Just to the right of this post you will find a most unsettling headline. At least to me and many other comic book fans. You see the one that says 'Young Hollywood lines up to join Justice League'? Yep, that's the one. So why should this headline cause fanboys like me to break out in a cold sweat, disturbing images of Dolph Lundgren and Matt Salinger running through our minds?

The past few years, the comics community has been basking in the CGI-provided glow of Hollywood's long-overdue infatuation with our four-color heroes as sources for cinematic extravaganza. But many of us still remember the dark ages, before the Spider-Man & X-men trilogies ... when comic book heroes couldn't do any better than a Roger Corman no-budget adaptation.

But I would bet most comic book fans - if asked what they thought was the most annoying, frustrating and embarrassing comic book adaptation to date - would point to 1997's "Batman & Robin" as the worst of the bunch. I mean, Corman's "Fantastic Four" movie was a disaster in its own right, but it was made for like a million bucks. Just to make a movie for that amount deserves some credit. The 4th Batfilm had a huge budget, top-drawer stars like George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell and Uma Thurman, not to mention Arnold Schwarzenegger as the main villain. And it is one of the WORST movies EVER.

Don't believe me? Try to endure it the next time TNT or TBS needs a time-slot filler on a Tue. or Wed. morning. You won't be able to stay 'til the end, its THAT BAD!! If the terrible one-liners ("You're not putting me into the cooler!") don't drive you nuts, then the overstuffed storyline featuring way too many heroes & villains and the campy, 'Starlight Express in Gotham City' set design will definitely finish you off.

There's a special place in Hollywood Hell reserved for director Joel Schumacher for orchestrating this desecration of such a great character, and don't think that Best Screenplay Oscar for "A Beautiful Mind" gets you off the hook for writing the abominable script, Akiva Goldsman!

So what does this have to do with the apparently fast-tracked "Justice League" movie? Well, first off, a movie about the JLA (that's Justice League of America for you non-comic readers) will be jam-packed with characters ... as many as 7 members. How are you going to possibly give enough screen time to each character so as not to make them throwaways? The history of comic book films suggests that director George Miller has a tough task in front of him.

The best comic movies have been the ones that limited the number of super-types running around. The first 2 Spidey movies were great, with 1 and 2 villains respectively. But when Sam Raimi decided to throw in 3 villains in the most recent Spider installment, the results were mixed. Alot of people (myself included) felt it was too much having Venom, the New Goblin AND Sandman fighting for screen time.

Same thing with the X-films. The first two were outstanding, with a clear villain in each picture. The 3rd one was a mess (albeit a spectacular one) because there was mutant overload. Poor Cyclops was killed and it barely registered because the audience was overwhelmed with a lot of characters most people didn't care about.

Trying to do too much is a time-honored sports cliche used by too many players and coaches. But it applies well to comic book moviemakers who don't know how to streamline their screenplays.
2003's "Daredevil" had the Kingpin, Bullseye & Elektra + the origin story all crammed into a movie that was less than 2 hours long. It was a disservice to a great character with some great storylines. Don't even get me started on Ben Affleck in red leather running around Hells Kitchen.

Then there's the fact that the two most important Justice League characters, Batman & Superman, will be played by different actors than we've just seen in their franchise relaunches.

Ten years after the Batman movie franchise was left for dead by Schumacher, they're going to do a Justice League movie without the two guys who resurrected The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale. HUH??? Which executive in the Warner Bros. executive suites thought that would be a good idea???

Nolan and Bale are hard at work on their 2nd Bat-pic, "The Dark Knight", and all signs indicate it will be a worthy follow-up to the superb "Batman Begins." Bale's already said he has no desire to do a "Justice League" movie - and why should he? His franchise is in great shape.

Why should he share the limelight with other characters? Ask most fans out there and they will tell you that no one but Bale should be wearing the Cape & Cowl.

Oh, and the Justice League Superman apparently won't be Brandon Routh, either. So after spending millions and millions of dollars in relaunching the Man of Steel's movie career with the vastly underrated "Superman Returns" Warners has decided to find ANOTHER guy to wear the 'S' on his chest.

Note to studio execs - it took you nearly 15 years to find someone to replace the late Christopher Reeve. What makes you think it will be any easier this time?

Look, George Miller is an excellent and versatile filmmaker. He made "Mad Max" and "Happy Feet" and also wrote "Babe." But this has 'Colossal Flop' written all over it.

And the names I'm hearing in connection with the auditions aren't exactly inspiring confidence in this project, either. Adam Brody? Scott Porter?? Common???

Sounds like the "Justice League" by way of "One Tree Hill" or "The O.C." Are we going to see Clark and Diana spending time as civilians walking through a mall, with lattes in hand? Is Batman going to be lying on the floor of the Batcave, moaning to Alfred about how unfair his life is? Kill me now.