justice league

As we enter 2017, DC Entertainment is keen to get the hype machine fired up for ‘Justice League‘. There is, after all, a lot riding on this film, even more so in the wake of the decidedly mixed audience responses to both ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘ and ‘Suicide Squad‘.

The studio’s latest effort on that front is a still image from the film that was released through the latest issue of ‘Empire Magazine’. This image can be seen as a companion of sorts to last summer’s San Diego Comic Con trailer as it is apparently drawn from a scene glimpse toward the end of that preview. In the trailer, however, we only see this still-incomplete version of the team from behind as Batman leads them into action. Here, though, we see our heroes from the front, suited up and ready to go.

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Of course, there is one notable question raised by the image: Where are Aquaman and Superman? As the trailer showed Bruce Wayne recruiting the soon-to-be Justice League members (with a particular focus on Aquaman), it’s possible that he simply hasn’t been introduced by this point in the film, or that he will prove a more reluctant member of the team than, say, the Flash. As for Superman, the promotion of ‘Justice League’ so far has been oddly evasive where the Last Son of Krypton is concerned. While this makes sense to some degree, given his death at the climax of ‘Batman v Superman’, it’s not as if the producers and studio have shied away from acknowledging his presence in the film (indeed, the last shot of ‘Batman v Superman’ even teased an imminent resurrection). Could this be building to a big reveal or a twist of some sort?

Directed by Zack Snyder, ‘Justice League’ is set to serve as the flagship entry in DC’s burgeoning cinematic universe. The film will feature returning stars Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jeremy Irons, Amy Adams and Jesse Eisenberg alongside a wave of newcomers that includes Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Amber Heard, Ciaran Hinds,  and J.K. Simmons. The film will arrive in theaters on November 17, 2017.

Before then, DC fans will also have a chance to catch up with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman when her eponymous film hits theaters on June 2, 2017.