25 Major 80s Stars Gets As Imagined As Justice League Heroes & Villains In DC Cast Concept Trailer

Iconic 1980s actors join forces as several Justice League heroes and villains in a new DC Universe concept trailer. The superhero and comic book films may be big in today’s Hollywood culture, but before the 2000s era, studios were very cautious with investing time and money into franchises like the DCEU movie timeline and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This more reserved approach naturally raises the question of what the superhero genre could have looked like pre-2000s if there had been interconnected universes for either DC or Marvel.

While there were a handful of DC movies in the 1980s and the 1990s, Stryder HD shared a new concept trailer for a very different DC Universe, that explored what the superhero landscape could’ve been like had casting for a Justice League movie happened in the 80s. The Justice League fan trailer also pitches various 1980s actors as some iconic DC Comics villains.

The Justice League concept teaser explores what heroes would be part of the ideal line-up, as well as many of their supporting characters. Some of the actors brought up in the video did end up landing big DC and Marvel roles, like Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Jonathan and Martha Kent in Man of Steel, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox in The Dark Knight trilogy, and Wesley Snipes as the first live-action Blade.

DCU’s Elseworlds Label Makes A Retro Justice League Movie Possible

Even though James Gunn’s DC Universe will be the main priority for Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios, they also have another banner that could theoretically make a Justice League movie with an 80s setting. With the Elseworlds concept, there will still be independent DC stories set in their own worlds, without clashing with the main DC Universe timeline. Right now, Todd Phillips’ Joker and Matt Reeves’ The Batman universes are the only active Elseworlds properties that exist.

However, in the coming years, once the DC Universe has gotten properly setup, it would be fun to see another corner of the DC multiverse where the Justice League perhaps became active all the way back in the 80s. There are plenty of stories from old school comics that could be adapted for that specific time setting which would be a compelling contrast to whatever is happening in Gunn’s DC Universe. If handled correctly, a retro Justice League movie could work really well in the ongoing comic book film landscape, and would be a fascinating opportunity for a live-action or animated movie.

It would definitely be interesting to see who DC Studios would cast for an 80s-based Justice League project. The bigger twist would be if that Justice League were to ever cross paths with the team that will eventually be born in the DC Universe. But for now, the world will have to wait and see how the Justice League shapes up to be in the DC Universe, as well as in potentially other live-action universes.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Director Zack Snyder’s initial vision for Justice League follows Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), the Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) as they battle to prevent the forces of New God Steppenwolf from conquering Earth. The Snyder cut of the film differs significantly from the theatrically released original, including numerous additional story elements and sequences that were later cut from the film. 

Release Date

March 18, 2021

Studio(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures , Access Entertainment , Dune Entertainment , DC Films , Atlas Entertainment , The Stone Quarry

Distributor(s)

Max , Warner Bros. Pictures

Cast

Ben Affleck , Henry Cavill , Amy Adams , Gal Gadot , Ray Fisher , Jason Momoa , Ezra Miller , Jesse Eisenberg , Jeremy Irons , J.K. Simmons , Willem Dafoe

Runtime

242 Minutes

Budget

$70 Million

Source: Stryder HD/YouTube