'Justice League' must battle film critics as well as villains

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For the cast of the forthcoming "Justice League" film, saving Metropolis and Gotham City from the clutches of super-villains is difficult enough to handle, but, this time, they also face another equally-terrifying foe: Film critics.

The film is the latest installment of the DC comics Extended Universe, a series which, with the notable exception of this summer's "Wonder Woman", has met with a less than positive critical response and has failed to match the box office of rival Marvel’s cinematic offerings.

A poster of the film "Justice League". /Handout Photo

The film features a host of major DC characters and box office stars including Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman and Ezra Miller as the Flash.

Gadot won both critical plaudits and box office success for "Wonder Woman", which was directed by Patty Jenkins, and she is confident that the experience from that film helped her reprise the character in "Justice League".

"I had almost no transition from Wonder Woman because I finished Wonder Woman and the next day I went to set to start working on Justice League," she told Reuters.

The cast poses for photographers at the Justice League photocall, at The College, in London. /Reuters Photo

"I was already in the character and I only had to serve the story and the context of every scene and just, you know, be there and serve the director’s vision."

Momoa was hopeful for the film’s prospects, telling Reuters "I really hope that the fans enjoy what Zack [Snyder] and I have done with Aquaman."

The film's predecessor, 2016's "Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice," grossed just over 870 million US dollars at the global box office according to film revenue website Box Office Mojo, but received a 27 percent rating on film review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

The cast poses for photographers at the Justice League photocall, at The College, in London. /Reuters Photo‍

Another recent entry in the DC franchise, 2016's "Suicide Squad," opened to an equally poor critical reception, but took around 745 million US dollars at the global box office.

While both totals are not insubstantial, they are dwarfed by Marvel's big hits: 2012's "The Avengers" and 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron," which took 1.5 billion and 1.4 billon dollars respectively.

Audiences in 2017 however warmed to "Wonder Woman," which grossed over 80 million dollars more at the US box office than "Dawn of Justice," as well at proving a hit with critics, garnering a 92 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

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Source(s): Reuters