St Martin’s College of Art & Design, London, November 9/10 2017

You’ve got to admire Warner Brothers’ publicity team – with Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice they brought over the Batmobile to display in the foyer of the Odeon Leicester Square, and this time they’ve created a bespoke free Justice League attraction for two days in Central London.

For a number of days, the environment in St Martin’s College of Art & Design served as the backdrop to the movie’s worldwide press junket, far more interesting than the bland hotel rooms often used for these sort of interviews. Once the press (and sadly also the actors) had moved out, the general public had the chance to look at the five character-themed rooms during a pre-booked time-slot. As you’d anticipate, these hot tickets soon went. And this isn’t just any old London venue – it also doubled up as both Diana Prince’s Parisian lab and Gotham Police Department HQ during filming.

Each of the five announced Justice League members are represented in their home or work environment (still no acknowledgement of Superman, though Henry Cavill has been in the junket photo calls and we spotted a phone booth outside for Clark Kent to use!

Arthur (Aquaman) Curry’s tavern is an Icelandic ramshackle wooden building with well-stocked bar and two tables with abandoned beers. His towering Atlantean costume (Jason Momoa is tall!) stands to the right, his Trident of Poseidon clutched in hand. Barry (The Flash) Allen’s Central City basement apartment in a self-storage warehouse is crammed with bookcases, PC monitors and neon strip-lights, his crimson costume proudly standing centre atop a storage crate.

Diana (Wonder Woman) Prince’s Parisian art studio is a fairly generic, painted brick loft room with parquet flooring, but what’s of greater interest is her iconic lab coat hanging off the back of a chair and the printouts of ancient artefacts on the walls. Her Amazonian Warrior costume is also on display – check out the gauntlets and Lasso of Truth.

Victor (Cyborg) Stone’s S.T.A.R. Labs research facility computer workstation is essentially four huge wall monitors, supported by a bank of PCs. It’s an impressive show of tech, but not as showy as the Cyborg costume, glowing from his blue eye. This isn’t the actual costume (it’s CGI) but a great approximation.

Finally, Bruce (Batman) Wayne’s Flying Fox set is the most impressive, a section of the Caped Crusader’s new jet. The playboy millionaire typically has the best toys, but it’s his bulked-up Bat-armour that takes centre stage, bathed under a spotlight. Batarangs adorn the walls and you can have fun spotting the various Wayne Industries tech.

 

 

 

Verdict: It’s very rare to see original movie props and costumes up close, giving you the opportunity to appreciate the level of detail that 4K High Definition film-making now dictates. If you don’t already have your ticket, it’s too late, but what a treat if you snapped one up. 9/10

Nick Joy