Just imagine an Avengers-style movie set in Victorian England – the place populated by both villains and heroes. How cool would it have been?
Well, there is a movie already made with this plot. In the early 2000s, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was released. I remember how crazy teens were over this movie. Yes, at that time, not many people knew about avengers.
Back then, such steampunk movies were a trend. So, this movie was on point. Everything seemed perfect, the colorful characters, constant actions, and excellent set designs. The movie was filled with pretty amazing characters like aliens, mad scientists, vampires, and witches.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – A Brief Introduction
For the uninitiated, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LXG) is a comic book created in 1999 by co-author Alan Moore and writer Kevin O’Neill. In 2003, a superhero movie was created based on the first volume of the comic. It was an Avengers-style movie, way ahead of its time. Being a dieselpunk and steampunk movie, it brought together characters such as The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, etc.
Moreover, the cast was extraordinary just like the name. One of the main characters was none other than the all-time favorite Bond, Sean Connery. Also, this was Sean Connery’s last movie. In the movie, Sean Connery played the character of Allan Quatermain. A legendary adventurer who lives in Kenya and mostly spends his day drinking. He is recruited by the Fantom to fight a villain.
Refusing at first, Quatermain joins the team along with a sea adventurer, Tom Sawyer, and a vampire.
Every character had an interesting personality and story. Just like every other superhero movie, this movie had a group of heroes not getting along in the beginning. But of course, before the big fight, all differences are put aside.
Everyone remembered Ben Barnes playing Dorian Gray in a separate movie, but Stuart Townsend did an amazing job. Another outstanding character was Captain Nemo, played by Naseeruddin Shah. Also, Jason Flemyng played the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde really well.
There was a hope of a sequel because of the ending. In the end, Quatermain’s grave is shown indicating the character died during the final battle. However, there was a hint that maybe Quatermain is not dead. That is because Quatermain said that the people of Kenya will never let him die.
With the ending, we hoped there was a sequel. Up till now, we didn’t get the league of extraordinary gentlemen 2 movie. We are wondering why is that? Well, here are the possible reasons why there isn’t a sequel.
The Movie Didn’t Do Well Financially
We were sure there was a sequel; unfortunately, the movie did not do well. Well, the critics said that the movie did not have depth. Some criticized the movie citing the reason that it was not respectful to the comic book. Since it was way ahead of its time, the movie did not get enough credit. The costumes, visuals, etc. were simply perfect and amazing.
It Wasn’t a Perfect Adaptation
Admittedly, it is not a great masterpiece neither was it a good adaptation of the comic book. The only similarity it has with comic books is the basic idea of different characters banding together to stop the outbreak of war.
No Action, Only Talks
For a long time, there were rumors of a reboot. We even heard LXG is getting a female-centric reboot. However, there is no news on it so far. It is safe to assume that like many other projects, this one is stuck in the talks.
The CGI was quite impressive for its time and the flash photography for transformations of Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll was extraordinary. If the league of extraordinary gentlemen 2 was made, we could have an Avengers-style universe way before Avengers was made.
With today’s CGI, costumes, and technology, how amazing would have been a league of extraordinary gentlemen 2.
All in all, with the latest technology, a league of extraordinary gentlemen 2 movie would have been entertaining and fun to watch. Since the first movie didn’t do so well, the sequel was expected to do worse. But with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Universe, there is a little possibility that this universe would have not gained so much popularity.
