So everyone, as of today, George Miller‘s Justice League film is officially off. Warner Bros. has cited a few reasons for its decision, chief among them being the studio’s inability to procure expected tax breaks for filming in Australia and a desired script polish made impossible by the ongoing writers’ strike. To which many will no doubt say, “No, it was that stupid cast,” but don’t count me in. That argument, however, could be supported by the fact that the studio has basically let the entire cast go, declining to exercise the contract options that were in place in case of such a delay. Some eight-year-old Brandon Routh fan just crapped his pants. Odder still, is that the first confirmed casting for JL also confirmed they were no longer contractually obligated to star in the film. According to Variety, Adam Brody was the Flash, Megan Gale was Wonder Woman and Armie Hammer Jr. was Banana Man, but you knew that in your gut, right?

But don’t get the wrong idea here. This sounds more like Warner Bros. is turning out the light to save resources rather than yanking the plug and bringing in a new game plan. With the writers’ strike and the sheer complexity of the project, from casting to special effects to making lower tier characters appealing enough on screen for individual films, I didn’t see this flick happening before the summer anyway. While Warner Bros. was definitely aiming for a 2009 summer slot, nobody can be too surprised by today’s decision, but elated? Sure.