DC Quietly Solved James Gunn’s Biggest Justice League Problem 30 Years Ago

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Even though only one movie and two TV shows featuring the Justice League have been released so far, fans are eagerly anticipating the team’s official introduction in the new DC Universe. Creating the right story for this iconic group of heroes might be the biggest challenge James Gunn and Peter Safran face as heads of DC Studios.

James Gunn has plenty of great Justice League stories and villains to choose from for inspiration. However, the real challenge is finding a story that fits his vision for the DC Universe. He needs a threat that feels significant, but with a villain audiences already understand, without needing a long backstory.

Luckily, DC Comics has already created the perfect story for Gunn to pull from: 1996’s Final Night.

Final Night Focuses On The Heroes

James Gunn’s superhero films are known for their exciting action, but he truly excels at creating compelling character relationships. He has a remarkable talent for taking characters with long histories and making them feel both familiar and relevant to today’s audiences. A key to his success is focusing on a small, central group of characters.

The Guardians of the Galaxy films primarily focus on the Guardians themselves. While the villains are substantial, they aren’t developed as deeply as characters like Rocket or Peter Quill. The movies truly revolve around the Guardians and their relationships, with the villains serving mainly to drive the plot.

In Superman, James Gunn gives Lex Luthor a more developed role than any of the villains in Guardians of the Galaxy. While focusing on a core group, the film centers on Superman, with Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, and Mister Terrific playing significant supporting roles. Characters like Jimmy Olsen and the Engineer appear, but aren’t as fleshed out as those four central figures.

James Gunn is now featuring Lex Luthor as a main character, similar to how Nebula’s role expanded in the second Guardians of the Galaxy film. Although Brainiac will be the villain in the upcoming Superman movie, the central conflict will revolve around the dynamic between Lex Luthor and Superman.

The DC event story, Final Night, prioritizes character development over large-scale action, aligning with James Gunn’s storytelling preferences. Instead of featuring a typical supervillain, the story centers on themes of survival and how characters work together.

Final Night Is About Heroics, Just Like Gunn’s Superman

In the graphic novel Final Night, by Karl Kessel and Stuart Immonen, a star-eating alien called the Sun-Eater plunges Earth into darkness by consuming the sun. This creature isn’t malicious, it simply needs to eat stars to live. Now, the world’s heroes have only five days to restore sunlight, or all life on Earth will be extinguished.

While heroes struggle to contain the widespread destruction, the world’s greatest minds, including Lex Luthor, collaborate on a fix. Their efforts ultimately fail, but just when hope is lost, Hal Jordan, manifesting as Parallax, restores the sun at the cost of his own life.

Final Night presents a challenging situation for DC’s heroes – one where there’s no easy victory. The story focuses not on their physical abilities, but on their courage and dedication to helping others, even at personal cost. This idea of selfless heroism is a recurring theme in James Gunn’s work.

Throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy films, characters repeatedly make the ultimate sacrifice for their teammates – Groot in the first, Yondu in the second, and the entire team willing to do so for Rocket in the third. Similarly, in Superman, the hero surrenders himself to save his dog, Krypto, and a kind food vendor, Mali, tragically dies while helping him. The story in Final Night follows this same pattern of selfless sacrifice.

Some Changes Would Need To Be Made To Final Night For The DCU, But The Bones Are Solid

While the story ‘Final Night’ doesn’t center around the Justice League’s formation, it could easily be adapted to do so. The story’s core themes of heroism, hope, and teamwork in the face of overwhelming odds naturally lend themselves to a narrative about the League uniting for the very first time.

The story could be adjusted to fit the direction James Gunn seems to be taking with the DC Universe. We already know from Season 2 of Peacemaker that Rick Flag Sr. wants to eliminate all metahumans. However, dealing with a threat like the Sun-Eater would likely make him realize why metahumans are essential for protecting the world.

The upcoming event, Final Night, has the potential to connect the different storylines within the DC Universe. While shows like Superman, Peacemaker, and Creature Commandos have focused on Earth-based stories, Supergirl will introduce cosmic elements, and Lanterns will expand on them. Final Night, centered around a dangerous but not malicious creature—reminiscent of the monsters in Superman—can serve as a link between these grounded and cosmic narratives.

Then you have the story of Hal Jordan, a famous Green Lantern who had become a villain. Final Night was a key part of his complicated path. He sacrificed himself during the story, which transformed him into the Spectre. Eventually, he returned to life and rejoined the Green Lanterns.

It’s probably too early in the first Justice League movie to explore Hal Jordan’s complicated past in detail. However, it’s a good time for him to make a heroic sacrifice. He can be a true hero, rather than a villain seeking forgiveness. Plus, with John Stewart also established in the DC Universe, there’s still a Green Lantern available to join the Justice League.

While perhaps not as famous as some other DC events, ‘Final Night’ distinguished itself through its unique portrayal of heroes. Now, with James Gunn aiming to create a DC universe distinct from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, revisiting this story could be a great way to demonstrate just how different DC can be.

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2026-02-26 17:12