Warner Bros is set to revive plans for a movie about the Justice League, the DC Comics superhero team, in the wake of the success of The Avengers, reports Variety.

The film would unite Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman on the big screen for the first time, and comes after Joss Whedon's comic book tale overtook the final Harry Potter movie to become the third highest-grossing film of all time last month. Warner has hired a new writer, Will Beall of upcoming mobster tale Gangster Squad, to resurrect a project that was shelved four years ago for a variety of reasons. Few other details are available at such an early stage, but the film would also be expected to include lesser-known figures such as the Flash, Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter, all of whom appeared in various iterations of the original comic book.

Mad Max creator George Miller was set to direct the previous attempt at a Justice League film, which would have starred The Social Network's Armie Hammer as Batman, Australian model Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, and The OC's Adam Brody as the Flash. While Marvel Studios won praise for introducing characters such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America in separate movies before bringing them together as The Avengers, Warner's original take looked set to ignore its own Batman and Superman films by recasting the roles in the Justice League. The prospect of two different actors (Hammer and Christian Bale) playing Batman at the same time was not popular with fans, and the film was quietly shelved, with a lack of tax breaks and the ongoing writer's strike taking the blame.

Now, with Christopher Nolan's Batman saga apparently near its finale as third instalment The Dark Knight Rises prepares to debut next month, the prospect of an ensemble movie starring the character looks a lot more viable. Nolan is also involved as a producer on the new Superman film, Man of Steel, which is due out next year with Englishman Henry Cavill in the lead role. It is not known if he has been consulted about the development of the Justice League.

Screenwriter Beall, who reportedly began work on the Justice League last year, is also writing a reboot of the Lethal Weapon series and a remake of Logan's Run for Warner Bros. The latter is set to reunite Drive's Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn. Period crime drama Gangster Squad, starring Gosling, Josh Brolin and Emma Stone, hits cinemas on 7 September in the US and 9 November in the UK.