If the writers, producers and directors of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice think THEY have problems balancing such a large cast, wait till Warner Brothers gets a load of Legion of Super-Heroes. Just going down the roster, I have a hard time telling who should and who shouldn’t be in the movie. I thought I could do a top ten, but NO WAY! Even if some only get brief cameos, a large cast is a must.
The real truth is a large cast is what made LEGION a unique comic in the first place. Of course, let’s not take away from it the myriad of worlds to visit, the X-Men-like catalog of super abilities and a cast of villains with great stories just waiting to be scripted. I don’t envy any of the screen writers who got handed the task of trying to control an army of essential characters. I think it has to do with the fact that each member is so iatrical to function of the team. There are no useless characters. They all bring something important to the mission.
Everybody has their favorite characters, so I’ll try and make this brief. But this, I believe, is the foundation of what makes a good Legion story.
FIRST: The founding members!
To bring this group of young intergalactic super heroes to the big screen, you have to start at the beginning. Probably begin with Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad saving the millionaire sun manufacturer, R. J. Brande, from assassins. He, then, will become inspired to finance their endeavors and expand their dream of a LEGION of super heroes to protect the galaxy. This will lead to cameos and tryouts. There will be a handful of characters that will get most of the screen time. This will be all according to what mission they undertake. But, no matter the task, the founding members have to be there at the forefront; maybe three teams all on separate missions that become all the same mission. My choices for missions and/or villains later.
Name: Rokk Krinn
Planet of Origin: Braal
Power: Control of Electro Magnetic waves
Super cool fact: Cosmic Boy has always been portrayed as the LEGION’s first leader, although they regularly voted and chose new leaders which kept the comic fresh.
Name: Garth Ranzz
Planet of Origin: WInath
Power: Electricity generation and manipulation; limited weather control
Super cool fact: Early on, Lightning Lad sacrificed himself to save his teammate. He was later revived.
Name: Imra Ardeen
Planet of Origin: Titanian
Powers: Telepathy
Super cool fact: Yes, Saturn Girl actually comes from one of the moons of our neighbor, Saturn; thus the name.
Fourthly, the resident Einstein is essential for all of the futuristic technical jargon and explanations. This is the 30th century, and we expect the technology to be through the roof. Think Star Trek on crack. One of the allures of LEGION is the reality of all the gadgets and science that we only dream of. It is the essence of sci-fi. It is the kind of world we dream of with cures for cancer and flying cars. One part of the mission has to bring him into play. He never has to leave headquarters, just chime in every once in a while and show off that big brain of his!
Name: Querl Dox
Planet of Origin: Colu
Power: 12th level Intelligence
Super cool fact: You read his name correctly. He claims to be the great, great grandson of the original Superman baddie, Braniac.
I have decided not to do these in any particular order. So, the next character would come in handy in infiltrating and confusing the enemy. A shape shifter is always in high demand and can look awesome in transition much like Mystique in the X-Men movies. Chameleon Boy is also one of the first Legionnaires to take on a complete alien look. Brainiac was green, true. But Chameleon Boy had antenna and was orange.
Name: Reep Daggle
Planet of Origin: Durla
Power: Shape shifting
Super Cool fact: In one continuity, he was found to be the son of Legion financier, R. J. Brande, who was actually a Durlan who was frozen in human form.
Next up comes the muscle. Every team needs a strong arm. Especially one that is invulnerable, has heat vision…did we tell you he was Krytonian? Well, actually sort of. There’s an elaborate story that dates back to Superboy #89 printed in June of 1961 who premeired a man with similar powers to Superman. He was retconned into MON-EL who still had Krypton like powers, but lead was poisonous to him like Kyptonite to Superman. Either MON-El or similar superman Ultraboy would do in this capacity. Both would be cool, but a little redundant.
Name: Lar Gand
Planet of Origin: Daxam
Power: Superhuman speed, strength, endurance with invulnerability and a healing factor.
Super Cool fact: What? Being almost identical to Superman wasn’t enough?
Name: Jo Nah
Planet of Origin: Rimbor
Power: Same as Mon-El plus ‘flash vision’ and ‘penta-Vision’
Super cool fact: Ultra Boy can only access one power at a time, which would make him fun to write.
What story doesn’t need a pretty girl? Well, how about a pretty girl who has precognitive dreams? Once again, we have a character that doesn’t have to be everywhere or do a lot. She can stay at HQ or maybe just have a cameo where she makes a powerful prediction of the fate of the Legion. I would make it one that plays out over the course of the trilogy. Plan big, I always say.
Name: Nura Nal Schnappin
Planet of Origin: Naltor
Power: Precognitive Dreams
Super cool fact: Dream Girl first got involved with the Legion after receiving a dream that predicted many of the Legion’s death. She, of course, set out to save them (great plot device here…hey, do I have to write this myself?)
Next up, you need a couple. An honest to God couple. Not a love interest, but a solid, commited duo that gives some stability to the group. And that couple should be Bouncing Boy and his lady love, called either Duo Damsel or Triplicate Girl. This gives us a chance to show off a non-typical body type as both a hero and a love interest. Believe me, you will receive multitudes of kudos for this one.
Name: Charles Foster Taine
Planet of Origin: Earth (Finally!)
Powers: Inflatable body and Limited invulnerability (Mostly while bouncing)
Super cool fact: He’s an Earthling, for starters! But, he wasn’t born with his powers.
He got them after drinking a ‘super plastic formula’ that he thought was soda pop.
Name: Luornu Durgo
Planet of Origin: Cargg
Power: Able to divide into three separate bodies
Super cool fact: One of her duplicates was actually killed by one of Brainiac 5’s creations. That’s when she started going by Duo Damsel. She had a trauma because of that and could not confront the villain ever.
Other Legion favorites all are possible: Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Shrinking Violet, Colossal Boy, Star Boy, Night Girl, Phantom Girl and Matter Eating Lad (Needs a Cameo at least!).
To top off the must haves, though, you have to include some of these late comers to the LEGION scene. Most of these are known for their uniquely alien look and personalities.
Name: Dawnstar
Planet or Place of origin: Star Haven
Power: Flight (Superluminal) and long range tracking
Super Cool fact: She has no codename and actually comes from a race descended from 13th century Anasazi Indians abducted by aliens.
Timberwolf
Name: Brin Londo
Planet of Origin: Zuun
Power: Superhuman strength, speed and agility; Sharp claws (Projectiles), enhanced senses and rapid healing.
Super cool fact: In one reboot, he was reduced to being no more than a big dog.
Name: Drake Burrough
Planet of Origin: Earth
Power: Composed of ‘anti-energy’ he had super strength, flight, energy blasts and manipulation.
Super cool fact: The editor’s of the comic held elections to determine who led the Legion. He was vastly popular with the fans and won by a landslide.
Name: Ti’julk Mr’asz
Planet of Origin: ?
Power: Created teleportation ‘gates’
Super cool fact: Easily one of the most alien looking of the Legion. One of only three ‘non-biped’ members (Tellus and Quislet are the other two) and the only unwilling member. He was drafted.
Name: Ganglios
Planet of Origin: Hykraius
Power: Telepathy/Telekinesis
Super Cool fact: After many years of service, it was found that he had joined the quasi-religious cult and enemy to the Legion, DARK CIRCLE.
Name: Unpronounceable
Planet of origin: Teall in an alternate dimension
Power: Possession and animation of inanimate objects.
Super cool fact: Quislet was a microscopic energy being who flew around in a tiny spaceship. He not only lacked a body, but gender as well.
Like I said, I wish the screenwriter well, for although I’ve always wanted to write Legion of Super-Heroes, I don’t want to be anywhere near the writing of the screenplay. Good luck and I can’t wait.
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