respectively. They are welcome additions to the cast and contribute to the story rather well, with the admiral in particular actually acting as a villain for a good chunk of the film. His villainous acts are the true catalyst for the plot, and play on the theme of the logic of going to war or desiring peace.

However, in the end this film belongs to Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Pine and Quinto's emerging friendship defined the previous film, and here it gains even more significance. Pine once again plays Kirk as rebellious and cocky, even in the captain's chair. Quinto for the second time nails the cold, logical presence of Spock. The great thing about this film, however, is that it really gives both of them the chance to really develop their friendship. If the first film was about them gaining respect for one another, this one is about them realizing how much they need each other, and that they are capable of using both logic and emotion when the situation calls for it. It's incredibly satisfying to see the chemistry these two share, and how the events of the film logically push them forward as characters.

But of course I also mentioned Cumberbatch, who very  nearly steals the film from everyone else. We are led to believe his name is John Harrison for the first half of the film, before in a not-so surprising reveal (several hints were given throughout the film) he is shown to be Khan Noonien Singh, the most iconic of Star Trek villains. Cumberbatch relishes his role here, delivering every line with eloquence and a subtle sense of innate superiority. He simply knows he's better than everyone else, and you can tell by the way he speaks and interacts with the characters.

With the reveal comes the revelation that the entire film is pretty much an alternate universe version of Space Seed/Wrath of Khan. Most die hard Trekkies would, understandably, cry foul at that. However, what they fail to understand is that the Khan story arc is one of the most important events of the Star Trek canon. Any parallel timeline would have to tackle it eventually, and the way they do it here is brilliant. Instead of using Khan when Kirk and Spock are older so they can reflect on their past mistakes, this film introduces Khan when Kirk and Spock are still young, in order to solidify their friendship and have them grow into the men they will undeniably become. Khan's inclusion in this film and at this stage in the rebooted timeline feels completely organic, and at no point feels shoe-horned in to play off the nostalgia of die hard Trekkies.

Several other homages to Wrath of Khan exist, most notably the ending. Instead of Spock sacrificing himself, Kirk does it instead, leading to an exchange where Kirk acknowledges this is something Spock himself would have done. It may feel lessened to older Trekkies since they've already seen this, but the scene itself is still sincere, features great acting from Pine and Quinto, and really drives home how much the two care about each other and how they can, in dire circumstances, act more like each other than they would care to admit. Spock's reaction to Kirk's death and following actions are solid proof of this, and by film's end it's clearly apparent that the two have forged their iconic friendship that Spock Prime hinted at the end of the first film.

Besides the top-notch story and character interactions, the film also delivers on action and still remembers to preserve the witty banter between the crew. Bones and Scotty in particular are standouts for their witty dialogue, even moreso when interacting with Kirk, Spock and Uhura. As for the action, it's simply stunning. The opening scene is probably my favorite, but a chase between a scout ship and Klingon warbirds on Kronos, a space jump between ships near Earth, and a brutal final (if short) brawl between Spock and Khan on floating barges are also highlights.

What I loved about the film was that these action scenes, and even the witty dialogue, did not overpower the film but instead just added to the story and characters. It gave everything a certain gravity yet prevented things from being overly serious, and allowed the audience to have fun without forgetting the stakes. There's some serious philosophical stuff mentioned here, as I said earlier, and the way the film presents it makes it seem like an actual war could be brewing in future installments. Just like the first film, there are enough nods to classic Trek to satisfy Trekkies and enough new elements to please causal viewers.

If I have any complaints, it's that once Khan is revealed, the use of iconic elements from that movie make it a little too predictable (did anyone really doubt Kirk would stay dead?), but the pace of the film and the amazing action and characterization make this more of a nitpick than a full-blown problem. It was interesting to see an old tale told again but different, bearing in mind that this is all supposed to be a parallel reality. Leonard Nimoy's Spock Prime even shows up to remind us of that.

As a fan of the first film, I was extremely impressed with the way J.J. Abrams decided to continue the story of the rebooted Trek universe while keeping it open for further adventures. I have full confidence in his ability to tackle Star Wars, if he holds that universe with the same level of esteem that he does this one. Thanks to its better story and character development, I would even put this film above the original in terms of ranking, although unfortunately it still doesn't hold a candle to the film it pays homage to. Then again, what Trek film has surpassed Wrath of Khan? If anything, what should be taken away from this is that Abrams has delivered two great Trek films in a row, which is an achievement in and of itself. The franchise will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in three years. As evidenced by this film, even if Abrams is jumping ship, the series will continue to live long and prosper.

Theatricality and Deception: Defending Iron Man 3's Mandarin

When I originally wrote my "Iron Man 3" review about a week ago, I planned to dedicate a large portion of it analyzing how effective the controversial Mandarin twist was. If I did, then that review would have gone on for ages, so I decided an entire article was more worthy of this subject. The twist, wherein the advertised Mandarin was revealed to be an actor named Trevor Slattery covering for the true Mandarin, Extremis creator Aldrich Killian, was something I originally found hilarious, albeit disrespectful. Subsequent viewings, however, have made me realize that not only is the twist necessary, it's also brilliant.

The thing about Mandarin is, he's only Iron Man's archenemy because he's the best out of a bunch of B and C-list villains who compose Stark's weak rouges gallery. Mandarin was initially invented as a personification of Communism, a Fu Manchu archetype designed to capitalize on the West's fear of the "Other." Since that's an incredibly racist and outdated version, the Mandarin has been reinterpreted every time he's appeared in comics or on screen.

He's been a corrupt archaeologist, a high school friend of Stark's, the spirit of a Chinese warlord, a robot, the name of an organization, and recently a terrorist-funding businessman who allies with other Iron Man rouges and even created an army of Extremis soldiers. Therefore, it only makes sense that the filmmakers chose to once again re-imagine Mandarin for this film, where he is the head of AIM and goes by the name Aldrich Killian. 

After being rejected by Tony Stark in 1999, Killian decides that his best weapon in getting back at Stark and the world while proving his superiority is anonymity. When he and Hansen began experimenting with Extremis, causing soldiers to blow up, Killian decided that using a terrorist excuse was the best way to cover up his failings. But then the Avengers incident happened. As Killian himself said, "Ever since that big dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety's kind of had it's day."

In order to preserve his anonymous M.O. while also making his actions more public, Killian decided to use his imaginary terrorist threat to convince the American people to back his Extremis research.  Since the media constructs our reality, he decided that an uber-terrorist that personified people's fear of "The Other" and perverted all forms of Eastern and Western iconography would aid in carrying out his goals.This uber-terrorist would give Killian a smokescreen to kill the President and install a new one, while simultaneously creating a scapegoat to justify militarizing his Extremis project. He even went the extra step and rebranded War Machine as the Iron Patriot, using him as propaganda to personify American military strength before perverting that as part of his Mandarin campaign.

This plan is, quite simply, brilliant. Not only is it highly original for a superhero film, but it offers great social commentary on the role of media and iconography in shaping our modern society, especially in a post-9/11 atmosphere. The great thing about it is, in a way, it's actually a highly meta-interpretation of Mandarin that stays true to his roots. Mandarin was originally Chinese because Stan Lee created him at a time when anything Asian was considered, in the West's eyes, to be evil. Nowadays, the Cold War has given way to the War on Terror, so any version of Mandarin would have to be a terrorist as opposed to a straight up Communist archetype. What Shane Black and Marvel did was take that idea one step further, asking "what if someone in-universe came up with this idea-that you could create an over-the-top character who personified the enemy of the West?"

As for the ten magic rings, while they could very easily be utilized in a post-Avengers world, the stories and tone of the solo "Iron Man" movies have always been action-comedy based tonally and tech-based storywise. Even though magic can exist in this world, it has no place in an Iron Man film. Extremis, however, does, since it deals with the misuse of science and whether scientific advancement is justified with military contracts. It makes total sense to make the real Mandarin powered by Extremis instead of magic rings, with the Ten Rings being referenced as the terrorist organization from the first film, here having their imagery used as part of Killian's attempt to make the Mandarin appear more threatening.

Some say the Trevor Slattery reveal is played way too much for laughs. Again, it keeps things in line with the action-comedy tone of the previous films, and cleverly upends the audience's expectations in order to focus fully on the Extremis storyline. It helps that Ben Kingsley is brilliant in both the fake Mandarin and Trevor personas, giving him a chance to flex his serious and comedic acting chops.

What some may see as a waste of a role is really an excuse for Kingsley to play a character that goes against what people expect of him. If Kingsley was to play the Mandarin straight, how exactly would a final battle between him and RDJ work? Would audiences pay to see a 70 year old man trying to kill Iron Man with laser rings? Even for a comic book film, especially one set post-Avengers, that concept is way too silly to work onscreen, at least in a solo "Iron Man" movie.

Instead, Killian's plan makes him a much more threatening villain, which is helped both by Guy Pearce's intimidating performance and his epic final battle with Stark. The entire point of the film was that he was trying to divert attention from himself with a larger-than-life villain, so of course he seems lesser compared to Kingsley. But the fact that he convinced even Stark for a time to go on this wild goose chase is a testament to his genius.

In a way, Killian is a dark mirror to Stark, going through a similar character arc but in reverse. Stark started off rich and famous, embracing the limelight but not giving a second thought to whether his scientific advancements were actually helping anyone. Killian was a scientific idealist who started off small, before deciding to work in the shadows. Tony reinvents himself by augmentation through technology, and decides to help people. Killian reinvents himself by augmentation through Extremis biotech, and wants to use it to perfect other people. Tony develops an ego thanks to the media's fascination with him. Killian uses the media to further his own ends.

Tony becomes paranoid after "Avengers" and, to shield himself from harm, invents remote-controlled Iron Man suits as an apparent extension of himself. Killian, to shield himself from the public, invents the "remote-controlled" Mandarin persona. In the end, Tony realizes he is perfect, not because of technology, but because of his own humanity, and blows up his suits to remove his mask and show that Iron Man is not the suits, it's his human skills as a mechanic that make him super. Killian, in the end, goes power mad, convinced Extremis makes him perfect and adopting the Mandarin identity for himself, as a way of consolidating his superhuman status.

Thus, he is a manifestation of Tony's own demons, becoming what Tony would have become had he not broken his reliance on technology over the course of the film. This makes Killian even more effective as Tony's archenemy, because he compliments Tony's character arc that was always the main focus of the movie. And that's not even counting that he blew up Tony's mansion, put Happy in a coma, and nearly killed Pepper, stripping Tony of everything he holds dear and raising the stakes higher than ever in an Iron Man film. And if that's still not enough to convince fans he's a great Mandarin, since Killian borrowed the name from Chinese history and presented it as a title, someone else could become the Mandarin in an Iron Man or Avengers sequel and plague Stark with the actual ten rings.

Even if that doesn't happen, the Mandarin as presented here is faithful to the comics in his own way. Besides his plan and character arc being brilliant in the context of the films, Killian invented the Mandarin persona that Trevor then embodied, bringing life to the classical version of the character. When Killian takes on the persona towards the end, he becomes the modern-day version of the Mandarin, that of the terrorism funding businessman who creates an army of Extremis soldiers and fights Iron Man in an epic duel, where he uses energy blast fueled martial arts moves to reduce Stark's armors to shreds.

Not only this, but Killian/Mandarin has even more layers when you factor in the elements from other Iron Man villains. Killian's fire breathing may be a reference to Extremis villain Mallen, but combined with his dragon tattoos, the filmmakers paid homage to the Mandarin's use of Chinese iconography, as well as referenced Fin Fang Foom, the dragon whose species gave Mandarin his rings. On another note, his status as the "big brain" that heads AIM is a reference to MODOK, adding elements from another over the top Iron Man villain into Killian's layered portrayal.

Ultimately, the filmmakers made a great decision to take a bit character from the comics, Aldrich Killian, and expand him. They gave him a fleshed out plan and motivation while combining elements from other Iron Man villains to create a solid, threatening version of the Mandarin worthy of testing the MCU Tony Stark's mettle. True, we may not have gotten the armor vs. rings battle we were all waiting for, but we got a version of Mandarin that, like the different cartoons and comic variations, reimagines the character for the context of this story. Aldrich Killian is the perfect MCU Mandarin, and thanks to him "Iron Man 3" sets itself apart from its superhero movie brethren by doing something truly unique with adapting the material.

Iron Man 3 Review

It's been a long time since I've blogged about anything. I realize this. Between college classes, fraternity life and a part time job at a newspaper, I've had no time to write anything since my "Hollywood shared universe model" piece. But school is winding down, and if there's anything in the nerd world that can get me out of my self-imposed blogging exile, it's Iron Man 3. 

I've already hyped up this film enough, between naming it among my top 2013 films I'm looking forward to, analyzing all of the Phase One films including Iron Man 1 and 2, and even commenting on the necessity of the trilogy model in Hollywood. And then of course there are the two Iron Man 3 fanfics I posted, where I tried to cobble together a plot based on fan conjecture and what I knew. I'd like to say in some parts I was actually right on the money, and in other parts...I clearly wasn't. The point is, now that Iron Man 3 is out, and I've actually gotten a chance to see it a couple times, I can make a fully detailed review about it, flaws and all.

Let's start out by saying that, like the first two films, "Iron Man 3" is incredibly well-acted. RDJ kills it as Iron Man/Tony Stark, but what I really love about this film compared to the other two is how the filmmakers decided to brake new ground with the character. Instead of being ego-driven like he is at the start of every other film, announcing his presence while blasting AC/DC, this film starts out with the opening credits singing "Blue Da Ba Dee," signalling a change in tone for our favorite genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. 

This film finally sees some great character development for Stark, building off of "The Avengers" to give Tony panic attacks at the very mention of aliens. His penchant for technology has become a full-blown addiction. Screw Demon in the Bottle, Tony's real problems lie with his overreliance on suits. It's no wonder he creates over 40 of them (all really cool by the way-fangasms abounded when the Silver Centurion and Hulkbuster suits showed up). I reveled at how this film showed a different side of Stark, playing off his anxieties and showing that it's his genius and integrity that make him worthy of being an Avenger, not how awesomely advanced his suit is. 

To that end, the suit isn't actually featured that much in the film, besides the obvious Iron Legion climax. My guess is the filmmakers took a cue from "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Skyfall" by crafting a film that would strip its hero of his toys to show exactly what makes him tick. Thankfully, while Tony is the main focus, his supporting cast get more to do as well. Pepper and Rhodey get bigger roles, with Rhodey's Iron Patriot being a great buddy cop to Stark and Pepper subverting the damsel in distress archetype when she gets her badass moment towards the end. A kid named Harley, who shows up during the second act, also nearly steals the show thanks to his chemistry with Stark, and Stark's inability to treat him as a child. Their energetic rapport signaled something truly new for this series, and Harley came off as innocent without being annoying.

James Badge Dale and Stephanie Stozak are great as Extremis goons, reveling in the power their fiery regenerative abilities give them. Jon Favreau is hilarious in his brief return as Happy Hogan, who may not be the director anymore but whose fate actually kickstarts the plot. The only real downside character-wise is Rebecca Hall's Maya Hansen, who acts fine but never gets a chance to completely flesh out her character. But I've stalled long enough. Let's talk about Mandarin.

Oh yeah, Mandarin. The elephant in the room. In a way, I was looking forward to IM3 even before I thought "Avengers" could happen, thanks to all the interviews saying they were constructing Iron Man as a trilogy and making Mandarin, his ring-wielding arch enemy, the Emperor Palpatine/Lord Voldemort/Sauron puppet master controlling it all. And then when they casted Ben Kingsley, I knew they were going to deliver on that promise. Then the film came out. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it by now-Mandarin in the film is not actually Ben Kingsley, but Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian, a bit character from the Extremis comics here reimagined as the head of A.I.M. and an intense business rival to Stark. As for Kingsley? He's really Trevor Slattery, a drunken actor hired by Killian as a scapegoat to cover up his faulty, exploding Extremis soldiers. 

What to say about this twist? Well, when I first saw it, I thought it was hilarious but also disrespectful to the canon. I get that the MCU is a separate universe, but the appeal of the films thus far was that they remained relatively faithful to the comics. Why did Shane Black decide to change this character so radically? I'm positive that this subject deserves a rant article all its own, but suffice to say that the Mandarin, while Iron Man's archenemy, is still an incredibly dated character that needed to be upgraded. 

Kingsley's Trevor Slattery was played for laughs, but when Killian is revealed to be the true Mandarin, it's definitely threatening. With his Extremis-fueled martial arts moves, dragon tattoos, and overly complex plan involving manipulating the post-Avengers climate by creating a scapegoat supervillain, I thought he totally came off as a worthy antagonist. He may not have embodied the Mandarin visually the way Kingsley did, but he more than made up for it with his intelligence, insanity, and utter ruthlessness towards Stark and his allies. For reasons better explained in another article, Killian fully deserves to be the MCU's Mandarin. 

His final fight with Tony in particular is also easily the best climax out of all three films. Iron Man finally fought a foe who was truly worthy of facing him physically, one who didn't need a suit of armor to go toe-to-toe with him. The comedy was memorable and well-staged, offering Stark and his friends some of the best one-liners of the trilogy. And unlike "Iron Man 2," this film actually stood on its own. It didn't need to set up another movie, and focused more on closing out Tony's story arc. Him blowing up his suits and removing his arc reactor may seem radical to some, but it's a perfect representation of how he's overcome his anxiety disorder, kicked his technology addiction, and reinvented himself yet again to be the man Pepper needs. 

The ending and the twist, combined with a lot more comedy, will of course be polarizing to many fans. It is certainly a little alienating to see Marvel deviate so far from the formula of Phase I. Instead of subtle comic references, this is an entirely mainstream product. New director Shane Black used Iron Man, and RDJ in particular, to make a throwback to '80s action-comedies. As a fan of movies in general, it makes me happy that the director and Marvel decided to take a chance with changing things up this time out. It certainly does make the film feel fresh, and it fixes many of the flaws of "Iron Man 2," which stuck to the formula a little too much. But in trying to change things up in order to be original, this film doesn't feel quite as magic as the first one, if only because it was doing things just for the sake of being different. 

When comparing this to its predecessors, "Iron Man 3" is right in the middle for me, not as good as 1 but not as average as 2. Since it's the beginning of Phase II, I feel it's wrong to really compare it to other Phase I films, especially the Avengers. However, if I had to rank it among its MCU brothers, it'd be lower than Avengers and Iron Man 1 but higher than all the rest, if only for how, unlike the majority of the Phase I solo films, more emphasis is put on making a great movie with excellent characterization than building towards another film.What I ultimately love is how the standalone plot did allow Tony to gain closure for his solo trilogy, while also logically  building off what his character went through in the previous "Iron Man" films and "The Avengers." 

It's truly a standalone film set in a now fully established shared universe, and succeeds wildly at it. I'd also like to add that, like I pointed out in my trilogy series, that this film heralds a new model wherein franchises can create standalone trilogies that don't necessarily need only three films to complete a character arc. Iron Man 3's character arc works because it's set after Avengers, thereby upending the need for just a trilogy while also functioning perfectly as one.  

This film may not have been the ultimate Iron Man movie I was hoping for, but its willingness to buck expectations and constantly deliver in the action, comedy, story and character moments make it a wondrously entertaining and worthy entry in both the solo "Iron Man" and larger Marvel sagas. It's a great start to Phase II, and I hope Marvel keeps toying with formula and genre conventions in the future so the MCU can continue to be a trailblazer for the film industry. 

As a postscript, the end credits scene was hilarious, but more reminiscent of the Avengers' schwarma scene than anything nerdgasmically awesome like in all the solo Phase I films. It was great to see Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Banner again, even if it was just dozing off at Tony's story. Then again, anyone who reads this could have  had the same reaction Banner did if I went into detail about what I thought of the Mandarin. For my full rant on the Mandarin, and what I think it signifies for this franchise, check back in later.

The 'Avengers' Effect

The 'shared universe' concept has been in fiction for decades. Tolkein's Middle-Earth. The various Star Trek films and TV shows. Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob crossovers. And then, of course, there's the Marvel and DC continuities. Crossovers have always been popular, but the implications of creating an interweaving mythology are far greater. It's a concept that seemed to appeal more to nerds than causal film-goers. Then the Avengers became the third highest grossing film of all time. The Marvel Universe now exists on celluloid, and over the next few years it will continue to grow. But as with any popular show or film, success breeds imitators.

Every decade or so, Hollywood experiences a "paradigm shift." When a certain film gains a huge amount of success, it becomes a game changer that influences how movies are made from then on. "Jaws" and "Star Wars" created the blockbuster format. "The Little Mermaid" led to the Disney Renaissance of animation. "Jurassic Park" led to the CGI boom, which Pixar capitalized on to make "Toy Story" the first all-CGI film. "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" led to the re-emergence of fantasy epics. "Avatar" showed how powerful immersive 3D technology can be. But now we are in the midst of a new paradigm shift, one where the shared universe concept is becoming dominant.

Before "The Avengers," you could make a solid case for Chris Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy causing a new paradigm shift in Hollywood. The dark, realistic take on Batman has indeed influenced other franchises, most notably James Bond and Star Trek. This year, Nolan will produce the Superman reboot, "Man of Steel," which also looks to use the Dark Knight treatment in grounding the big blue boy scout. But while the Dark Knight films may have grossed over two billion dollars, it's slowly becoming old news. Nolan's trilogy is over, and Batman has been cast aside in favor of the Avengers, an entire team of superheroes. How exactly has Hollywood reacted to the Avengers' overwhelming success since its release? Just look at the news.

Besides Disney/Marvel moving full speed ahead with Phase II, the other Marvel projects at Sony and Fox are taking their leads from "Avengers." This year's "The Wolverine" will, in all likelihood, lead in to next year's "Days of Future Past," a time travel story which promises to cross over the original X trilogy with "First Class." The filmmakers at Fox are expanding the scope, fleshing out the X-Men film universe and straightening their continuity. Crossing over timelines and having films build into a larger story arc is the perfect way to build a shared universe. And the fact that Mark Millar has been brought in to shepherd all of Fox's Marvel properties means that at some point, a rebooted Fantastic Four will get to play in this X-Men film universe as well.

Not only that, but the direction Sony is taking with their rebooted "Spider-Man" series looks like they're also expanding their scope. Besides the Green Goblin build up, we know Rhino and Electro will be the villains and there's reason to believe we may get a build up to the Venom storyline and introduced to the Black Cat. If the rumors are true, Venom may actually get his own spin off film and then unite with Spider-Man and Black Cat in a later film, possibly against the Goblin or even the Sinister Six if Rhino and Electro live to see the credits. Just like X-Men, Sony is hoping to use the extensive cast of Spidey characters to create a larger universe, all in the hopes of getting that "Avengers" money.

But of course DC wants in on the action as well. They've been trying to make either a "Superman/Batman" or "Justice League" movie for years, but every attempt has fallen through. When "The Avengers" made bank, a Justice League film was put into production for a 2015 release. Word has it the script's been scrapped and WB is waiting on the results of "Man of Steel" to move forward with the project, but it's clear at some point DC wants to make this happen. They may not have the momentum that Marvel has, but they're smart enough to see the appeal of crossovers, and if Superman is the massive success they're hoping for, expect a Justice League film sooner rather than later.

Then again, superheroes come from shared universes already. How could all of Hollywood possibly be affected by this, instead of just one genre? Well, there's this little thing called Star Wars that's been in a lot of headlines lately. Not only is Disney moving forward with the long-rumored Episodes VII, VIII and IX, but apparently we're also getting spin-off films for Yoda, Boba Fett and Han Solo. It's obvious that Disney doesn't just want Star Wars to consist of three trilogies charting the Skywalker family- they want an interlocking universe of stories, similar to the Expanded Universe, that focuses on different characters that can then unite in the main Episodes. "The Avengers" model is already influencing one of the biggest film franchises of all time, turning the main series into an entire universe of interlocking franchises that build into one mega-franchise. And if "Star Wars" jumps on the bandwagon, what other series will?

"Star Trek" at one point had three different TV shows airing at once, all of them crossing over with each other. Since the reboot, the universe has been streamlined, but whose to say after they finish rebooting Kirk and Spock they couldn't move on to the Next Generation, Voyager and DS9 crews? It would be interesting to see all of those shows get modernized casts then build up for a massive crossover film, maybe involving the Borg or the Dominion War. Even though J.J. Abrams is jumping ship to Star Wars, he's still producing Star Trek. If Abrams leads Star Wars into the shared universe model, he could do the same for Star Trek as well.

Middle-Earth could potentially do this too, if after the Hobbit trilogy WB decides to adapt the Silmarillion as a series of films focusing on the different stories and characters that forge Middle-Earth's backstory. What if Doctor Who and Torchwood ever get feature films, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel? Will they have interlocking stories that build into a crossover spectacle? If Star Wars does get solo films, Hollywood will see the shared universe concept as more than just world building for superheroes. Any major franchise may get greenlit based on its potential to inhabit a shared universe.

The crossover will be the new paradigm shift, and soon every major franchise will be vying to have its own "Avengers" style event film. Only time will tell if this truly becomes a reality, but given all the news about the future of superheroes and Star Wars, it's not hard to imagine other big franchises capitalizing on the shared universe concept. If it does happen, hopefully the studios will take the time to craft an interweaving mythos that benefits the story and characters, as it did for the Avengers.

Fanfic: Iron Man 3 Revision

Almost a year ago, on a whim, I decided to create a fanfic speculating about what Iron Man 3 would be about, using information I already knew combined with speculation of where Tony would be post-Avengers. Now Avengers is out, the film is coming in May and we already have posters and trailers revealing more info, including the recent Super Bowl TV spot. Between the given footage and all the rumors out there about what may go down, I decided to take all this footage and even the various rumors and work out a new plot for the Armored Avenger's third outing.

We begin the film by exploring the world's post-Avengers mindset. The World Security Council and several government higher ups are pissed off that SHIELD isn't tracking the Avengers and that these powerful super humans aren't under government control. As a result, the government redesigns Rhodey's War Machine armor to give it the friendlier moniker of the Iron Patriot, and takes out a contract with A.I.M. to try and create a new Captain America serum. Scientists Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen create the Extremis nanotech virus as a result, and begin looking for human candidates.

Meanwhile, Tony is becoming more paranoid after his journey through the portal traumatized him. Convinced he needs to be prepared should another large scale attack happen, Tony rapidly speeds through several armor designs and gets to the Mark XLII, a version that he can mentally control with a tech-com link. When he begins having nightmares about being unable to save Pepper, the armor subconsciously springs to life to check up on her, making Tony wonder if his paranoia and obsession with upgrades is causing him to lose his humanity.

Killian grows desperate for human trials and, through shady deals, meets the Mandarin, leader of the Ten Rings society who had dealings with Obadiah Stane, Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer. Mandarin seeks revenge against Tony and also wishes to enact a master plan to remove the public's idolization of super heroes, while consolidating his own power. He hires mercenaries Eric Savin and Jack Taggert to undergo the Extremis procedure, and they are transformed into Coldblood and Firepower. Mandarin sends helicopters to blow up Tony's home, and he escapes in his suit while Rhodey saves Happy Hogan. During this time Pepper finds out Tony, in his paranoia, built a suit of armor for her, called the Rescue armor, should she need to escape a hostile environment. She escapes the crashing mansion in the Rescue armor.

Tony, utterly defeated, finds his way to Russia, realizing he needs to get off the grid. He works his way to China to rondevue with Dr. Chen Lu and Maya Hansen, who has left A.I.M.'s employ after learning of Killian's deal. Rhodey, Pepper and Hogan meet up there as well. It turns out that Lu is already under the Mandarin's employ and sells them out to Killian, who sends Coldblood and Firepower to deal with them. Lu is given an Extremis dose and is transformed into the Radioactive Man, who kills Hogan. Tony, Rhodey and Pepper fight Coldblood, Firepower and Radioactive Man, and the fight ends with the former villains killed and the latter taken into custody by a mysterious female SHIELD agent.

In the fight, Pepper's Rescue armor and Rhodey's Iron Patriot armor is heavily damaged, forcing Pepper to discard her suit and Rhodey to resort to the War Machine armor. Tony is badly injured, and the only way to save him is to undergo the Extremis procedure himself. When he emerges, he finds he no longer needs a tech-com link and can mentally summon the armor by thought alone, as well as communicate with other forms of technology via the nanobots that run through his system. Tony resolves his identity crisis when he realizes that technology will improve him but never consume him.

Killian, using footage from the Coldblood, Firepower and Radioactive Man trials, boards Air Force One for a meeting with the President and the rest of the Executive Branch, hoping to make his case for Extremis as a viable military application. The meeting is a ruse to rig the plane, killing the Executive Branch so Mandarin can make his move: unleashing a homeland invasion of America with an army of Extremis infused Ten Rings mercenaries. Iron Man and War Machine board Air Force One as it explodes. War Machine captures Killian while Iron Man saves the 13 freefalling passengers.

As Mandarin's army marches, Tony, Rhodey, Pepper and Maya travel to Stark Tower, where Tony reveals his secret weapon: a fully functional Hall of Armors, almost 40 different models all able to be remotely activated and controlled. He used a combo of his Mark XLII tech-com link and reverse engineered Hammer Drone tech to accomplish this. Tony has himself, Pepper, Rhodey and Maya each control 10 armors, leading them into battle against Mandarin's Extremis army.

With the fight ended, Tony races off for a final confrontation with the Mandarin, who reveals that he named his Ten Rings organization off the ten rings that he wears. The rings were miniature repulsion drives for an ancient alien starship that crash landed in the Middle East thousands of years ago, which Mandarin found and fashioned into rings. He studied them but could never get them to work, but after injecting himself with Extremis he is now mentally bonded to them and can unleash devastating blasts of energy at his opponents. Iron Man and Mandarin engage in an intense battle that ends when Tony forcibly cuts off Mandarin from his rings, a process which eventually kills him.

The mysterious female SHIELD agent returns to talk with Tony, and reveals herself to be Janet Van Dyne, a high ranking scientist and partner to one Henry Pym. Janet thanks Tony for collapsing Mandarin's Ten Rings empire, and says they have Killian in custody and have confiscated the rest of Extremis. Mandarin's story of the rings gets Tony thinking about what other threats are lying out there in the stars. Donning a new deep space armor, the film ends with Tony rocketing off into the cosmos after saying goodbye to Pepper.

In an after credits scene, Janet meets with Dr. Pym, who is pouring over the Extremis tech and leftover Iron Man drones pondering the possibilities of A.I. Wanting to know more, Janet takes him to meet Radioactive Man, where Pym asks him to tell him everything he knows.

I have no idea how accurate this plot will be to the final product, but this was created through what I know of the story, what plot points I could gather from the trailers, and the various rumors floating around online about who will show up and what will happen. Whatever we end up getting, I hope that Iron Man 3 doesn't dissapoint.

Fanfic: Shaping the Marvel Cinematic Universe

       

To the uninformed fan, walking out of the Avengers hailed an interesting question: if Avengers is the team up of Marvel's greatest heroes, where was Spider-Man? Or Wolverine? Or the Fantastic Four? The informed fan would answer that the film rights to those characters are owned, not by Disney/Marvel, but by Sony and Fox. But what if Disney/Marvel did own the film rights to those characters? After giving this a fair bit of thought, this elaborate fanfic was born, wherein I reimagine these franchises to coexist alongside the Avengers.

With Spider-Man, I'll build off the Amazing Spider-Man reboot and make it work within the Avengers world. The Lizard incident is pre-Avengers, and while Spidey is on SHIELD's radar he's obviously too young to join the Initiative, so for right now Fury's just keeping tabs on him, hence Peter's world is still isolated from the other heroes. Peter was in Queens when the Chitauri invasion struck, and Aunt May wouldn't let him leave the house so he was confined to watching the attack on TV.

Amazing Spider-Man's sequel, Spectacular Spider-Man, introduces MJ, the Bugle, the Osborns, the Rhino and Electro. Electro and Rhino deliver Spidey to Osborn, who mixes Spidey's blood with Connor's serum to turn himself into the Green Goblin. Astonishing Spider-Man has Peter gain the symbiote and learn about his father through the shadow man, Osborn's henchman Chameleon.  Chameleon sabotaged the Parker's plane when they wanted to go to SHIELD to report how Osborn funded the Parkers' cross species and symbiote projects to cure his cancer. When Osborn kills Gwen, a symbiote enhanced Peter kills him, before discarding the suit. Web of Spider-Man has the fragmented symbiote bond with Harry and Uncle Ben's killer, Cletus Kassady, to form Venom and Carnage. Harry sacrifices himself while both symbiotes are destroyed, and Peter, now in college, begins a relationship with MJ.

An after credits sequence has Mariah Hill of SHIELD visiting Peter and telling him they've been watching him and considering him as an Avengers candidate. Sometime down the line, after Spidey has had a few team ups under his belt, I'd like to see two more solo films (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man) that show Peter's encounters with the Black Cat, his adult career at Horizon Labs, his marriage to MJ, and his battles with the Sinister Six (Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Kraven, Vulture, Sandman, Scorpion). The Six will be featured as henchmen of Octavius, who runs Horizon Labs but moonlights as mob boss the Master Planner. His henchmen are the Enforcers in the first film, led by Herman Schulz, who through Horizon tech becomes the Shocker. When Shocker is imprisoned, an enraged Octavius, bonded with his tentacles, kills him before battling Spider-Man and getting imprisoned himself. He breaks out in the last film and turns his Enforcers into the Sinister Six. Peter is in a love triangle with MJ and Black Cat, but he eventually chooses MJ and marries her.

 X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the other Marvel properties will get full on reboots so they can gel with the Avengers films. X-Men will be a trilogy. The first film, Uncanny X-Men, will start with Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants (Mystique, Pyro, Toad, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Blob) committing terrorist acts against humans, revealing the hidden mutant culture to the world and causing the government to commission the Sentinel program to round up all mutants who don't come out for questioning. Two teenagers, Bobby Drake and Kitty Pryde, discover their abilities and run away together, only to be found by a Sentinel. They are rescued by the X-Men (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast, and Storm) and taken to Xavier back at the mansion, where they are given the codenames Iceman and Shadowcat and trained in the Danger Room.

Magneto offers the X-Men a chance to join him, but they refuse. Knowing the Sentinels were tracking him, Magneto led them to the mansion. In the aftermath of an attack, Iceman believes humans will never accept them and leaves to join Magneto. Another fleet of Sentinels arrives at Magneto's base, and using his powers he reprograms them to attack humans and head for Washington DC, aiming to kill the President and usurp the government. Iceman warns the X-Men, leading to a final battle where the Sentinels are destroyed, the Brotherhood rounded up and Magneto braindead after Xavier psychically attacks him with his helmet off.  For the first time, the X-Men are embraced by the public. The film ends with Xavier being visited by Nick Fury, who sanctions the X-Men and appoints Xavier to deal with any mutant crises that may arise.

The second film, Astonishing X-Men, has the American/Canadian black ops division Weapon X send in their best operative, Wolverine, to assassinate Charles Xavier. Wolverine grows to like the X-Men when they treat him like a human being instead of an animal. Weapon X sends in their augmented mutants (Sabretooth, Deadpool, Juggernaut, Omega Red, and Lady Deathstryke) to capture the X-Men. They are imprisoned at the Weapon X facility, run by Professor Cornelius and Nathaniel Essex. There the X-Men meet other mutant captives, including Rouge, Gambit, Collossus, and Nightcrawler.

Wolverine expresses guilt over betraying the X-Men and helps them escape, including the captive mutants. During this time Beast is experimented on to gain his blue form, Angel is fused with metallic wings, and Jean's telekinesis gets a massive boost. The Weapon X soldiers fight the X-Men, but in the end the main facility is blown up and Cornelius is killed. The soldiers, led by Essex, escape with Jean in their custody. They bring her to Emma Frost, and we learn that Weapon X was set up by the Hellfire Club, which inducts the Weapon X soldiers and the remaining Brotherhood members into its ranks. They speak of using Jean in their plans.

The last film, Ultimate X-Men, reveals that Essex and Frost serve En Sabbah Nur, the first mutant, an immortal who once ruled Ancient Egypt. Nur is currently hibernating and needs a powerful form of energy to recuperate his strength. The Hellfire Club uses Jean's increased telekinetic powers to wake Nur from his slumber. Nur takes the name Apocalypse and, using Frost's telepathy, mindwipes Jean into believing she is Apocalypse's Queen, the Dark Phoenix. Apocalypse hopes to use Jean's powers to scorch the Earth, creating a world where the Hellfire Club rules and only the fittest survive.

The X-Men work to get Jean back, and get assistance when two mutants from the future, Cable and Bishop, travel back in time using Bishop's temporal powers to prevent Apocalypse's dark future from happening. A final fight between the X-Men and Hellfire Club ends with Apocalypse destroyed, but an enraged Jean goes beserk and tries to execute Apocalypse's plan of scorching the Earth. Cyclops is forced to kill his love to save the world. In the end the Hellfire Club is defeated and the X-Men are victorious.

Fantastic Four will also be a trilogy. The first film, The Fantastic Four, begins with Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and Victor Von Damne working on a portal to the Negative Zone in the Baxter Building, a SHIELD think tank. Something goes wrong with the portal and Victor is scarred, forcing him to return to his homeland of Latveria. Years later, Reed, Sue, her brother Johnny and their friend Ben get funding from Nick Fury to recreate the N-Zone portal. They attempt to harness the cosmic energies of the N-Zone using a scepter-like device of Reed's own making, but the initial experiment goes awry and the four are doused with N-Zone radiation, giving them their powers. Giant creatures also escape from the N-Zone, and when Reed leads his friends against them in public they are christened the Fantastic Four.

Von Damne, having renamed himself Doom, has become dictator of Latveria. The first accident years ago gave him the ability to channel cosmic energy, and he has been trying to recreate the portal to increase his power. After hearing about the FF, he sends a squad of Doombots to infiltrate the Baxter Building and steal the scepter, which Reed is trying to reverse engineer so to return them to normal when Ben hates his condition. Doom steals the scepter, and although he has diplomatic immunity, Fury allows the FF to leave for Latveria in Reed's newly designed Fantasticar to retrieve it. Doom uses the scepter to augment his own abilities and open a stable portal to the N-Zone, which he plans to feed off of to make himself a god. The FF fight an army of Doombots, steal the scepter back and trap Doom in the N-Zone. Reed and Sue then marry and Ben comes to terms with his new form.

The sequel, FF: Annihilation, has the FF explore the N-Zone and discover Annihilus, who makes a deal with Doom: if Annihilus lends Doom his army, the Annihilation Wave, to take over Earth, Doom will give him the scepter to rule the N-Zone. The two villains break into our world and begin wreaking havoc, but Annihilus betrays Doom and steals the scepter for himself, wishing to control this universe and leave the N-Zone behind. The FF destroy Annihilus and imprison Doom, and Sue reveals she's pregnant.

FF: Doomsday has Sue give birth to Franklin while SHIELD detects bizarre anomalies stemming from a being called the Silver Surfer. The FF are brought in as opposed to Stark or Banner because Richards is the expert on this type of energy. Reed uses the cosmic scepter to capture the Surfer, who reveals he's faithful to a massive, planet consuming energy being called Gah Lak Tus. Doom drains the Surfur of his powers and escapes, and the FF and the Surfer team up to stop him before Surfer confronts his master. Reed uses the scepter to trap Gah Lak Tus in the N-Zone, where it has an unlimited amount of energy to feed on. Doom is killed, the Surfer is freed, and the FF celebrate their growing family.

As for Daredevil, Blade, Punisher and Ghost Rider, I'd prefer they be (re) introduced through the SHIELD tv show before teaming up in a Marvel Knights film, alongside Spider-Man. They would all be potential Avengers candidates brought together by SHIELD to solve a crisis the regular Avengers can't handle.  Following this, I'd like to see a massive team up film with the Marvel Knights, X-Men, FF, and Avengers together, in a film that adapts the Infinity Gauntlet. At this point in the main Avengers' story, I'd like them to fight Masters of Evil for Phase Two and Ultron for Phase Three, all being set up by Thanos to lead into the Infinity Gauntlet storyline. This would be followed by a final trilogy of films to end the MCU, which would adapt Civil War, Dark Reign and Seige and lead into a bright Heroic Age for the future. While right now this is a pipe dream, I hope one day that a true Marvel Cinematic Universe can be seen on screen.

Fanfic: Justice League

            Last year DC announced they were finally moving forward with a Justice League movie. Their aim was for 2015, the same year Avengers 2 launches. Now I may be a cynical nerd, but it's obvious that DC is only pushing JL to compete with Avengers. Many fans believe the world's greatest heroes deserve solo films before leading up to JL. Then again, Batman already has a trilogy, the Green Lantern movie tanked, and Superman is getting a new film this year that may lead into the film anyway. Maybe it's best for DC to use JL to intro their other heroes, then give them spin-offs depending on their popularity. It's a long shot, and a lot of variables can go wrong, but it could work with the right story. So after a fair bit of thought, I came up with what I believe to be my ideal Justice League film.

          The film would begin with a newscast spotlighting the various heroes of Earth. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Aquaman are the only public heroes, and have been met with reactions ranging from awe and wonder (Supes, WW, Flash) to mistrust, ridicule and outright hostility (Batman, GL, Aquaman).

          We then cut to STAR labs in Central City, and meet Barry Allan and Wally West. We learn they got their speed powers from an accident involving a lightning storm and a particle accelerator. Barry is the Flash, and Wally desperately wants to help him but Barry refuses, confining him to lab work. They are a light hearted uncle and nephew and love cracking jokes at each other. A portal opens up and alien Parademons pour out. Barry suits up and he and Wally fight the aliens. When the lab is compromised Barry orders Wally to go to his aunt Iris's house while he gets help.

           Barry races to Coast City and Ferris Air, where he meets with his best friend Hal Jordan to discuss the Parademons. Hal is featured as a brazen and cocky hero who thinks his ring gives him the power and authority to do whatever he wants, although he generally trusts Barry. Another portal opens and the Parademons storm Ferris Air and begin wreaking havoc in Coast City. Jordan becomes GL and he and Flash fight, but eventually are forced to retreat when the Parademons seize the city. Jordan is devastated, even more so when his ring won't tell him what the creatures are. GL and Flash decide that they must go to the other heroes to defeat the aliens.

           We then get a montage of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman dealing with Parademons in their respective cities, with cameos from Lois Lane, Steve Trevor, Commissioner Gordon and Alfred. When Batman returns to the Cave, he finds Supes and WW waiting for him. While Bats distrusts other heroes due to their powers, he has worked with Supes and WW in the past and decided to tell them who he is. Bats also mentions his sidekick Robin has left his employ to pursue a career in Bludhaven, so right now he's back to being a solo hero. While he doesn't want to go back to being part of team, Batman admits that the alien situation requires a response from the world's metahumans and agrees to an alliance.

          GL and Flash find the cave when GL uses his ring to hone in on Superman's location, since he's an alien presence. GL says the ring is detecting another alien in the cave other than Supes. Detective John Jones of the Gotham PD steps out of the shadows (he was introduced earlier working with Gordon) and reveals himself as J'onn J'onnz, the last Martian. J'onn knows something about the aliens, but before he says anything Batman says they should relocate to somewhere more remote in case the aliens compromise the cave. Superman suggests his Fortress of Solitude. WW leaves to try and recruit Aquaman, since Themyscira has a relationship with Atlantis, and she agrees to meet with the others at the Fortress. En route to the Fortress, however, the government intercepts the heroes, thinking they're working with the aliens, and captures J'onn.

         GL, still reeling from abandoning Coast City and his girlfriend Carol, thinks rescuing J'onn is a waste of time and they should focus on taking back the cities. He claims that as the GL of Sector 2814 he has the highest authority during an extraterrestrial crisis. Batman yells at him about how his powers make him reckless and that rescuing J'onn could be the key to defeating the aliens, but Hal spits back at Batman why he should take orders from a man with no powers and the two start fighting. Superman and Flash get in between the two, causing Bats to turn on Supes and GL to turn on Flash. Bats wips out a kryptonite ring Supes gave him and starts wailing on him while GL throws constructs at Flash. Eventually the two talk Bats and GL down, with Flash using his friendship with GL and Supes helping Bats understand the importance of teamwork and trusting others, despite Robin leaving him. The four decide to rescue J'onn.

         Meanwhile WW travels to Atlantis in her jet (a gift from Steve Trevor upgraded by the Amazons with submarine and cloaking capabilities). As the ambassador of the Amazons, she is granted an audience with Aquaman, king of Atlantis. Aquaman, who demands to be called King Arthur, shoots down Diana's offer to join the other heroes on the surface. He claims the surface world hates him and that it's best he focus on being a king to his people. To further emphasize this, he shows Diana his left hand, cut off in a battle with surface pirates and replaced with a hand made of hard water. Diana tries to make Arthur understand that he has an obligation to help make the surface world a better place, just as she wanted to do when she left her island with Trevor. Arthur still refuses, saying unless the aliens attack Atlantis it's not his problem.

         Supes, Bats, GL and Flash break into the government facility holding J'onn and free him, at the cost of ruining their reputation as heroes to the public. They reunite with WW at the Fortress, which Flash is in awe of (Bats and WW have been there before, and GL and J'onn are familiar with alien architecture). J'onn links them all telepathically and we move to a flashback. The parademons serve Darkseid, the ruler of the planet Apokalips. Thousands of years ago, Darkseid sought to conquer the universe and began raiding planets. Apokalips' sister planet, the peaceful New Genesis, teamed with the GL Corps and stopped Darkseid after his parademons wiped out the Martian civilization, leaving J'onn the last of his race.

        The entire planet Apokalips was imprisoned in the Anti-Matter dimension, where Darkseid quickly conquered it while waiting to break out into our universe. The Guardians covered up this war to all future Lanterns, which is why Hal's ring couldn't decipher who the aliens were. J'onn tells them that the parademons are systematically attacking cities to set up portals, called Boom Tubes, that will move Apokalips into Earth space, destroying the Earth in the process. J'onn went into a dormant state following his race's extinction, but after sensing that the rift between the two dimensions was growing weaker, he left for Earth, taking on the John Jones identity in Gotham to help humanity should Darkseid emerge.

        The heroes travel to Metropolis, where Darkseid himself comes out of a Boom Tube to oversee Apokalip's transfer to our dimension. A wave of parademons descend on the city, but Aquaman arrives to help turn the tide, having decided to aid the surface world. When GL makes fun of Aquaman's powers, he summons an army of sharks and a giant squid to cripple Darkseid's fleet from the coast, and uses his water hand to create water bursts and summon a trident out of hard water to fight. Back in Central City, Wally witnesses the battle on TV and races off to help his uncle. He arrives in Metropolis, and Barry reluctantly allows him to fight. Darkseid witnesses the eight heroes crippling his army and descends to battle them personally. He decimates the heroes, bringing them all to their knees.

        After crippling the heroes, Darkseid returns to the Boom Tube and retrieves an Apokaliptian device, one that when activated will enlarge the Boom Tube to envelope the entire planet, destroying it so Apokalips can materialize in its place. Batman realizes they need to take out that device and formulates a strategy to do so. J'onn will telepathically scramble Darkseid's mind while Supes, WW, Aquaman and GL gain up on him. The Flashes will retrieve the device and work with Batman to disarm it before it activates and destroys the planet. The plan goes smoothly until they realize that the device cannot be deactivated. Batman comes up with a back-up plan: reverse the flow of the Boom Tube so Darkseid and the device are sucked into it before the device goes off. In order to do this, the Boom Tube needs to have its vibrational frequency reversed, something only a speedster could do without advanced equipment.

         Wally volunteers, but before he can do anything Barry takes off. Darkseid disables J'onn, allowing him to gain the upper hand over WW, GL and Aquaman until he's engaged in a one-on-one fight with Superman. Barry runs around the world a couple of times and approaches light speed, and is surprised to find Wally running almost as fast in an attempt to catch up with him. Barry tells Wally he can't run that fast, but dares him to try and says "Tag, you're it." Converting into pure energy, Barry hits Darkseid with a powerful concussive force and knocks the tyrant to his knees. Barry then reverses the vibration of his molecules and merges with the Boom Tube, reversing its polarity and causing it to suck in anything in its path. The device, the parademons, and finally Darkseid are sucked into the portal, with Darkseid warning that he will return. The Boom Tube becomes unstable and collapses.

          The heroes emerge victorious, but Wally is in a state of shock at Barry's sacrifice. After seeing the heroes in action, the public comes to wildly embrace them. When faced with the press, Wally decides to stand in for his uncle when he finds his Flash costume, and becomes the new Flash. Superman speaks on behalf of the heroes and declares their intent to react against any threat too big for one hero to face alone. He names them the Justice League. All the heroes secretly mourn Barry's loss and his true heroism, but also embrace Wally as the new Flash. They put aside their differences and absolve to remain a team. Batman has Wayne Enterprises' aeronautics division fund a space station to act as the League's base, and names it the Watchtower. The film ends with the heroes looking down on Earth, before rushing into battle when the satellite picks up a giant alien starfish-like creature attacking the planet.