[Peter Suderman]
Jeffrey Overstreet and
Peter Chattaway are both dismayed by the rumor that Hayden Christensen, otherwise
known as Stephen Glass, might play Superman in George Miller's upcoming
Justice League film. In fact, they're more than dismayed. Chattaway wants the project to just go away entirely.
I'm not sure the casting Christensen, if confirmed, would be particularly good news, but I don't see why this project ought to be sunk. Yes, it's low on star power, but the first
X-Men film showed you could make a fine superhero picture without any A-list performers. (Hugh Jackman, an unknown at the time, was catapulted to his current status by that film's success.) And I'd rather see
something made rather than nothing at all. More than that, I'm just curious what would happen if you gave the director of
Mad Max and
The Road Warrior $100 million and said "Go make a superhero movie!" Sure, it might be terrible; but it might not be either -- directors who start doing gonzo, low-budget genre films have a history of coming through on
big-budget projects. Just look what happened when the guy behind
Army of Darkness was put in charge of
Spider-Man. Miller's got a great eye for action and archetypal characters (Max was essentially a comic book anti-hero). I see no reason not to give him the chance on this one.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/03/why-not-justice-league/3154/