Headscratchers / Justice League: War

• Why didn't Victor's team just kick a field goal? They needed just ONE point to win, and they seemed very close to the endzone. Going for a touchdown seems needlessly risky.
  • Well, the answer that immediately comes to mind is "writers can't into sports".
  • Maybe he just wanted to show off.
  • Maybe their kicker's really bad and everyone else was even worse.
  • Billy described the play as Victor throwing the ball 43 yards. For a high school kicker, that's a long ways.
    • Which would be a 60 yard FG, which is a extreme challenge for even NFL kickers.
  • Rule of Drama: Touchdowns have more dramatic potential than field goals.
• How is it that the Green Lantern ring didn't recognize Apocalypse tech? Moreover, it's bad enough that "World's Greatest Detective" Batman immediately jumped to the conclusion of "Hey it's alien, gotta have something to do with this other alien on the planet" but how did Green Lantern, a person responsible for protecting thousands of species, agree?
  • Explained (by Word of God/implication) in the comics at least with Apokolips residing outside the main DC universes; the ring couldn't recognize the Apokolips tech because it wasn't from that universe
  • And Batman as well. Its quite clear the gadget is alien, he knows of an alien. Therefore he might have better knowledge of what it could be than an earthling.
  • My question is: So the ring can't identify the mother box at all. But Batman's handheld scanner immediately tells him it's a sort computer? How's it outperforming a Green Lantern ring?
  • In fairness, "some sort of computer" is hardly more specific. The Ring might also have picked up on that, but no one said because it was information that had already been determined and it was unnecessary to repeat it.
  • Hal is still learning the limits of his space cop powers and expected his ring to tell him exactly what it was. Because it's reactions are based on his focus if it didn't find that it would be able to tell him anything. Plus as mentioned in this case Apokolips is from outside the Universe rather then a planet inside it so the Guardians wouldn't have run across it before if this was their first incursion into this particular universe.
• How come Hal doesn't know who Bruce Wayne is?
  • Didn't you see the end of The Dark Knight Rises? Nobody knows who Bruce Wayne is, or else he would have needed some kind of disguise.
  • It's possible Hal doesn't keep up with things in the business sector, even if it involves a corporation as big as Wayne Enterprises.
    • He could also be busy with other matters in the rest of the sector to keep up with things.
  • It's never made clear in any medium exactly how famous Bruce Wayne actually is. Go look at the Forbes 100 list (something Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen and Lex Luthor are all almost definitely on in-universe) how many of those individuals would you recognize on sight? How many are even names you recognize? If Bruce Wayne is as famous as most low billion, high millionaires are (he's never been depicted as the richest man on Earth or even particularly rich as big business owners go.) it's entirely plausible that 90% of the population has little knowledge of who he is or what he looks like. Undercover Boss works on the concept that most business owners could walk right into their store in a t-shirt and jeans and nobody would blink. In addition to that Green Lanterns are literally Space Cops and could be excused for not paying a lot of attention to Earth celebrities and certainly not Earth riches. They visit planets where the paupers live better than Bruce.
  • Meanwhile, Superman is a journalist who has probably written a story or two that involved Wayne Enterprises or Bruce himself to some extent, so he'd be more likely to recognize him.
  • Except Bruce goes out of his way to be an Millionaire Playboy who's always in the papers to cover his role as Batman.
    • Hal like many people must not read the vapid tabloid magazines then.
• Why exactly was Superman fighting Batman in their first meet- up? Even though the duo have never formally met, Superman is immursed in current events, or at least as much as the average person. This is evidenced by Superman recognizing Bruce's face on sight. So, wouldn't Superman recognize Batman (through tv or otherwise) and try to reason with him instead of, I don't know, slamming him into some slabs of concrete?
  • In the New 52, before the Justice League happened, Batman was an urban legend who many assumed was either not real, a psychopath, a vampire or something along these lines. His good deeds were overshadowed by the mysterious way he does thing and the fear he inspires in the populace. Superman would have no reason to trust Batman and Green Lantern, especially considering they attacked first and were carrying the same box as the parademon he just fought.
  • Why? But then again, the film portrays Superman as Dumb Muscle whom the characters call "their big gun".
  • Batman and Green Lantern assumed the mysterious alien tech was connected to Superman as he was the biggest known alien on the planet. Green Lantern picked a fight pretty much as soon as they and since they showed up with a copy of the weird tech that has been showing up across the globe Superman assumed their involvement. Not exactly bad assumptions on either side if not for Green Lantern not yet having gotten the whole teamwork thing down so far. So Superman fought in self defense after they picked a fight with him.
• How was Captain Marvel able to introduce himself to the group as "Shazam" and not trigger his transformation lightning?
  • The New 52 changed his name to Shazam, thus changing the rules of the word.
  • The same way a fantasy wizard can say the name of a spell without actually casting it, intentions are everything with magic.
• Why was Diana selected as a diplomat when she's incapable of following the simplest laws of the country she's visiting and threatening everyone she sees with a sword?
  • It's the New 52, everyone probably sees that as normal behavior.
  • There isn't exactly another person from Paradise Island around at the moment and giving Diana diplomatic immunity will probably keep her out of prison.
• What's the deal with the personalities of the Justice League in this movie? Cyborg and Batman seem like the only serious and mature heroes. The rest of them act like high school teenagers. Even Wonder Woman comes off child-like at times. Shazam I can forgive since he IS a kid. It feels like I'm watching a bunch of teenagers fight an intergalactic threat.
  • It's the New 52. Everyone's a Jerkass.
  • Superman is used to being the most powerful being in the room, Wonder Woman is following more of her bloodknight tendencies, Green Lantern is a space cop and slightly full of himself over it, and Flash uses humor as a coping mechanism for stress along with a generally relaxed personality.
• I know most of what happened in The Flashpoint Paradox was erased from the timeline, but shouldn't Batman and The Flash still know each other? They met in the post-Flashpoint timeline at the end of that movie, so why do the act like this movie is their first meeting? We know that this is the same continuity because of the Parademon in The Stinger of The Flashpoint Paradox, so did Barry and Batman forget who each other were?
  • Simple answer? The last scene of The Flashpoint Paradox happens after the events of this film.
• After Shazam uses his transforming lightning to power up the Motherbox, why didn't he immediately turn back into Billy? Sure, he's back to Billy a few seconds later when falling through the air, but we clearly see him reel back after the lightning has finished and he's still in his Shazam form.