The mo-cap Justice League picture is getting some heavy rumors that seem - well - out of its league.

First IESB.net claimed Smallville star Tom Welling would replace Brandon Routh as Superman in the CGI mo-cap spectacular. But Smallville creator Al Gough personally shot down that very rumor on Superman Homepage.com.

Then the rumor floodgates opened into a fever pitch. Happy Feet, Babe and Mad Max director George Miller is rumored to be the director. Laurence Fishburne, last seen as the Silver Surfer, is being considered for the Martian Manhunter, whose nefarious and genocidal enemies, the White Martians, are rumored to turn up. Also in the villain role, according to a madcap source, are superhero backer-turned-sinister agent Maxwell Lord of the organization Checkmate, Talia Al Ghul (daughter of Batman Begins baddie Ra’s), the One Man Army Corp, OMAC, and Darkseid.

The casting is now apparently including big names like Bruce Willis as Lex Luthor, Leonardo DiCaprio (possibly as Aquaman), Scarlett Johanssen as Talia, Jessica Biel (I’m guessing Wonder Woman) and Jake Gyllenhaal (maybe Barry Allen Flash) and possibly Mel Gibson as Max Lord.

The accompanying plot summary is far too complication and random for my taste, though it does draw from Infinite Crisis and Crisis and Infinite Earths a lot. This is something of a problem though - instead of building the momentum to these events, if the rumors are to be believed, the Justice League could just be trying to jump right into the thick of things.

With the make-and-break June deadline approaching, its tough to tell which of these rumors are clear-as-day developments and which are merely wishful thinking. I’ll tell you when the line becomes indefintely more solid, but at the very least, things are starting to get interesting.

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