With the arrival of Zack Snyder's Justice League, J'onn J'onzz has finally made his
fully-fledged big screen debut. But just who is this iconic DC superhero, and why are fans
so excited to see him in all his alien glory? This is the history of the Martian Manhunter.
It all started back in November 1955,
in the pages of Detective Comics 225. The main story in this issue follows Jim Gordon
as he wins a contest to be Batman for a day — but that's not really important, here.
In the back half of the issue, among the Z-list heroes and hair gel commercials,
there's a story entitled "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel " This tale
introduces Professor Mark Erdel, world-famous scientist, and his remarkable new invention:
"The robot brain of the century." Hoping to use it to probe the cosmos, whatever that means,
Erdel turns on his machine — and J'onn J'onzz suddenly appears.
It's revealed that J'onzz is an alien scientist from Mars,
transported to Earth through the power of Erdel's invention. Erdel explains the circumstances of
J'onzz teleportation, and states that it may take years to recalibrate the robot brain
to send the visitor home. Thankfully, J'onzz takes the news like a champ,
and uses his shapeshifting abilities to transform into a human man. The shock of
witnessing this incredible feat proves to be the last straw for Erdel, however, who promptly dies.
Now trapped on an unfamiliar world, the alien takes in his
surroundings and realizes that Earth is a primitive place compared to Mars,
and is desperately in need of a lawman. Adopting the slightly more low-key moniker of John Jones,
he sets off on an expository mission, hoping to show Earth's citizens what he's made of.
Jones subsequently walks into the Middleton police precinct and immediately lands a job,
despite straight-up freaking out whenever people light cigarettes in front of him. This is because,
in his alien form, his one weakness is fire — which only sounds dumb if you put aside the
fact that Batman's weaknesses are "everything, including fire," and that the Green Lantern Yalan
Gur was at separate times vulnerable to wood and the color yellow. It's a superhero thing.
Over the next few years, "the Manhunter from Mars" continues to work for the Middleton constabulary
in the guise of John Jones, ace detective. And, as tended to happen in those days,
his list of abilities got longer seemingly with every issue. In his second appearance,
he exhibits telekinesis — or "Martian mind over matter," as he calls it. X-ray vision was then
added to the roster, as was the power to scare sharks away by turning green. All the while,
J'onzz waits for Martian technology to reach the point where it can finally bring him back home.
"Kitty."
In 1959, during the earlier years of the Silver Age of Comics, the Martian Manhunter made the
leap from secret detective to full-blown superhero. The following year, he became a
founding member of the original Justice League of America in the pages of The Brave and the
Bold 28. In this groundbreaking issue, DC Comics united the members of the Justice League: Batman,
Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Aquaman, as well as the Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern,
and an honorary member named Snapper Carr, who's, uh pretty good at snapping.
When Martian Manhunter does battle against the Martian artifact known as the Idol Head
of Diabolu, everything gets turned on its head. Realizing that he can't continue masquerading part
time as a human detective if he is to crush this enemy for good, J'onzz does away with his John
Jones alias. Soon after, he adopts the name Marco Xavier in order to infiltrate the crime cartel
called VULTURE, before disbanding it in April 1968's House of Mystery #173.
Things remain relatively tame for the Martian Manhunter after that,
with maybe the most remarkable thing that happens being his adoption of a goofy pet sidekick
named Zook. Sadly, he also began appearing in the comics less and less after Superman was given a
promotion to active, full-time JLA member. The Martian Manhunter takes part in one last Justice
League mission in a March 1968 comic, and then, ten issues later, leaves Earth to lead New Mars.
Martian Manhunter isn't seen very much after he goes to New Mars in the early 1970s,
bouncing between that planet and Earth on only a few occasions. At one point,
his fellow JLA-ers Superman and Batman lend a hand in a fight on New Mars,
proving the bond between Justice League members knows no interplanetary bounds. Then, in 1984,
the Martian Manhunter rejoined the Justice League of America,
coming back to Earth on a permanent basis and self-stylizing as John Jones once more.
The late 1980s saw DC scrubbing up its comics in hopes of achieving greater mainstream success.
As part of this effort, the Justice League of America was given a sleeker — and more
recognizable — name in 1987. This new run highlighted the Martian Manhunter's
inherent comedic presence amongst the other members of the Justice League,
and padded out his backstory a little, too. A year later, the character got his own comic miniseries,
simply titled Martian Manhunter — and that one really had some fun with the character's past.
Several big reveals come into play during this run. For one, it turns out that Dr.
Erdel didn't actually die when J'onn J'onzz shape-shifted, and that the character's alien
look is a fabrication — a blend of what Martians really look like and what humans look like.
In reality, the Martian Manhunter more closely resembles a gangly dinosaur.
Additionally, it's revealed that Martian Manhunter had been transported to Earth
not just through space travel, but also through time travel. It turns out that his
people had actually died off thousands of years prior to that first Detective Comics story,
giving him the chance to play with that classic "last of my kind" sci-fi trope.
The Martian Manhunter's stories became pretty tough to follow in the '90s,
with each story-purging retcon being swiftly followed by a litany of narrative cheat days.
Generally, J'onzz still fights the good fight alongside his Justice League fellows — both
as himself and, through means of outside intimidation, as the necromancer Bloodwynd,
with whom he was accidentally merged. After that, Doomsday knocks him around a bit, Blue Beetle
finds out the truth of the situation, and then the merged characters both get successfully separated.
Later, the Martian Manhunter becomes wrapped up in the muder mystery investigation at the heart
of 1992's American Secrets miniseries. Five years later, he helps found a new Justice League and
fights off invasions of White Martians, the malevolent co-habitants of his home planet.
He even becomes trapped for a time in the Phantom Zone, is framed by his meddling
brother Ma'alefa'ak, and uses his severed hand to regenerate his whole body after it's blown
apart in an explosion. Perhaps most surprisingly, however, the comics also revealed that John Jones,
the Martian Manhunter's first assumed identity, was a real man who was tragically murdered.
So, yeah — things got pretty weird.
But none of it could prepare fans for the character's live-action debut.
1997 saw the premiere of Justice League of America,
a bizarre pop culture experiment seemingly drawn from a dozen different time periods.
Its characters came from classic DC comics. Its mockumentary film style was a decade
ahead of its time. And its so-called "jokes" seemed like they were pulled
from a futuristic post-apocalyptic wasteland where laughter died a long, long time ago.
Here, fans got their first live-action taste of Martian Manhunter, played by M*A*S*H's own
David Ogden Stiers. He's portrayed as the leader of the Justice League, and is seen
exhibiting powers ranging from shapeshifting to... well, that's it. It wasn't a great movie.
"And you know, haven't you felt like you appreciate more the things that we have
for us, you know, in this world?"
"And you know, he's green."
From there, though, the Martian Manhunter train started to build up steam. The character debuted
in Smallville during the show's sixth season — albeit in human form, thanks to the limitations
of TV special effects at the time. David Harewood would take up the baton in the Arrowverse,
playing J'onzz in Supergirl, The Flash, and the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover.
Meanwhile, in the world of animation, the Martian Manhunter has made more appearances than you can
count, with over a dozen actors lending their voices to the role over the last few decades.
It should be clear by now that J'onzz is a much-adored and vital part of the DC universe;
both as a fascinating solo character and as a founding member of one of the world's best-known
superhero teams. So why did it take so long to get a big screen version of Martian Manhunter?
Well, he did once come close to getting a silver screen debut. Back in 2007,
Mad Max and Happy Feet director George Miller was all set to bring his vision
of the Justice League to theaters. The story of what really happened to Justice League:
Mortal is an absolute roller coaster, filled with studio intrigue, failed dreams,
and Hollywood politics. And among it all, Miller had tagged his frequent collaborator
Hugh Keays-Byrne to play the world's first major motion picture version of Martian Manhunter.
Then, in 2013, Zack Snyder's Man of Steel introduced audiences to
a military officer by the name of General Calvin Swanwick, played by Harry Lennix.
"General Swanwick, sir,
I'm on with the control tower. Colonel Hardy's on his way in and he's got Superman in tow."
"Superman?"
"The alien, sir. That's what they're calling him."
Fan theories quickly circulated that Lennix was secretly Martian Manhunter in disguise,
and Snyder took a shine to the idea, planning a big reveal during the events of his Justice
League movie. While the theatrical cut of the film wound up Manhunter-free, however, the character
finally made his first bona fide Hollywood debut in the recut movie's closing scenes.
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