JUSTICE LEAGUE MORTAL Photos Reveal Hugh Keays-Byrne's Monstrous Martian Manhunter

Some new behind-the-scenes photos from George Miller's long-defunct Justice League Mortal have been shared online, revealing our best look yet at the late Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter...

By MarkCassidy - Aug 21, 2024 10:08 AM EST

Filed Under: Justice League

Out of all the comic book movies that have failed to see the light of day over the years, George Miller's Justice League Mortal remains the most talked-about.

The Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa director's take on DC Comics' iconic super-team came very close to shooting after assembling a cast that included D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Armie Hammer as Batman, and Megan Gale as Wonder Woman.

The project was well into pre-production when the plug was pulled due to the writers strike, and we've seen quite a bit of low-quality concept art and behind-the-scenes photos doing the rounds online over the years.

Now, Ryan Unicomb - who was heading-up the now scrapped documentary about Justice League Mortal - has shared what might be our clearest look yet at one of the actors in full costume.

Late Australian actor Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played Immortan Joe in Fury Road, was cast as J’onn J’onzz in the movie, and these shots reveal how he would have looked in full prosthetics as a somewhat monstrous take on the heroic Martian Manhunter.

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Jay Baruchel, who was set to play the villainous Maxwell Lord, revealed just how close cameras came to rolling in a 2017 interview.

“They had all the costume design. They had all of the pre-vis. They had all of the sort of production design figured out, and so they would take us and walk us through this command center where they had everything. The aesthetic choices that they were making and the story and character choices they were making are so ballsy, and we won’t ever see it.”

The actor also described what sounds like it would have been a brutal fight between Wonder Woman and Superman, who was being mind-controlled by Lord.

“All of a sudden this guy’s got Superman as a weapon. I turn him into full red eye Superman, and then there’s this big ass fight between him and Wonder Woman, where he breaks her f*cking wrists and s*it."

“The first time you see Wonder Woman, the opening scene on Themyscira, it was just her. It’s her on top of a steed … and she stood about half a kilometer away from a Minotaur. The Minotaur has a battle-ax in his hand and she just rushes him. All the Amazons are there cheering her on, and she just beheads him. Gets off her steed … holds up the Minotaur thing and doesn’t say a goddamned thing. It’s like, ‘That’s the Wonder Woman I want to see!’ It would have been special.”

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79 Comments

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HermanM - 8/21/2024, 10:34 AM

I wish this movie was made over what we got. It is infinitely better than the snyderverse in pretty much every imaginable way.

SummersEssex - 8/21/2024, 10:38 AM

@HermanM - K

Lisa89 - 8/21/2024, 10:40 AM

@HermanM - Derp.

Odekahn - 8/21/2024, 10:48 AM

@HermanM - I’m glad it didn’t get made. Choosing to put John Stewart in place of Hal Jordan had me completely disinterested. I was so happy when this dog fecal matter got canned.

PatientXero - 8/21/2024, 10:57 AM

@Odekahn - So you didn’t like the Justice League cartoon?

TheClungerine - 8/21/2024, 11:00 AM

@HermanM - suits look better than what we're about to get🤣

HermanM - 8/21/2024, 11:51 AM

@Odekahn - Common as John was good casting, and John only works as a supporting character, so I'd have been fine with it.

As a solo GL movie, it has to be Hal or Kyle.

Odekahn - 8/21/2024, 12:44 PM

@PatientXero - it was ok. Would have been better with Hal. He’s my favorite character in all of comics so to see him snubbed for Stewart due to DEI reasons soured it for me.

Odekahn - 8/21/2024, 12:46 PM

@HermanM - Don’t care about Common. Didn’t want the character. I wanted to see the greatest GL Hal Jordan on the big screen for the first time. Don’t want Kyle either, honestly. Not as the sole GL or a movie or team. I’m good with the upcoming Max show, because Hal is in it.

And before anyone asks, no I didn’t like the 2011 movie either.

TheLobster - 8/21/2024, 2:48 PM

@HermanM - while I disagree about this being better than anything in the Snyderverse but I do really wish this was made. I

ObserverIO - 8/21/2024, 3:20 PM

@HermanM - At the time I didn't want it to get made, despite having read and loved an early draft of the script, because I thought it was a bad move strategically to just dive into a JL movie without building up to it with solo movies first and the fact that they would have been introducing a second non-canon Batman while Nolan's Dark Knight movies were still coming out.

But after what happened with the Snyderverse, I would much rather we had George Miller's Justice League than the Justice League movie we ended up getting.

DrDReturns - 8/21/2024, 9:10 PM

@HermanM - Based on?...

PatientXero - 8/21/2024, 9:48 PM

@Odekahn - that wasn’t DEI. It was bcuz the people making it liked Stewart bcuz of the cartoon. He’s a great lantern.

PatientXero - 8/21/2024, 9:54 PM

@Odekahn - kumail nanjiani being booster gold is DEI

Odekahn - 8/21/2024, 10:04 PM

@PatientXero - I’m saying the DEI was putting Stewart in the early 2000’s Justice League cartoon. I wasn’t talking about the movie being DEI.

PatientXero - 8/21/2024, 10:09 PM

@Odekahn - You’re still wrong. Stewart was a great lantern b4 the show. Of course a black person helping make the show would gravitate towards that character.

HermanM - 8/21/2024, 11:17 PM

@DrDReturns - everything we knew about it

Highflyer - 8/22/2024, 3:53 AM

@HermanM - Ok, let's not get crazy now,

Odekahn - 8/22/2024, 8:14 AM

@PatientXero - No, I’m not wrong. Stewart wasn’t even popular back then, at all. They changed his history (in the show) from architect to military man to try make him more interesting. And I’m interviews regarding the show, one of the black show makers stated the reason he was chosen was because he was black.

RegularPoochie - 8/23/2024, 7:43 AM

@TheClungerine - doubt, because we haven't even seen the suits yet, lol Yes the corporation ones we have, but not their own suits.

TheClungerine - 8/23/2024, 8:38 AM

@RegularPoochie - I've seen superman's and it's trash 🗑 🤣

RegularPoochie - 8/23/2024, 2:20 PM

@TheClungerine - Yeah you saw a movie that stopped filming few week ago, what ever you say chief, lmfao.

TheClungerine - 8/23/2024, 2:44 PM

@RegularPoochie - lol bro you said 'we haven't seen the suits' we have seen superman's suit though 🤣 I never claimed to see the movie.

RegularPoochie - 8/23/2024, 2:50 PM

@TheClungerine - those are not their ownd' suits ffs, the Supes one is also corporation suit. Come back when you'll see the movie and be amazed, I've been right about many things here unlike MTTS who Josh uses. Nobody just doesn't ask me if I actually know something, lmfao.

TheClungerine - 8/23/2024, 4:08 PM

@RegularPoochie - 🤣 we shall see! And leave MTTSH alone! 🤬

RegularPoochie - 8/23/2024, 4:33 PM

@TheClungerine - MTTSH is a joke, so are his nuthuggers and for more than anything! Yes, we will see that I'm right.

RegularPoochie - 8/23/2024, 4:34 PM

@TheClungerine - Also I wanna add that GoT, I said on reddit that they are making Aegon's Conquest even before it was confirmed, soooooo there you go.

TheClungerine - 8/23/2024, 5:42 PM

@RegularPoochie -

RegularPoochie - 8/23/2024, 6:01 PM

@TheClungerine - You better, come back then and don't go radio silent like some of the users here. I marked this also.

TheClungerine - 8/23/2024, 6:59 PM

@RegularPoochie - I will always be here sir! You can count on that 🤣

RegularPoochie - 8/24/2024, 1:20 AM

@TheClungerine - This is the way! I'll eat my crow always if the time comes and admit I was wrong. People here just usually blocks you, or ignores you. lol.

WEAPONXOXOXO - 8/21/2024, 10:37 AM

Not as scary as this.

SonOfAGif - 8/21/2024, 12:22 PM

@WEAPONXOXOXO - Hereeeeeeees Raygun!

dracula - 8/21/2024, 10:39 AM

Between this and Snyder

this is still the best Jonn has ever looked

Spidey91 - 8/21/2024, 10:40 AM

It's as if Shrek did the fusion dance with handsome Squidward and the result had thyroid problems

Apophis71 - 8/21/2024, 11:25 AM

@Spidey91 - I was thinking more 80's Dr Who meets Flash Gordon tbh but that works too.

SonOfAGif - 8/21/2024, 10:40 AM

Typical Fallout Super Mutant.

Se4M4NSt4ine - 8/21/2024, 12:45 PM

@SonOfAGif - exactly what I came to say.

Spoken - 8/21/2024, 10:42 AM

bobevanz - 8/21/2024, 10:45 AM

Only stupid morons think this would have been anything but dogshit

1 2

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