Justin Marks Escapes "Super Max"
Wed, August 12, 2009 
Through all of the ups and downs with some of the film related DC projects, I have been most intrigued by the endless possibilities of the Justin Marks penned "Super Max". I've been able to survive the premature evisceration that was "Justice League: Mortal", the trial by jury that has become Superman on film, and the gossip girl style misinformation spewing out in regards to a Batman sequel, by holding on to the hope that "Super Max" might actually happen. Think about it, Green Arrow has been placed behind bars and needs the help of the very villains he has helped to put there to escape. What DC fan wouldn't want to see The Joker, Lex Luthor, The Riddler, and other villains on screen at the same time?
At one point last year this script had tremendous "buzz" behind it with then flavor of the month screenwriter Justin Marks was the center of the attention. After not hearing as much as a whisper in regards to the project for the past year MTV got the chance to speak to David Goyer about the project. "We're working on that. We're about to bring on another writer," Goyer told MTV News. "It's definitely something we're developing." To me this project makes a lot of sense for WB. You are basically shooting in one location which might help to keep the costs down, and by marketing the Joker and Lex Luthor it could make for a profitable venture. I honestly don't think we'll see this project on screen, but I certainly hope it makes it to the executives most wanted list.
Reader Comments (5)
I'm going to have to disagree with you on one thing Peter. I'd keep the well known villains from past movies the hell out of this (unless they were little, barely make them out cameos). This premise is the perfect vehicle for lesser villains who aren't good enough to headline any other movie. They could even get creative and make up some new villains. Batman the animated series created Harley Quinn and now she's part of the comic continuity.
But man, if there's one development cliche I'm getting sick of it's the old "the script is getting great buzz, several months later it gets a new writer" bull. The word "buzz" should be stricken from the English language. Or at the very least, the definition in the dictionary should be changed to:
Buzz: deception or cover-up designed to create illusion of excitment over supposedly superb script which is so good that, rather than being immediately filmed, will be held up and rewritten several times and most probably never made.
Jamie loves the word buzz. Ask him about it, he can't get enough.
The problem with lesser villians is they won't help to carry the film. If you are advertising Riddler, Joker, and Lex I think it will add some weight to the project. Green Arrow alone won't do it. I think you can expose as many villians as you want. The big ones I am pointing to and the lesser knowns as well.
It's the high concept idea that sells it (for me anyway). I've always pictured it as a 'Die Hard' kind of action film but, for the first time, with a superhero in the main role. Just get a great ensemble cast of actors to sell it.
Don't forget, if you put Joker and Lex in there, people start to get confused about the continuity of the films. DC surely want to start doing the same as Marvel Studios.
Let me look into my crystal ball six months down the line where we are all wondering what happened to the work that was going into this project. It's the WB. Rinse and repeat.
I enjoyed this script. Lots of cool cameos Lex and Jokers were minor. I skimmed it again recently and think with some polishing it could be a great script and movie. It's also a nice deviation from the typical origin story. While I'm not expecting anything to come of it, I hope to be proven wrong.