Justice League: Brainiac

Justice League: Brainiac is a 2014 superhero film, based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name. It is also a sequel to Justice League and a crossover between/sequel to Wonder Woman: Cold War, The Flash: The Rogues, Batman: The Dark Knight, Superman: The Man of Tomorrow, and Aquaman: The Dead King. It is the fifteenth installment in the DC Shared Film Universe and the seventh installment of Phase Two.

It was written and directed by Zack Snyder and stars Jason Sudeikis, Jake Gyllenhaal, Morena Baccarin, Chris Evans, Jason Momoa, Tom Welling, Viola Davis, and Pedro Pascal. It was released on May 30, 2014. The film ran 122 minutes and grossed $1.405 billion on a $267 million budget. The film also received generally positive reviews.

The film's two sequels, Justice League: Darkseid - Part 1 and Justice League: Darkseid - Part 2, were released in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Synopsis
A year after Superman's death, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Aquaman continue to fight the battles Superman no longer can. However, when a cyborg-alien named Brainiac shows up on Earth planning to take entire cities to add them to his collection, which he plans to use to rule an entire planet of cities from throughout the universe. Realizing they cannot face this threat alone, they are forced to enter a dangerous ritual to resurrect Superman, that could go horribly wrong or just right.

Plot
A year after Superman died facing Doomsday, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Barry Allen/Flash, and Arthur Curry/Aquaman continue to fight together as the Justice League. Guided by Amanda Waller and A.R.G.U.S., they infiltrate Checkmate, a terrorist organization that has been fighting A.R.G.U.S. for decades. They take down a large base in New Zealand before returning to New York City, where A.R.G.U.S is headquartered in. In space, Brainiac pilots his spaceship to Sector 2814, where Earth is located. Brainiac has already, using his ship's powers, miniaturized and taken several cities from across the known Sectors. Brainiac plans on collecting four thousand cities and taking an unmarked planet as his own, displaying the cities as his own. He has already collect 3,995 and only needs five more, which he plans on taking from Earth.

On Earth, the Justice League are alerted that Brainiac's spaceship is now hovering over Gotham City. The League makes it to Gotham, where they meet with Brainiac. Bruce forces Brainiac into explaining why he is on Earth. The alien reveals his plan and the heroes laugh at the thought of giving him five cities. However, Barry realizes he has already collected nearly four thousand and he must have something up his sleeve. Brainiac thanks him before escaping and kicking the heroes off of the ship. The four watch as Brainiac shrinks Gotham and takes it, leaving a gigantic hole in it's place. Diana realizes there is no way that the four of them can face Brainiac alone. Bruce tries to call for help but realizes Dick and Barbara are both in retirement. Diana suggests calling for Hal and Carol, which Barry and Arthur agree with. Bruce is reluctant as it could cause further damage involving the Lanterns. Diana still calls upon Hal and Carol, who show up and agree to help.

However, as they go up against Brainiac again, this time in Paris, Brainiac manages to switch his gears and controls Hal and Carol due to their lantern connection. Bruce and Barry try to defend Paris while Diana and Arthur fight Hal and Carol. Carol is snapped back into reality, while Hal leaves with Brainiac, who still gets Paris, with Barry trapped inside. Bruce regroups with Arthur, Diana, and Carol. The four realize there is only one thing they can do now: Superman is the only one strong enough to stop Brainiac, so they must resurrect him. They travel to Metropolis, where they dig up Clark's body, with Lois Lane. They take him to the remains of Argo City in A.R.G.U.S., where they take Kryptonian technology and morph it with Nth metal, which A.R.G.U.S. has samples of. The combined nature, along with a piece of Doomsday's corpse, which A.R.G.U.S. kept, resurrects Clark. However, he has no memory of who he originally was. Diana, Bruce, Arthur, and Carol are forced to fight him until he is hurt. However, when he regains his strenght, Lois kisses him, and his memories are brought back.

Waller manages to find Brainiac is Rome. Bruce, Clark, Diana, Carol, and Arthur leave to get to Rome. Brainiac has already collected Gotham, Paris, and Metropolis. Barry tries to escape, while comforting the confused citizens of Paris. Barry looks across the "Trophy Room" to see Gotham and Mayor Jim Gordon trying to get his attention. In Rome, Bruce, Clark, Diana, Carol, and Arthur arrive to defend the city. Hal attacks them while Brainiac starts up the process. However, in the Trophy Room, Gordon gets Barry to run so fast that he breaks the barrier between light and sound. Barry awakens in the Speed Force, where the entities of the energy tell him that what he just did could've destroyed the Earth in any other circumstance, but they pulled him out just before he made it too powerful. Barry returns to the timeline and finds Paris at it's full-size again, with Superman barely holding it up in the air to prevent it from falling. He flies it back to it's place, where everyone is saved. The Justice League evacuate Rome before Brainiac takes it is as well.

The Roman citizens join the French in Paris for the time being, while the heroes go back to New York. Carol uses her connection to Barry to learn that Brainiac is heading to New York City next. The heroes get to prepare themselves this time and fight Brainiac before he can even begin. When Barry realizes Brainiac is nearly unstoppable, he decides the only way he can stop Brainiac from succeeding is by taking him to the Speed Force, otherwise any other prison couldn't hold him. Barry takes Brainiac to a faraway universe, where he breaks the barrier between sound and light, incinerating Brainiac. Brainiac finds himself in the Speed Force, where he is forever tortured by the entities. Barry returns to Earth where Hal is normal again. The heroes return all 3,998 cities to their planets. However, Krypton's former capital, Kandor, has nowhere to go, so Clark uses the technology from Argo City to put a shield around the floating city and allows it to remain as a smaller Krypton in space.

Lois is overjoyed at Clark's return, as is the world with Superman. Clark and Lois marry, with all of the heroes, and Martha Kent and Jimmy Olsen in attendance. In a mid-credits scene, Eobard Thawne has been living under the identity of Harrison Wells for the past two years. He has slowly been building up his speed. As his hand begins to vibrate faster and faster, he smiles. In a post-credits scene, on Apokolips, Darkseid is informed of Brainiac's "death".

Cast

 * Jason Sudeikis as Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Jake Gyllenhaal as Clark Kent/Superman
 * Morena Baccarin as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
 * Chris Evans as Barry Allen/The Flash
 * Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
 * Tom Welling as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern
 * Olivia Munn as Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire
 * Hayley Atwell as Lois Lane
 * Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Steve Trevor III
 * Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon
 * Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
 * Ray Park as Brainiac

Locations

 * United States of America
 * Gotham City
 * Metropolis
 * New York City
 * Paris
 * Rome
 * Speed Force
 * Apokolips

Events

 * Attack on New Zealand Research Facility
 * Brainiac's Invasion of Earth
 * Battle of Paris
 * Resurrection of Superman
 * Battle of Rome
 * Battle of New York

Organizations

 * A.R.G.U.S.
 * Justice League
 * Checkmate
 * Green Lanterns
 * Star Sapphires