C303

"We hope that Jackie Chan, Dad, and the others can join the Dark Justice League."

Black glanced at Jackie Chan, made a decision on his behalf, and said, "They will represent the 13th District and contribute to the alliance."

"What?"

Jackie Chan was taken aback.

"Great!"

Xiaoyu jumped up excitedly.

Dad and Tru remained expressionless. As people of the magical world, they naturally assumed the responsibility and had no objections.

"Fine."

Constantine agreed without hesitation. It wasn't a request he would refuse—if anything, it was exactly what he wanted from the 13th District.

"In that case, can you tell me who is currently in the Dark Justice League?" Black asked.

"Me, Jackie Chan, Wonder Woman, Johnny Blaze, and... an old friend."

Constantine thought for a moment before answering.

"Old friend?"

The others exchanged glances.

"Who?" Blake pressed.

"Shazam."

Constantine didn't hide it and answered frankly. "DC has some information on him. If you know DC well enough, you should know Shazam."

"A little kid?"

As a DC fan and a half-magician, Xiaoyu was no stranger to Shazam. She grumbled in dissatisfaction, "What kind of 'old friend' is a kid?"

The conversation in the antique shop continued.

But Anton knew that this magical event, triggered by the devil, had reached its conclusion.

The establishment of the Dark Justice League provided Constantine with a foothold to involve himself in various magical incidents in the future. It also secured him a team of allies and even official backing.

Once Constantine and Jackie Chan finished their discussion, they would temporarily leave under the pretense of searching for more members. Meanwhile, the Dark Justice League's next major events would involve Johnny's spell on Mephisto and Jackie Chan's upcoming adventures.

Of course, Anton also had work to do.

He hadn't forgotten that he was still a director.

After spending these past few days in Los Angeles, it had been over a month since his last film was completed. 

In that time, he had become the boss of the Men in Black organization—jointly established by the World Security Council—and had also recruited Constantine while laying the foundation for the Dark Justice League in the DC world.

All in all, a productive month.

Now, it was time for the next step.

There were two main objectives:

First, to accelerate the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. With Batman's fame and credibility, it would significantly boost Superman's fan value, making it easier to redeem the world's strongest hero—the one who could push more than half the Earth.

Currently, Superman's fan value had surpassed 70 million, thanks to the success of Man of Steel and Smallville. Meanwhile, Batman's global fan value exceeded 200 million.

If Anton had to milk someone's popularity, who better than Batman?

After all, they were both his clones.

The second goal was to strengthen the newly formed Dark Justice League.

The simplest way? Bring Shazam into the picture.

Just now, Anton had used Constantine to confirm Shazam's existence. The next step was to produce a standalone Shazam film.

He pulled up the system panel to check Shazam's fan stats.

[Shazam Fan Value: 6.12 million]

Compared to the 30 million positive fans needed, it wasn't abysmal, but it was definitely on the lower end.

Of course, at this point, DC's content on Shazam was limited to novels and comics. There wasn't even an animated series yet, let alone a live-action movie or TV show. Given that, the low fan count was understandable.

"Still need 20 million more? That's not a difficult goal. In fact, it's easier than I expected."

Anton stroked his chin, thinking about the Shazam movie from his past life.

Shazam.

A forgettable film with zero appeal.

The investment cost was between $80 million and $100 million, and the global box office reached $346 million upon release. While financially profitable, the film's reputation was extremely poor.

For a high-profile superhero movie, Shazam was undoubtedly a failure.

When Anton had watched it in his previous life, he had only felt secondhand embarrassment—an adult acting like a child, paired with dull action sequences and empty catchphrases, all wrapped up in what felt like a tacky street performance. It was unbearable.

Clearly, in this world, if he wanted to make Shazam, he couldn't simply follow the version in his memory. It had to be changed.

That responsibility would have to fall on DC's top screenwriters.

Anton knew he wasn't a great screenwriter.

Even after making so many movies, he was still just getting started—still figuring things out.

His reputation as a "great director" wasn't because of his own talent alone. He stood in the shadow of legendary directors from the past, borrowing their brilliance. 

At the same time, much of his success came from the rise of the Justice League and his own privileged background.

If he weren't the heir of the Jameson family, if he hadn't been able to invest heavily in projects, would he have been able to gather so many renowned directors around him?

Anton was fully aware of his limits.

Some things were best left to the professionals.

After some thought, he returned to the Hollywood studio to discuss the Shazam project with Jim.

Jim, naturally, was excited.

He knew Anton wouldn't stay idle for long.

Of course, with Anton's current status, making movies was no longer about necessity—it was about maximizing both DC's profits and his own.

In this world, was there any director more in the spotlight than Anton?

Even setting aside his incredible titles—Justice League insider, sole heir to the Jameson fortune—his directing career alone was enough to make him untouchable.

In just two years, Anton had made four films.

Together, they had grossed over $2 billion worldwide.

Even Hell's Detective, which had suffered box office fluctuations due to the aftermath of the New York War, had still managed to pull in $536 million in its first week of global release.

Though Hell's Detective was Anton's lowest-grossing film so far, it was still a massive success considering its budget.

From the moment he debuted, he had been at the top—and he had stayed there.

Now, countless people were eagerly awaiting Anton's next project announcement.

Investors were already circling like vultures, cash in hand.

If word got out, DC's offices would be flooded with them.

"Don't rush the Shazam movie just yet," Anton instructed. "Your top priority right now is still Batman v Superman. Make sure it's as spectacular as possible. And within reason, I want it released as soon as possible."

…

patreon.com/Vks_sh