That does appear to have been the plan for the DCEU, at least to begin with. In February 2015, Snyder tweeted out the first image of Jason Momoa’s new-age Aquaman, which came plastered with the text “UNITE THE SEVEN”. This was the laying down of the gauntlet; Justice League would feature a whopping seven founding members. Except it doesn’t. What happened?

Why Did DC Drop “Unite the Seven”?

To understand why things changed, we need to refresh what state Justice League was when Snyder proclaimed he was going to “Unite the Seven” in the first place. Attempts at making a movie about JLA had been on Warner Bros. mind throughout the 2000s, with a George Miller version only not happening due to the Writer’s Strike and, later, various franchise-boosting hopes pinned on The Dark Knight Trilogy and Green Lantern. The version we’re getting was finally put in motion in 2013, when Man of Steel made way for a shared universe expansion, with David S. Goyer hired to write both direct sequel Batman v Superman and the resulting team-up.

By early 2015, Batman v Superman had become Dawn of Justice, introducing not just the titular heroes and Wonder Woman, but also seeding Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg. Having wrapped both principal photography and its reshoots, when Snyder tweeted out the offending Aquaman photo and tagline, the film was in the edit, and the script for Justice League (now expanded to be a two-parter) seriously coming together care of Chris Terrio.

Of course, as we all know, the plans for Justice League have changed a lot since these early development days; it went from two films to one in the wake of Batman v Superman’s critical drubbing and obviously more recently underwent substantial rewrites and reshoots under Joss Whedon. But while these are major talking points, when it comes to “Unite the Seven” the adjustment come much earlier; by the time of the first proper trailer in March 2017 and the phrasing shift to “Unite the League”, we’d not had the “Seven” vernacular used in two years.

It seems evident that at some point in the early development of Justice League, there were going to be seven heroes, but this was undone well before Batman v Superman hit; due to the tightness of production turnaround (actors were straight on the team-up pretty much after press for Dawn of Justice was over) anything further would require the casting and subsequent dropping an actor. What it is, then, is a sign of franchise hubris; announcing plans (in this case specific character ones) so far in advance that there’s an inevitable change.

The whole thing may be to do with Superman. As it became apparent his return would dominate the movie, it may have been deemed overstretching to bring in another character, especially one who, going by the missing heroes, would have been somewhat similar in type to the Kryptonian. We know from the marketing that Warner Bros. changed their mind regarding Superman once (they started off with Superman front-and-center then pivoted to try and hide him), why not twice?

With the reasoning explained, though, it’s time to look at who that seventh could have been.

Was Green Lantern The Seventh?

Assuming there was a seventh member, there’s really only one true candidate: Green Lantern. He’s the most built-up character yet to appear and would fit best in the current make-up of the team. While it’s unclear when the eventual Lantern Corps film will arrive, we know they are a pre-existing part of world thanks to the Justice League trailers (Steppenwolf mentions Lanterns) and, further, during the Dawn of Justice League TV special Geoff Johns basically presented the character as the final member. After all, he is the seventh in the DC Films logo.

Of course, none of that says the plan was to debut in Justice League itself, especially as we’re just six years on from the disaster of the Ryan Reynolds-fronted Green Lantern movie; the initial 2020 date felt like Warners were holding off to let the DC brand grow and associated distaste with the character dissipate. However, there have been plentiful rumors of Green Lantern joining the DCEU in Batman v Superman or Justice League and, while it should be noted leak culture is not always reliable (as seen by the recent reveal a popular Planet Hulk scoop was pure hokum), it would make sense for some of this to originate from a genuine source.

There are a few other contenders, of course: Martian Manhunter was another founding member, so can’t be fully discounted, although he’s definitely the original teammate with the least mainstream recognition and is currently used up by Supergirl; and Shazam, given his always-intended debut in 2019, would have made sense also. Yet neither of these has quite the expectation as Green Lantern, Hal or otherwise, nor such a complex mythology that would actually make them worth cutting to upset a previous set plan.

Does It Really Refer to the Seven Seas?

But, there is another, alternative reading to “Unite the Seven” that’s been lurking ever since criticisms of the overt forward planning years ago. According to some, “Seven” doesn’t really relate to the Justice League at all, but instead Aquaman and the seven seas; it’s a nod to his destiny as the King of Atlantis, perhaps a very early signal from Snyder that this Arthur Curry was yet to fully take on his iconic comic mantle. That’s why it was only used for his reveal! And, given the evident importance of the seas to his arc in the upcoming Aquaman movie, it’s got some credence.

However, that all falls apart when you have a more rational justification for it (which we’ve already discussed at length) and more specifically a reason why it would first appear for Momoa. He was the fourth member of the League to be revealed, but the first non-Trinity member without a major part in Dawn of Justice. It was a signal of the expansion from versus film to team-up, and the language reflects that; it’s not about a fight between two, it’s about uniting the seven.

Or six.

Next: Justice League Review: DC Films Rebirth Has Begun

  • Wonder Woman 2 Release Date: 2020-12-25 Aquaman Release Date: 2018-12-21 Justice League Release Date: 2017-11-17 Shazam! Release Date: 2019-04-05