The Superman (2025) teaser trailer has taken the world by storm. Fans have been waiting with bated breath since it was announced that James Gunn – praised for his Guardians of the Galaxytrilogy – was going to be writing and directing the newest cinematic installment of the Man of Steel, and this trailer proved it’s been worth the wait. Upon his announcement of the new DC film slate, Gunn immediately gave fans a list of comics that he would be using as inspiration, which included All-Star Superman. However, looking at the different DC characters appearing in Superman (2025), and taking into account Gunn’s previous superhero works, there’s another book that fans may also want to look into: Justice League International.
Justice League International took the Justice League formula – combining the greatest heroes of the DC Universe in one book – and tweaked it. Writers J.M. DeMatteis and the late Keith Giffen populated the team with second- and third-string heroes, and with the help of artist Kevin Maguire’s expressive pencils, created what would be known as the “Bwa-Ha-Ha Era” of the Justice League. Several major characters from the Justice League International run – Guy Gardner, Metamorpho, and Maxwell Lord – are slated to appear in Superman (2025), and the book’s style of character interactions and humor all scream Gunn.
The Justice League International spun out of the 1986 DC event comic called Legends. It was the first major DC crossover since the company rebooted its universe with Crisis on Infinite Earths. Darkseid attacked the Earth using a monster called Brimstone, and a group of heroes came together to help save day, becoming the newest incarnation of the Justice League. They next appeared in Justice League (Vol. 1) #1, which saw the new team – League mainstays Batman, Martian Manhunter, and Black Canary along with new members Shazam, Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Doctor Fate, Doctor Light, Mister Miracle, Fire, and Ice – come together for the first time, funded by smarmy ’80s stereotype Maxwell Lord.
Giffen and DeMatteis immediately let readers know what kind of book they were in for. While the group battled enemies like the Champions of Angor, the Soviet Rocket Red Corps, and the Royal Flush Gang, the team’s defining moment came in the fifth issue. Guy Gardner, a big-mouthed frat boy type of person, mouthed off continually and eventually started in on Batman. The Caped Crusader was having none of that, and knocked Guy out with one punch. This moment became something of a meme with DC fans and in-universe, the phrase “one punch” becoming legendary.
Justice League became Justice League International with issue seven, and the book’s tone was set. New members would join the team, other members would leave, and a core group would be formed – Elongated Man and his wife Sue, Rocket Red, Fire, Ice, Gardner, Captain Atom, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and Maxwell Lord. Previous Justice League comics were known for multiverse-shaking action, but Justice League International went another way, becoming a comedic soap opera of the various personalities on the team. Cliques formed within the team – the flamboyant Fire became best friends with the innocent Ice; Booster Gold and Blue Beetle were the perfect comedic duo, their bickering and schemes leading to hijinks; Elongated Man and Sue are the loving “normal” couple at the center of it all; and Maxwell Lord is on his own – later joined by the long-suffering robot L-Ron – funding the whole thing, the epitome of slimy ’80s businessmen.
While the team has its share of major battles – their fights against the Kalanorian warlord Despero are brutal – the humor and character development are the keys to the whole book. Readers were fine watching the group just hanging out at the Justice League Embassy, fighting among themselves, and gelling as a familial unit.
Even today, the friendships between Fire and Ice and Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are some of DC’s most beloved relationships. Guy Gardner and Ice’s eventual relationship was the ultimate mismatch, but Giffen and DeMatteis sold it. Recurring characters like the hapless Green Lantern G’Nort and intergalactic warlord Manga Khan became secondary cast members, adding to the book’s comedic insanity. All of this was rendered perfectly by Maguire. The artist’s mastery of facial expressions and his page layouts made all the jokes land beautifully. There hasn’t been a book like it since, and the only people who have ever replicated it were … DeMatteis, Giffen, and Maguire, when they returned to the team for two mid-2000s stories: Formerly Known as the Justice League and I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League.
Gunn’s style in projects like Super, the Guardians of the Galaxymovies, Peacemaker, and Creature Commandos is basically Justice League International. He’s a master of taking groups of heroes with huge, conflicting personalities and building them into family, one bounded by bickering, insults, and deep love. The Justice League International may have fought among themselves, but much like the Guardians of the Galaxy or Peacemaker’s team, they formed unbreakable bonds. Justice League International has some great fights, just like Gunn films, but watching them grow as a unit and as people are the things that make the book so addictive.
Superman isn’t going to be a slapstick superhero comedic soap opera, but Justice League International‘s DNA will always be there. Maxwell Lord’s place in the movie seems like it could be similar to the comics – a wealthy person working with superheroes – and Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner exudes the same kind of attitude in the trailer that comic fans are used to. Where the movie and the comic are really going to overlap is the way they use humor and character, the two most important weapons in Justice League International and Gunn’s other works. Reading Justice League International will show fans looking forward to Superman (2025) what DC can look like when under the control of creators that look at superheroes the same way as James Gunn does.
The Superman (2025) teaser trailer has taken the world by storm. Fans have been waiting with bated breath since it was announced that James Gunn – praised for his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy – was going to be writing and directing the newest cinematic installment of the Man of Steel, and this trailer proved Read More