Justice League: Go behind the scenes of Zack Snyder's superhero mash-up

When Bruce Wayne breaks into Barry Allen’s hideout, he’s expecting to recruit a superhero. But when Ben Affleck first met Ezra Miller, he didn’t know what to expect. “Ezra came from the most improvisational [place], funny, light,“ Affleck says. “Batman’s definitely the darkest, most serious, most somber of the heroes. It was a lot of fun for me, because I got to play sort of the straight man to him. Batman’s a great straight man.“

Entertainment Weekly’s The Ultimate Guide to Justice League, going behind the scenes of the upcoming movie and into the origin stories of the League’s members, is on sale now.

Gal Gadot describes Wonder Woman’s relationship with Bruce Wayne as tolerant co-parents. “They are the mature ones, the adults of the team,” she says. Offscreen that meant the superpowered duo took the leadership roles when director Zack Snyder relinquished control of his film to writer/director Joss Whedon after a family tragedy. (Whedon was responsible for the writing and directing of the new scenes shot during the six weeks of reshoots, though Snyder remains the only credited director.) What was that experience like? Says Gadot: “It’s been different. It’s the first time I’ve been working on a film starting with one director and finishing with a different one. It’s been an interesting experience. A positive experience.”

Not only is Wonder Woman responsible for saving mankind, she also felt the need to boost the morale of the members of her league, specifically the younger ones like Cyborg and the Flash. “She feels responsible for them in a way,” Gadot says. “She’s been fighting for so many years, so many decades, but all of a sudden she has these newcomers, and some of them are teenagers. She’s very protective of them.”

Sitting atop the Batmobile, adorned in 40 lbs. of Aquaman armor, Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry may just be expanding his fiefdom from the sea onto land. Or he’s just continuing the prankster relationship he shares with the Dark Knight. “He’s just Batman,” says Momoa of his relationship with Bruce Wayne. “He’s like my older brother. I’m kind of a ballbuster toward him.” Momoa looked to an unlikely source for inspiration when creating this larger than life superhero—Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash: “He’s my spirit animal,” he says. “When I’m walking down that runway, I’m singing ’Rocket Queen’ in my head. Slash is a beast.” And so, it seems, is Aquaman.

Pick up Entertainment Weekly’s The Ultimate Guide to Justice League, which goes behind the scenes of the upcoming movie and into the origin stories of the League’s members, on sale now.