The Authority

One of Twitter's current complaints right now is why James Gunn is choosing to adapt The Authority. Who even knows who they are? Dumbass twitter users ask, the answer is; anyone that actually reads comic books. If you don’t read comics then you get no opinion until the adaptations come out and you watch them, even then 2 points off your opinion for not knowing the source material. So though most of us know who The Authority is and what their role in the DC universe has been, here is a brief history and background to their existence and why Superman will be involved in their story.

The Authority first graced comic book pages in 1999, and they were considered a “by all means necessary” kind of team. The series was actually adapted and changed from another series called Stormwatch. Stormwatch was underperforming but the DC execs and creatives were attached to the series and therefore took their original train of thought and turned it into The Authority.

The Miller/Quietly run was an absolute disgusting disaster, or at least it would have been if DCs editors had less sense. But they ordered a number of panels be redrawn due to sexual, violent and sexually violent content. I want to be very clear that some sources would claim that DC “censored” these creators, that is not at all the case. Miller and Quietly attempted to depict rape and necrophilia in addition to violent, gorey, shock value deaths. These men should be kept away from both comics and people. The only shred of this story that could have been considered censorship is the forced removal of a kiss between characters Apollo and Midnighter which would have been an openly homosexual relationship. Editors were concerned that since those characters that were clear representations of Superman and Batman that a clearly same-sex relationship would cause stress and confusion in the fan base.

Both Grant Morrison and Ed Brubaker had way better runs and gave the team depth and fleshed out the individual members far more than anything before it. The original team consisted of Jenny Sparks, one of the group's founders and the team's original leader. She was also referred to as the spirit of the 20th century. Apollo, the sun god. Lucas Trent who was also known as Midnighter or Night’s bringer of war. Jareon “The Shaman” Thornedike or The Doctor. Angela “The Maker” Spica. Jack Hawksmoor, The god of cities was The Authorities next leader. And finally Shen Li-Min, The winged Huntress of Swift.

The team underwent 3 line-up changes, the third containing the most actual changes as the team grew when it added 7 new members. The Authority was announced to be the DCEU’s second movie after Superman Legacy. It was also announced that Superman would make an appearance in The Authority movie, leaving a lot of twitter users to ask why? Well Superman and The Authority have quite and intertwined history in the comics, including their own comic book run. In 2021 DC comics came out with a Superman and The Authority story and we can assume that the DCEU will draw from that at least a little bit.

The Authority is kind of known as the anti-Justice League. All of the JLA’s ideals and morals just don’t exist for The Authority, they are aptly named. It will be interesting to see The Authority and Superman’s dynamic on screen, as you can imagine putting a “do anything by any means necessary” team with comic books golden boy is an intriguing dynamic with a million possibilities. It could even be an ongoing dynamic with several storylines to work through.