Justice League’s original screenwriter Will Beall has finally talked about his original concept and revealed the classic movie that inspired it. Beall was brought on by Warner Bros. to pen the script forJustice Leaguein the summer of 2012, hot off his script forGangster Squadand a year out from the release ofMan of Steel. Beall then began penning a script for aJustice Leaguemovie before audience reactions toMan of Steelhad even come out, and was one of the earliest creative voices in shaping the franchise.
Beall’s latest script is for Netflix movieBeverly Hills Cop: Axel F., and while promoting the movie, he also spoke a bit about his original script forJustice Leagueduring an interview withThe Wrap. Beall says that his script had a lot in common with the filmBack to the Future Part II,as the film’s second act would focus on the team in the post-apocalyptic future needing to team up, likely to go back in time and prevent the Darkseid future invasion from happening.
Justice League
Steppenwolf and his Parademons return after eons to capture Earth. However, Batman seeks the help of Wonder Woman to recruit and assemble Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman to fight the powerful new enemy.
This script element would be worked into Snyder’s version, but as the final moments that teased a sequel rather than as a central part of the film’s plot. Beall said:
“I did a very early draft of ‘Justice League.’ Some of it found its way into the Snyder cut. I was delighted that I could help. The biggest difference with mine, I think, was that much of the second act was that little sort of coda that was on the Snyder cut, where it’s this post-apocalyptic sort of dream sequence or flash forward, and there’s good guys and bad guys, they’re forced to team up. Much of my second act was taken up with that. My version of it owed a lot to Back to the Future II.”
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Shortly after the release ofMan of Steel, Beall’s script was scrapped in favor of bringing in David S. Goyer to help Zack Snyder shape bothBatman V. Superman: Dawn of JusticeandJustice League. By April 2014, writer Chris Terrio came on board to rewrite the former movie and write its follow-up. Snyder and Terriro eventually developed a three-film plan forJustice League, taking Beall’s idea for a future setJustice Leaguestory and teasing that inBatman V. Superman: Dawn of JusticeandJustice Leaguebefore having it bethe main setting ofJustice League 3.
In the movie’s theatrical cut, the two credited screenwriters are Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon, who were brought in to do rewrites and reshoots by Warner Bros. following Snyder’s original departure from the project. At the same time, Terrio and Snyder received a story by credit. However, forZack Snyder’s Justice League, due to the major inclusion of the future post-apocalyptic sequence at the end of the movie and Whedon’s material being stripped out, Beall gets a “story by” credit alongside Snyder and Terriro, with Terrio getting the sole screenwriter credit in that cut of the movie.
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While Warner Bros. scrapped Beall’s script forJustice League, he remained in the DC Universe. He was brought on board to help writeAquaman,with Beall getting a “story by” credit with Geoff Johns and James Wan and sharing a screenplay credit with David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick.Aquamanwould later go on to gross $1 billion at the worldwide box officeand is, to this day, the highest-grossing film based on DC Comics at the worldwide box office.
2024 has also been a great year for Beall. He is the co-writer ofBad Boys: Ride or Diealongside Chris Bremner.Bad Boys: Ride or Diehas been a box office hit and was amuch-needed win for the summer movie box officeafter a month of disappointing opening weekends. NowBeverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which he co-wrote alongside Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, has finally arrived on Netflix and looks to be getting positive reaction from fans of the franchise. You can check out the trailer forBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Fbelow.
