Happy Christmas to all.
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Tuesday
"Well, there it is. Superman: The Sequel," I said, staring at the finished script on screen.
"Honestly, I didn't think we'd finish it this week, but hey we did it."
Scott, who was on the phone, grinned. "Yes, we did."
Man of Tomorrow was finally done.
I stood up from my desk, stretching my legs and rolling my shoulders. A deep yawn escaped as I walked over to the window and looked outside. The sun was setting.
The view from my office was stunning. The house sat on a hill secluded, private but from here you could see the city skyline in the distance. The lights were just beginning to flicker on as dusk settled in, and the sky was painted in shades of orange, pink, and purple. It was quiet. Peaceful. Beautiful.
Fuck, have I been here the entire day? I thought.
My back hurt, and I was hungry. I glanced at my phone, which was sitting face-down on the desk. Four missed calls from Margot all from around noon.
Oh, fuck.
"How long have we been at this?" I asked.
Scott checked his watch. "I think... like seven hours. Yeah, seven hours."
"I lost all track of time," I said, rubbing my face.
Scott chuckled. "Well, that's what happens when you're having fun."
I laughed. "I guess you're right."
And writing with Scott was fun I wouldn't lie about that. I mean, we had completed this script in three months. That was a record for us. It had taken a year to write Justice League, even though the writing sessions had been sporadic.
"I'm gonna miss writing with you," Scott said.
"Well, the DCU isn't over yet," I said. "We can do more in the future."
Scott raised an eyebrow. "Justice League 2, then?"
"Yes!" I said.
We shared a laugh.
Before we finished up, we went over the script one more time, skimming through key scenes and making sure everything was where we wanted it to be before sending it out to the studio. Man of Tomorrow would explore Superman dealing with a threat related to his origins among the stars. Brainiac, whom we had teased in the first movie, would be the main villain. The same supporting characters would return his parents, Lois, Jimmy, Lex, and more.
The other major character would be Supergirl, whom I was very excited to introduce. If all went well, she'd have her own movie in 2020 or 2021.
"I actually like the idea of Elle Fanning as Supergirl," Scott said.
I hummed. "Well, nothing's set in stone yet."
"She's part of the final five," I added.
Scott leaned back in his chair. "I think it's best to pick someone with experience, you know? Someone recognizable."
I nodded, considering it.
The final five included Elle, newcomers Milly Alcock and Meg Donnelly, Lily Reinhart, and Samara Weaving someone I'd known personally.
So far, I wasn't sure who to choose. Everyone on the list was the right age. Elle would be good, like Scott said. Margot, since she was friends with Samara, had been trying to influence me to pick her. But honestly, she was kind of last on my list.
"Alright, let's call it quits," I said. "I'll see you next week."
Scott nodded. "Before you go any update on what we discussed?"
I paused. "I think it's best if we talk about that next week, face to face."
Scott nodded. "Fair enough. Have a good evening, Daniel."
"You too, Scott."
The call ended.
"Okay, now what?" I muttered to myself.
Get something to eat, I thought, hearing the sounds coming from my stomach.
"Yes. That," I said aloud, as if confirming the plan with myself.
I walked out of my office and headed downstairs, wondering if Margot was home yet.
As I descended the stairs, I heard movement in the kitchen. And then I smelled it food.
I quickened my pace.
When I reached the kitchen, I saw Margot unpacking something from a bag.
"Is that—?" I started.
She looked up with a smile. "I figured you wouldn't have eaten anything, since you were writing with Scott all day. So I ordered some burgers from your favorite place."
I almost squealed with happiness as I saw the familiar logo on the bag.
"You are the best girlfriend ever," I said, walking over and pulling her into a kiss.
She laughed against my lips. "I know."
I pulled back, grinning, and immediately began unwrapping the burger. The first bite was heaven perfectly cooked, juicy, exactly what I needed after seven hours of writing.
"Oh my God," I mumbled through the mouthful. "This is perfect."
Margot leaned against the counter, watching me with an amused smile. "You're welcome."
I swallowed, then looked at her seriously. "Marry me."
She raised an eyebrow with a bit of shock showing on her face which turned to amusement. "This better not be how you propose to me."
I grinned, teasing. "Oh, so you've been expecting it?"
She narrowed her eyes.
"Don't worry," I said, still grinning. "This is not it." I paused, then added, "But imagine if this was it."
She shook her head. "You're ridiculous."
"Ridiculously in love with you," I said, grinning like an idiot.
She smacked me on the head and walked away with a grin of her own.
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Wednesday
"I think we're clear in 2017," I said, taking a sip of coffee as I talked to Kevin Feige on the phone.
"Which is great for us, we finally get May for Civil War," Kevin said.
"Well, Kevin, we took May for our own a long time ago. Remember when you gave it up?"
"Yes, unfortunately," he said with a chuckle.
"Okay, let's go over the ones we decided on," I said, pulling up the list.
"December 8, 2017 Justice League."
"Yep," Kevin said.
"Then the next one is March 9, 2018 Black Widow."
"Yep."
"Then May 4, 2018 Man of Tomorrow."
"Excited to see this one."
"And here comes the issue," I said.
"Right," Kevin said, his tone shifting slightly. "June 29, 2018 Spider-Man: Homecoming. And then July 20, 2018 Wonder Woman 2."
There was a pause.
"Well, what are we going to do about it?" Kevin asked.
"Move Spider-Man to June 15. That gives a five-week gap. That's fair, I believe."
Kevin hesitated. "We want you to move Wonder Woman back by a week as well."
"We can't do that," I said firmly. "The theaters won't allow it. We've already locked in July 20."
"Daniel—"
"Kevin, we're not moving Wonder Woman. The date is set."
There was a pause. Then Kevin sighed. "OK, I guess we'll have to move Spider-Man to June 8?"
"June 8. That gives us six weeks between our movies. That works."
"Deal," Kevin said.
We continued.
"Thor: Ragnarok is on October 5," Kevin said. "So we want Suicide Squad to be released on November 16, which is a week after you were planning."
I nodded. "I can accept that."
The only movie big enough after that is the last Star Wars movie or whatever it's going to be called which releases in December 2018.
"Good," Kevin said.
We continued on and reached something we couldn't come to terms with.
"February 15, 2019 Black Panther. And March 8, 2019 Aquaman 2."
Kevin groaned. "Daniel, those are way too close."
"I know," I said. "But those dates will stay. I'm sure it'll affect both box offices, but neither of us is budging on this."
"Agreed," Kevin said reluctantly.
Then came the big one.
"April 6, 2019 Avengers: Infinity War."
"May 24, 2019 World's Finest."
I paused, then grinned. "I think it's perfect."
Kevin laughed. "The only ones we decided on perfectly."
"Yep," I said.
The next three movies were perfect. No changes were needed.
"July 12, 2019 The Flash 2."
"August 16, 2019 Ant-Man and the Wasp."
"November 8, 2019 Green Lantern 2."
Then Kevin made an offer.
"We'd be willing to pull Black Panther back by two weeks and release it on February 2… if you leave the May 2020 slot to Part 2 of Infinity War."
I paused, considering.
Kevin continued, his tone serious. "This is our biggest movie, Daniel. And we'll be willing to make big changes in the future if a DC event movie like this is near one of ours. But this… this is nonnegotiable for us."
I thought about it.
Endgame was going to be massive. I knew that. And honestly, we didn't have anything planned for May 2020 yet.
"Alright," I said. "Deal."
Kevin exhaled, clearly relieved. "Thank you."
"Well, I think we're in for a profitable three years," Kevin said.
"That we are," I agreed.
"I'm looking forward to all the movies," Kevin added. "Especially Justice League and World's Finest."
"How did the Disney top brass react to the announcements?" I asked.
Kevin chuckled. "They think you copied our Civil War with World's Finest."
We both laughed.
"Many are very threatened by the number of movies you're putting out," Kevin continued. "But this will make most of them happy. Our relationship is what's keeping me in the job, partly."
"Well, I hope we can keep this going," I said.
I then invited him to the Batman Pt. 3 world premiere.
He happily accepted.
We ended the call.
I immediately texted Dave the new dates.
He texted back: Good job.
I leaned back on the couch in my office at Midas, feeling very sleepy.
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Thursday
"David is a good choice," I said to Dave and the others as we waited for the director we wanted for World's Finest to show up.
Victor leaned forward. "I know you've worked with Mr. Leitch before, but can he handle a movie like this?"
"Yes," I said confidently. "You've seen John Wick, right? He directed that with Chad Stahelski."
Dave nodded. "I think he'd be good."
"Look, David is very interested," I continued. "And I think, considering the tone we're going for with the movie, he would be great."
Victor gestured toward me. "Take the lead on this."
Victor was here mainly because he was the one who picked the director for World's Finest. I didn't really complain since the man he picked, and wooed into this, was George fucking Miller himself.
Apparently George had wanted to do a Justice League movie in the early 2000s, which fell through. Victor contacted him about the opportunity to direct World's Finest, and he immediately jumped on it.
George was enjoying the DCU very much and, according to Victor, was a big fan of mine. One of the main reasons he accepted was because of how Dave and I operated DC Studios and how much freedom directors were given to express themselves in the movies.
To be honest, a George Miller World's Finest would simply be one of the best in the DCU. And I was going to write it. Working with Miller was a dream come true for me.
The door opened, and George Miller walked in.
He greeted everyone with a firm handshake and a smile.
"George!" Victor said, standing to shake his hand. "Good to see you."
"Victor," George replied warmly. "Thank you for having me."
Dave stepped forward next. "Mr. Miller. It's an honor."
"The honor is mine," George said.
Then he turned to me.
I stood, extending my hand. "Mr. Miller. It's an honor to meet you."
He shook my hand firmly, his smile widening. "The honor is mine, Mr. Adler. I've enjoyed all your movies. I wanted to meet you this year, but we missed each other at the Oscars, and I am glad to finally meet you."
"I've been a fan of your work for years," I said.
"Well," George said with a grin, "I guess we're both fans of each other, then."
We all sat down.
George talked about his vision for World's Finest how he saw it as a clash of ideologies, a story about two very different men learning to trust each other and become true friends in the face of an existential threat.
I nodded along, already feeling the ideas forming in my mind.
By the end of the meeting, George had officially agreed to direct.
"I'm excited to work with you on writing the movie, Daniel," he said, looking directly at me.
"I can't wait to start on this," I replied.
George smiled. "Neither can I."
As we wrapped up, Victor leaned back in his chair, clearly satisfied. "Well, gentlemen, I think we've just begun making something special."
I couldn't help but agree. My writing had gotten very good. George Miller directing. Henry and Jensen. Superman and Batman. World's Finest.
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Friday
"I have been in this chair for five hours," Sterling said as he stood up, finally finished putting on the prosthetics needed to portray the Martian Manhunter.
"Well, we tried to make it as comfortable as possible," I said. "So how is it?"
Sterling shifted slightly, testing the range of motion. "Oh, it's very comfortable. But the makeup time is... let's say."
"Comes with the job, my friend," I said with a grin.
Sterling laughed a little; the makeup made it slightly difficult.
The prosthetic work was extensive. Sterling's face was covered in carefully sculpted pieces that gave him the Martian Manhunter's distinctive ridged brow, high cheekbones, and alien bone structure. The prosthetics would be overlaid with CGI in post-production to bring the Manhunter fully to life adding depth to the skin texture, making his eyes glow red when needed, and enhancing the overall alien appearance while keeping Sterling's performance visible underneath.
We walked to where the photos were being taken. I could see Brad checking on Jensen , who was in his full Batman suit, along with Henry, Grant, Alan, and Damson.
Jensen 's suit was different now, looking very similar to the suit I remembered from Batman: Arkham Knight. I'd had Caleb design it that way: sleek, armored, with reinforced plating and a more tactical design. It looked like a suit Batman would use in an alien invasion, a Batman now suited to fighting more fantastical villains.
Speaking of Caleb, he was now telling off Grant for getting some dust on his new suit which was simply an upgraded outfit for a more experienced Barry Allen. Damson wore the same suit he'd used for filming Green Lanterns. Alan was wearing the same outfit he'd used in the Aquaman movie Atlas's golden armor. And finally, Henry wore the same suit from Superman… no changes.
I walked in with Sterling and heard Caleb say to Brad, "The suit is perfect. No changes needed."
Brad pointed to the blades on Batman's gauntlets. "Look at these. They need to be black."
Caleb disagreed and then asked the others, especially Jensen "I'm gonna be honest, Brad. The steel look is good."
Henry disagreed. "Black is needed to blend in."
The others didn't even join the conversation; they backed off and came near me when they saw Sterling.
Damson grinned. "So he's finally here."
Alan looked Sterling up and down. "That does not look comfortable."
Grant agreed. "Yeah, man."
Sterling chuckled. "Oh, it's very comfortable." He then added, "I do have an issue with the face, though."
"We'll fix that next week," I said. "Don't worry."
Sterling nodded.
The argument between the steel look and the black look was still going on until Alexandra walked in in her new Wonder Woman suit, which basically stopped everyone in the room.
She did the Wonder Woman spin, cape flaring out, and everyone laughed. Just as she'd wanted, I'd made it more comic-accurate.
She wore the iconic red corset-style armor with a golden eagle emblem across the chest. A gold belt wrapped around her waist. Her shorts featured the classic blue with white stars a nod to her vintage design but the cut was more practical for movement, resembling Greek armor. She wore knee-high red boots with white trim and armored segments. On her forearms were her silver bracelets. She wore a tiara that gleamed in the light. And finally, a red cape with a gold interior lining. It wasn't really needed for the suit and wouldn't be in the movie a lot only in some scenes but I'd added it because it looked cool.
Henry broke the silence. "Okay, you have us all beat."
Even Jensen ' I have the best suit' Ackles agreed.
Alexandra smiled, hands on her hips. "Thank our boss over there for making it happen."
"No need to thank me," I said, grinning.
Soon, pictures began to be taken as some of Brad's requested adjustments were made. Caleb, annoyed, took notes on what Brad wanted.
Henry was a bit sad he didn't get a new suit. He'd even gotten excited when I told him about the Kingdom Come suit we'd made for the first movie, but he knew we couldn't just use that. I promised him an upgrade in World's Finest, which was definitely needed.
By the end of it all, a group photo was taken. The seven of them stood together Henry, Jensen , Alexandra, Grant, Alan, Damson, and Sterling all in full costume.
The Justice League.
Now, as pre-production came to an end, the first filming would begin in September. That was something I would give my complete attention to.
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Saturday
I woke up.
It was Saturday.
The bed felt nice warm, soft, exactly where I wanted to be. But that didn't last long as I remembered I had to go to Midas for a meeting. I reached over and grabbed my phone from the nightstand, squinting at the screen.
Yep. Meeting at 11 a.m. with Paul.
I groaned softly.
Margot was cuddled next to me, still half-asleep. As I started to sit up, she stirred and murmured
"Where are you going?"
"I have a meeting… Paul for—"
She interrupted, reaching over and taking the phone from my hands. Without even looking at me, she started typing.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
She finished typing and hit send. "There. Now come back to sleep."
I blinked, then glanced at the phone she'd placed back on the nightstand. She'd messaged Graves: Cancel all appointments today.
I looked at Margot. She was already settling back into the pillows, eyes closed, a small, satisfied smile on her face.
I simply shrugged. "Alright then."
I lay back down, pulled the covers over us, and wrapped my arm around her.
After the week I'd had, I deserved this.