DC’S LEAGUE OF SHADOWS TV PITCH

One more from the “Not A Chance In Hell” file

I have no idea why I thought of this or why I figured I should drag it out onto this particular platform. But I guess it makes some twisted sense, seeing as this newsletter has occasionally served as a repository for a lot of the random ideas and stray pitches, some of which never really went anywhere. Hey, it’s all part of the writer’s life. If you knew how many cool things I’ve written that didn’t end up going anywhere, you might be shocked. Then again, you might not.

The year was 2019 (seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?). My agent at the time sent me to a meeting at Warner Brothers Television, where they were happy to discuss, among other things, the various DC Comics properties they were hoping to adapt to series. Keep in mind, this was still a few years before the current James Gunn-led era of DC, so things were a bit scattershot. They sent me a PDF package of several things they were considering, from DC titles to Vertigo material to even a Wildstorm thing or two. Essentially, they were deemed “open writing assignments”… even though I knew from experience that hardly any of these things would ever make it out of the PDF they’d put together. But, y’know, executive desk jockeys need something to do with their days, and talking about projects that will never happen is just part of their normal routine.

One thing that stood out to me was the entry for the League of Shadows. Adapted from the original “League of Assassins” concept found in the original comicbooks, the first Christopher Nolan bat-film, Batman Begins, morphed the idea into something a little more expansive in nature. And, to me, more interesting. The PDF I was given simply outlined the basic gist of the idea and the characters they envisioned would be involved (some that might actually surprise you). It didn’t really have any sense of what a series would be. That was my job.

League of Shadows was, at that point, being overseen by James Wan’s company, Atomic Monster, which also had an office on the Warners lot (I believe uber-producer Greg Berlanti was also loosely attached). So, after taking a meeting over there to see where their heads were at (as it turned out, their heads weren’t anywhere in particular), I went off to brainstorm ideas and see what I could come up with.

What I came up with, I ended up really liking. I won’t waste any time here with a proper set-up. It’s all contained in the pitch below. But the general description of the property -- as listed on the OWA sheet -- was simple: “New recruits into the super-secret assassin clan known as the League of Shadows”. So, not much to go on. Even then, I went in a slightly different direction than what they might’ve been expecting. Although, points to anyone who can pick out the specific Frank Miller homage/reference I added in, just for kicks. Actually, it’s pretty f**king obvious. To me, anyway.

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LEAGUE ᢦ OF ᢦ SHADOWS

Joe Casey – 10/11/19

A mix of the political maneuvering and territorial complexities of Game of Thrones, the grace and beauty of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the desolate, psychological landscapes of Lone Wolf and Cub and the ultraviolence and pop mythology of Kill Bill, this series explores the true cost of spiritual enlightenment… the perils of deep obsession … and how “progress” can be measured in human lives.

THE WORLD IS THEIR WEAPON

No one knows the true origins of the League of Shadows. What is known -- only by a select few across all of recorded history -- is that they exist as a multi-cultural cadre of operatives who have dedicated themselves to the sole purpose of combating human corruption. They’ve been doing it for thousands of years. They lie in wait, training their bodies to physical perfection, until a society, a civilization, an empire becomes bloated with its own decadent hubris. And when the time is right, they strategically and decisively make their move, maneuvering those societies, cities, kingdoms, etc. and their leaders into acting against themselves, resulting in their inevitable self-destruction. As far as the League of Shadows is concerned, they are agents of change, on a holy mission to restore the proper sense of balance in the world.

Commanding the League of Shadows is its undisputed master, who bears the supreme rank, “Head of the Demon”. Each successive master takes on that title (translated into their own language of origin). They rule until their death, and their word is law.

All acting members of the League of Shadows are trained in a completely unique fighting style. It has no name, but it pulls from all forms of hand-to-hand combat. Attacks in this style can seem as balletic in their execution as they are ultraviolent, unlike any kind of hand-to-hand fighting ever seen before. Most importantly, members are taught that, in the correct hands, anything and everything can be used as a weapon. Such techniques promote unpredictability in combat, which is at the heart of the ethos of the League. It relates directly to their credo, “The world is our weapon.”

THE SHOW

It begins in the early Seventeenth Century. An isolated monastery built into the practically unreachable peaks of the Himalayas houses the LEAGUE OF SHADOWS. Its current Head of the Demon is the Chinese-born XIAO XIN. Xiao (who is mainly identified by his title, translated to Urdu) rules with an iron fist. He has closely observed the current state of the world and is finally ready for the League to strike in a big way.

Our lead character’s name is RAJA (a name that means “hope, anticipated one” in Arabic). He is a young member of the League, a former slave trained by the SENSEI to be as formidable as any man on Earth. Raja has ambitions of his own when it comes to the League but is content to bide his time as he diligently rises up through its ranks. He knows he must distinguish himself if he is to ever get closer to the Head… and eventually take over.

Raja soon takes a big step forward by intercepting a believed-to-be-mythological, immortal assassin -- a ninjutsu master named KIRIGI -- sent expressly to kill Xiao Xin and destroy the League of Shadows. After a brutal melee in which many members are slaughtered by Kirigi’s blade, Raja decapitates him using a most unlikely weapon -- but highly effective in the hands of a League member -- a flying dinner plate.

Having significantly proven himself, Raja is chosen to be part of an elite squad of emissaries -- the fabled BRONZE TIGERS -- sent to meet with the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand, and to enact the League of Shadows’ role in engineering the Thirty Years War that will ultimately destabilize the Empire (part of what historians would ultimately label the “Crisis of the Seventeenth Century”) and transform the world as we know it.

But Raja’s actual motivation is to investigate the true nature of the Kirigi’s supposed immortality, caused by an ancient legend identified only in whispers as “the Lazarus Pit”. Mysteriously drawn to the very concept of life everlasting, Raja is determined to learn the truth behind this legend and believes that perhaps the library in Vienna (capital city of the Holy Roman Empire) might contain documented proof that it does indeed exist and, more importantly, where to find it.

But in order to embark on this search, Raja must leave something behind. There is a young widow who lives in the village located on the mountain trail below the League of Shadows’ monastery. Her name is SANGMU and she has a newborn son. Raja has been sponsoring her in secret, making sure she’s taken care of in the village (Why? Because the child is possibly Raja’s illegitimate child, also kept secret from the League of Shadows). But when he leaves, he entrusts her well-being to his loyal second, HUWE. When the baby tragically dies from exposure to the cold, a grief-stricken Sangmu convinces Huwe -- and, by extension, the Sensei -- to aid her in infiltrating the ranks of the League of Shadows, disguised as a man, to appease her own deep, abiding anger by becoming a skilled assassin. Soon, she will take on a new name, befitting of her newfound, murderous talents: KATANA.

All this occurs while Raja is away on a year-long horseback journey -- across two continents -- with the Bronze Tigers (which includes the fierce African warrior, KONDO, and the bokkon-wielding MIYAMOTO MAGONOJO), having many perilous adventures along the way. Some of the Tigers won’t make it to Vienna alive. During these far-flung travels, Raja will learn more about the legend of the Lazarus Pit, the true nature of its existence and the immortal secrets it contains. It becomes an obsessive quest, running parallel to the machinations of the League of Shadows and their (some would say) terrorist actions to restore balance.

Eventually, all roads -- both physical and spiritual -- lead to Raja’s ultimate destiny: to become the final Head of the Demon, taking on the title as his new, true name. It will permanently place him in the League of Shadows’ top seat of power, forever more to be known only as… RA’S AL GHUL.

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There you go. Short and sweet.

Like I said, some pretty cool stuff in there. I did quite a bit of historical research for this pitch, trying to properly align some actual historical events to a fictional League of Shadows timeline. For whatever reason, it all seemed to come together. It felt like a streaming show to me.

So, anyway… I sent in the pitch and initial reactions were quite positive. Then I was told that James Wan intended to take a stronger creative hand in the project, which would automatically put my ideas on the back burner. And then, a month or two later… Covid hit and it seemed like the entire world went into forced hibernation. Of course, once we finally started to emerge from said pandemic, James Gunn took over all things DC and just about everything that came before was cleanly swept away.

And for League of Shadows, the TV series… that was that.

Until next time…

Joe Casey

USA