The DCU is helping DC Comics to reach new level of popularity, which the publisher has desperately needed. While there was once a time when DC was the home of pop culture’s most popular superheroes, Marvel took that spot thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Starting in 2008, Marvel Studios began building up their new cinematic universe with Iron Man, ending it with a tease of things to come: the building of the Avengers. The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 2,and Thor all came next, building inexorably to 2012’s The Avengers. For an entire generation of moviegoers, the movie became a watershed moment, when everything came together and they realized just how cool Marvel’s superheroes could be.
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While the DCU has its fans and has had its moments, it’s still missing its Avengers moment. However, there is a comic that could honestly be used as the basis for it. It comes from the Justice League, the team that the Avengers was created to ape, more specifically the late ’90s run of Scottish scribe Grant Morrison and artist Howard Porter. The two of them made the League a huge deal again over the course of their run and it all culminated in what could be considered the ultimate superhero story: “World War III”. Much like The Avengers, the story only worked because it was the culmination of years of work and could give the DCU the moment they need to become titans.
“World War III” Was the Justice League’s Greatest Test
Grant Morrison is the greatest team book writer in, at least, the modern era of comics, if not of all time. Sure, Gardner Fox, Chris Claremont, Roy Thomas, and Gerry Conway should all be in the conversation, but Morrison has given readers what are the three best team books of all time – Doom Patrol, New X-Men, and JLA.JLA came in 1996; the League had been falling from prominence for almost the entirety of the ’90s, to the extent that they were a non-entity. This was the team that inspired Martin Goodman to restart Marvel’s superhero books back in the ’60s; it deserved better and Morrison gave that to them.
The Justice League had amazing adventures, building a reputation for the biggest battles in the history of comics, starring the greatest heroes in DC history. JLA brought back the original Big Seven line-up of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter and put them in the biggest adventures imaginable. Morrison threw the White Martians, a new version of the Legion of Doom in the Injustice Gang, a legion of fallen angels, the Demons Three, the Key, and the greatest threats you could imagine at the team.
Morrison wanted to bring back the big action that had defined the League in the ’60s and ’70s and was able to deliver. Porter was the perfect artist for the book, bringing the widescreen action of the book to life beautifully. It was the perfect flagship book, a comic that was the summation of everything great about DC in the late ’90s. It was also, somewhat, a precursor to the modern comic run in a lot of ways. Nowadays, a run is long-form story told by a creative team consisting of shorter stories that add up to an ultimate showdown at the end.
This wasn’t the case in the ’90s; there were long-term story arcs back then, but usually if the book was successful, the creative team would stay onboard and start a new one. Morrison started laying the seeds of “World War III” in from the beginning with the White Martians, while also introducing the idea of the powers of the Old World still existing in stories like “World War III”. In DC cosmology, the current iteration of reality is called the Fourth World, with the Worlds that came before it ending in massive battles between the Old Gods. They gave readers an ominous name – Mageddon – and built things from there.
“World War III” was when readers learned the truth behind the massive gods and Wonderworld when Mageddon finally made its appearance, just as the Injustice Gang were unleashing a new army of White Martians on the Earth. Their attack was influenced by Mageddon; part of its weapon systems was to turn those around more violent, making them kill each other while it killed them. They learned that it was an living weapon of the Old Gods, created to end the final war, and even the heroes of the DC Universe couldn’t even make a dent in it.
All of JLA had built up to this moment; Morrison and Porter had constantly been upping the ante of action in the book. By the end of their run, you could believe that the only weapon that could challenge the team was a universe-ending living machine made to destroy gods. It was the perfect culmination of their time with the team and it ended in the most utopian way imaginable – with the team using the Purple Ray to make everyone on Earth into metahumans, joining their powers together to stop the weapon. It was the ultimate act of unity to battle the very personification of hatred, which is the most Justice League moment you can imagine.
JLAdefined the Justice League in the ’90s and “World War III” is a flawless example of everything amazing about the book. It truly captured the majesty of the Justice League, showing them facing the kind of threat they were made for. It ends with the biggest feel good moment you could imagine. Put it up on the big screen and you get the ultimate crowd-pleasing modern classic. The best part is, DC Studios can build up to this with very little work.
“World War III” Could Give the DCU Its Avengers Moment
One of the reasons the MCU worked so well, and why the DCEU failed, is because they built everything up perfectly. They could have jumped the gun and made the Avengers movie quickly and it honestly might have even popular, but it wouldn’t have been a billion-dollar success. The build-up was the key, which is something that DC Studios needs to remember. So far, it looks like they are going in that sort of direction and they need to start thinking about what story they’re going to use as the culmination of their films.
“World War III” is honestly the perfect story for that. While there’s a big chance that they’re going to go with something that is Darkseid-centric, “World War III” has everything they need. It has the big moments, it has classic DC villains like Lex Luthor and Hector Hammond, and it has plot lines that could be seeded throughout the movies, giving fans those big moments that made The Avengers so cool. “World War III” would give the DCU Avengers momentum, allowing them to become a pop culture juggernaut.
What do you think about “World War III”? Would it work as a big culminating moment for the DCU? Sound off in the comment section below.
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