The original Justice League script has leaked online – and it's about as close to fan fiction as a comic book movie is going to get.
The Wrap obtained a 2011 draft of the film that was written by Aquaman writer Will Beall.
It's worth noting that the script draft was written before the DCEU really kicked off with 2013's Man of Steel, so it pre-dates the likes of 2012's The Avengers and even Christopher Nolan's final Batman film The Dark Knight Rises, which was released in 2012.
But still, had Beall's script got the green light, Justice League could have been one of the most ambitious superhero movies of its time, and here are just some of the details that we could have seen in the most expensive movie that never was.
Cast
Some of the major DC characters we would have seen in the film would have included Abel Terrant (Tattooed Man), Copperhead, Barbara Minerva (Cheetah) and Solomon Grundy, as well as Green Lantern John Stewart and Slade Wilson (Deathstroke).
The script also included the revelation that Batman and Wonder Woman have a son together in the future called Clark Wayne, and would also have briefly featured Killer Croc and Amanda Waller from Suicide Squad...
...which, we probably would have loved.
The full role call of DC heroes and villains in Beall's script includes: Darkseid, Steppenwolf, Batman, Superman, KGBeast, Lex Luthor, Killer Croc, Darkseid's disciple Desaad, Flash, Amanda Waller, King Faraday, Tattooed Man, Copperhead, Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, John Stewart, Hawkman, Kanjar Ro, Wonder Woman, Katma Tui, Kilowag, Guy Gardner, Salakk, Tomar-Re, Deathstroke, Huntress, Captain Boomerang, and Mercy Graves.
Phew. And we thought Infinity War was ambitious.
Villain
Unlike the actual Justice League we now have, Beall's draft makes Darkseid, the master of evil, the main villain in his script, with Steppenwolf featuring when he kidnaps Superman at the end of the first act.
Lex Luthor also features in the script as a surprising member of Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman's future resistance against Darkseid.
Setting
Beall's script opens on Darkseid's hellish planet, Apokolips, and would take the adventure across several well-known comics locations, including Metropolis, Themyscira, Central City and Green Lantern headquarters OA, as well as featuring an action sequence between Green Lantern John Stewart and Hawkman in "deep space".
As for the time setting, the script goes back and forth between the present and 11 years in the future, mainly thanks to the existence of Darkseid's Boom Tube.
Plot
And if you've followed up until this point, this is where it gets really complicated.
According to The Wrap, the story opens with Killer Croc being killed by one of Darkseid's minions after stealing Kryptonite that Luthor has just tried to buy from KGBeast.
Allies Batman and Superman then try and recruit The Flash but Superman is ultimately kidnapped by Steppenwolf and the Parademons and taken back to Apokolips.
This leads Batman to travel to Themyscira to recruit former romantic partner Wonder Woman to his mission, and they both go back to his Batcave to meet with The Flash and Green Lantern, only for Green Lantern John Stewart to later return to OA to find the entire Lantern Corps has been massacred by Darkseid.
By this point we're about halfway through the script, which is when Darkseid invades Earth with help from a brainwashed Superman, and Batman and Superman battle (just like in Dawn of Justice) before Diana manages to un-brainwash Superman and he rejoins the Justice League.
And then this is where the time travel comes in.
Superman travels through a Boom Tube and finds himself 11 years in the future, where Darkseid has destroyed 80% of the world's population and Bruce Wayne and Diana are leading a human resistance against the villain.
With Future Batman leading a dozen fighters known as Batman's Berzerkers, Future Lex Luthor figures out how to send Barry Allen back in time to before Darkseid's invasion to warn of what's to come, prompting present Diana, Bruce, Barry and Green Lantern to travel to Apokolips and stop Superman's brainwashing.
Cue the final battle sequence between the Justice League and Darkseid to protect Earth, and the final revelation that Future Lex Luthor informs his past self that Superman is Clark Kent.
Phew.
Confused? So are we. But we're sure it would have looked epic on screen regardless.
Justice League is out in cinemas now.
