Hello, my friends. Welcome back one and all to another entry in the review series that this plain of existence has come to know as…
Within the main dimension that we know and love, our heroes and villains have been molded into the grand figures that we’ve come to recognize. For this film, let us step outside that plain of reality and view a crisis in an alternate universe. It’s time to check out the story called…
Originally released on July 21, 2015 for Digital Download and on July 28 for DVD and Blu-Ray, this is an original story that takes place in an alternate DC Universe. As I talked about in my review series called “A Bonus Look At The DC Universe Animated Original Movies”, a companion series called “Justice League: Gods & Monsters Chronicles” was released on YouTube on July 8, 10 and 12. Each entry showcased one of our three heroes and helped to build on the main film’s universe. If you haven’t read them yet, make sure to read my thoughts on that series’ first season. In the meantime, let’s see what this different plain of reality has to offer.
We open upon a familiar scene as the planet Krypton is dying and is only mere moments from its demise. Fortunately, Jor-El (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) has already prepped a rocket. Inside the spacecraft is an incubator pod which carries a fertile egg belonging to Lara (voiced by Lauren Tom) and all that’s left for Jor-El is to add his genetic code in order for their unborn child to be given life.
However, his hand gets shot by General Zod (voiced by Bruce Thomas). It turns out that he’s responsible for Krypton’s undoing due to constantly drilling the planet in order to obtain the energy to power his war machine. Blaming Jor-El for opposing his attempt to rule their dying world, Zod proceeds to give his genetic code to the pod. As such, the rocket takes off and escapes as Krypton meets its explosive demise.
During the opening credits, the fetus is slowly but surely developed into a living organism. Upon its completion, the rocket manages to make its way to Earth.
Following the opening credits, we cut to some time later as the military has the crash site surrounded. Arriving on the scene is Lex Luthor (voiced by Jason Isaacs). With the soldiers not knowing what was inside the rocket, he gives the order to spread out and find their target so they can keep this scene under wraps.
Unbeknownst to them, the Kryptonian babe was discovered by a Mexican couple who manage to successfully sneak him away from the military.
We then cut to several years later where the Justice League is on a raid mission as they locate a group of terrorists underneath the Kasnian Embassy. They’re contacted by Steve Trevor (voiced by Tahmoh Penikett) and are told to stay put until he and his men can arrive.
However, his demands go unfulfilled as the terrorists open fire on our heroes. From there, Superman (voiced by Benjamin Bratt), Wonder Woman (voiced by Tamara Taylor) and Batman (voiced by Michael C. Hall) easily slay the opposing figures.
Meanwhile, the main terrorists overhear the commotion through their heavily-enforced doors as their leader Livewire (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) gives their computer expert a USB Drive so that he can download some useful information while she, Blockbuster, Cheetah and their cronies fend off the Justice League. However, their reinforced door is forced off and squashes their human allies as our heroes arrive. Livewire proceeds to fire a cannon, sending out an electric blast that not only subdues Superman but splits his teammates up and allow her thugs to attack as well.
As such, Batman proceeds to fight Blockbuster. After he’s ultimately trapped within the behemoth’s massive grip, Batman manages to defeat his opponent by biting Blockbuster’s neck and drinks his foe’s blood.
Meanwhile, Wonder Woman proceeds to tussle with Cheetah. She manages to withstand the constant claw strikes before she defeats her foe by slamming him into the wall.
Finally, Superman manages to withstand the electric strikes before using his Heat Vision to destroy the opposing cannon. The resulting blast sends Livewire flying into her computer expert and knocks them both out.
By the time Steve and his men finally arrive, the conflict had already ended. He proceeds to berate the Justice League for their vicious tactics upon embassy property. However, our heroes shrug it off as Superman gives him the USB Drive which turned out to have stolen files on it. After they take their leave, the scene ends with Steve contacting both the President and a clean-up crew.
We then cut to the next day where protesters have gathered outside of the Justice League’s headquarters to voice their dismay against the super-powered team.
Up on the top floor, Superman and Wonder Woman are watching a Planet NWZ broadcast as Lois Lane (voiced by Paget Brewster) reports on the Justice League’s vicious attack upon the terrorists. During the news story, it cuts over to the U.S. Capitol Building where Luthor gives his warning about the danger that looms with giving plenty of authority to our super-powered beings.
Despite the fear of reprisal from some citizens, the Justice League discuss among themselves how at least a quarter of the world’s population thinks that they should be allowed to enforce their rule over the planet, since all “ideological squabbling” would be brought to an end due to their enforcement.
Shortly afterwards, Dr. Silas Stone (voiced by Carl Lumbly) has arrived at their headquarters as the scene ends with Superman escorting him via tractor beam in order to have their meeting.
We then cut to the Arctic Circle where a scientist is getting one last reading before heading back to base in order to avoid an approaching snowstorm. Suddenly, a Boom Tube opens up behind him. Upon hearing the noise, he looks behind to investigate.
To his horror, he sees a gigantic creature emerge from the snow-covered hills as it prepares to strike. As such, he wisely hops onto his snowmobile and tries to flee. However, the being is able to keep pace as he’s forced to drive towards a hill, causing him to fly right off the embankment and fall off his vehicle.
The scientist is able to get his handgun out in order to defend himself. Shortly afterwards, the behemoth reappears. However, bullets are unable to even phase it as the creature proceeds to attack the scientist and ends up killing him. As his personal hand bag falls to the ground, the scene ends with the identity of the newly-deceased man being revealed as Victor Fries (voiced by Jim Meskimen), a.k.a. Mr. Freeze of the main DC Universe.
We then cut to a pair of would-be Atoms as Ryan Choi (voiced by Eric Bauza) manages to place some small living horses onto the back of a truck. With his speech in hand, Dr. Ray Palmer (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is on his way to present his shrunken stallions to the senate committee as part of his presentation on “Molecular Miniaturization”. As such, he takes his leave. Shortly afterwards, a Boom Tube opens up as another behemoth zooms past Ryan and knocks him over in the process.
After finishing a cell phone call to his wife, Ray finds himself under attack as the creature slices through part of his truck with a sword. He tries to drive away from his pursuer, but it manages to jump onto the back of his truck and starts attacking him through the roof. Ray tries to swerve back and forth in order to shake it off, but he’s ultimately forced to drive off the road as he crashes into the nearby forest.
Ray is able to escape his crippled vehicle and find a place to hide before the creature arrives. With its target nowhere to be found, it ends up kicking the truck down a chasm and starts walking away. At that moment, Ray is relieved that he gave his pursuer the slip.
Unfortunately, his cell phone starts ringing as it alerts the behemoth to his presence. Ray manages to silence his ringtone, but it’s too late as he’s found and killed off-screen while a mountain lion has caught one of the miniaturized horses.
We then cut to Batman in his lab as he’s having a video call with Will Magnus (voiced by C. Thomas Howell), who’s married to a woman named Tina (voiced by Grey DeLisle-Griffin) and has a robotic son/helper named Tin (also voiced by Dee Bradley Baker). It turns out that the Dark Knight is working on a cure for his bloodlust, but neither he nor Magnus has been able to make further progress as of recently. Will then informs his friend about Ray Palmer’s disappearance as the scene ends with Batman thinking about investigating the situation.
We then cut to a warehouse which also doubles as Silas Stone’s work station. After testing out his new arm cannon, he tells his son Victor Stone (voiced by Taylor Parks) about his recent venture to the Justice League’s headquarters. Suddenly, another gigantic being smashes into the building as it proceeds to attack.
Silas uses his own weapons to strike back and give his son the chance he needs to escape. Despite putting up a good fight, the creature gains the upper hand by ripping out a piece of the wall and throwing it, knocking Silas out. Just as it prepares to finish the good scientist off, Victor returns with a handheld RPG and proceeds to wail away at the opposing figure. However, he ultimately runs out of ammo. As such, the massive being charges up and delivers a massive blast that not only wipes out both Silas and Victor, but also destroys part of the building.
The next day, the police are at the crime scene as Lois tries to report on the situation. Superman and Wonder Woman also arrive to the dismay of Steve Trevor as the Man of Steel proceeds to look around the smoldering carnage. Upon seeing the skeletal remains of Silas and Victor Stone, he becomes aghast at what he has found. The scene ends with him getting contacted by Batman as he and Wonder Woman are to return to base.
Back at headquarters, the Dark Knight proceeds to show his teammates the unusual findings he discovered while looking over the three crime scenes. First, Victor Fries had his carotid artery severed. However, there wasn’t any frozen pool of blood lying next to the corpse. Next, he shows Ray Palmer’s mangled truck. Not only was the vehicle sliced up, but he discovered a boot print on its side. In addition, it was of diminutive size and also had a heel imprint. Also, Ray’s body hasn’t been found. Finally, Stone’s lab shown through a filter displays a heat streak along the ground, similar to that of Heat Vision. From there, the Justice League discover that someone is trying to frame them for the series of murders. The only connection between the three deceased scientists is that they each worked with each other in the past on government projects. Batman says that he’ll drop by Silas Stone’s office at Gotham University to get information, while Wonder Woman hopes to get a lead from Steve Trevor.
That night, Batman glides over to Gotham University’s Physics Department and makes his way into Silas Stone’s office. Once on the computer, he ultimately comes across a document titled “Project: Fair Play” and sees that a carbon copy of this document was not only sent to Silas via e-mail, but also Victor Fries, Ray Palmer and his friend Will Magnus. He then proceeds to copy the entire document onto his USB Drive. While the process is occurring, Batman notices a picture on the wall as it shows himself alongside Will, the rest of their classmates and Lex Luthor. From there, we flashback to his origin.
Our two young lads have just finished their graduation ceremony as a celebratory party awaits them tonight. Despite wanting to do some lab work, Kirk Langstrom gets invited by his friend Will on the behest that Tina will also be there, to which he accepts.
Later that night, Kirk is asleep in the laboratory as Tina and Will arrive to take him to the graduation party. Despite Kirk coming close to a successful test on blood coagulants, Tina manages to convince him to drop his research if only for tonight’s celebration.
Following the party, our threesome arrive back at their apartment. Shortly afterwards, Kirk discovers a model ship within a bottle. It turns out that Will had it built entirely by self-replicating nanites who are made up of a few metals. Kirk wants to use this nanotechnology on an organic plane, since he feels that it would remain stable to combat lymphoma. Just then, he passes out in an unhealthy state as the scene ends with Tina calling for an ambulance.
Over at the hospital, Kirk is in bed due to his own lymphoma. Meanwhile, Will looks over his friend’s research and is convinced about using the nanites in order to serve as a powerful agent and eradicate this illness once and for all. As such, he offers to lend a helping hand. From there, Kirk proceeds to check out of the hospital in order to finally cure his medical ailment.
Time goes by as their lab research ultimately comes across a possible antidote that’s helped out one lab mouse. Not wanting to let this opportunity slip away, Kirk decides to administer the formula into himself. Due to a shaky hand however, he has his friend Will inject him with the shot.
Later that night, he and Tina arrive back at their apartment in order to give Kirk some much-needed rest. However, the antidote has taken a different effect as Langstrom proceeds to trash his bedroom before running out into the night.
He ultimately makes his way towards the city as he stumbles through a back alley. He’s then confronted by two thugs who attempt to rob him.
However, Kirk soon discovers his newfound strength as he fends off his attackers and is even agile enough to dodge gunfire. After pinning down one of the thugs, Kirk takes notice of the blood dripping out the lowlife’s fresh wound. As such, he develops some fangs and proceeds to bite the guy’s neck in order to drink some blood. After regaining some self-restraint, the frightened thug runs off as the flashback concludes with Kirk discovering what the antidote has ultimately done. It didn’t cure him of his cancer, but it unintentionally gave him a way to fend it off.
We then cut back to present day where Batman has completely downloaded the important file. Hearing the door becoming unlocked, he grabs his USB Drive and escapes through the window before the janitor comes in to clean the office. From there, Batman proceeds to take his leave as he flies off.
We then cut to the next day over at Planet NWZ headquarters in Metropolis where Lois Lane is having a phone conversation with a White House aide about the three deceased scientists who supposedly worked for the president and wonders about a possible connection with the Justice League. Just then, Superman flies up to her office window. After being let in, he proceeds to tell her that Silas Stone was working on a special project inside their headquarters. Superman then offers Lois the exclusive chance to go inside and see the special program, to which she instantly accepts.
Later, Superman shows Lois around his homebase, starting with a Kyptonian generator that powers both the building and its force field. Soon enough, he proceeds to show off the rocket that brought him to Earth where he then accesses its computer files. Due to the damage that the data suffered from the haste evacuation, neither he nor the government has been able to decipher much, which is why he brought Silas Stone here in the first place. He’s able to show Kypton’s final moments where his father gives his DNA up before the rocket takes off. Despite his proclamations about wanting to be the people’s protector, Lois sees this as a thin veil and nothing more than an excuse to ultimately rule Earth. She mentions that Luthor extracted this footage in the first place and wasn’t entirely impressed, to which Superman says that he only seemingly delivers fierce justice due to his harsh background and also brings up the fact that Luthor is nowhere to be found. Just then, the tour ends when Wonder Woman arrives to inform him that they have an important phone call to answer.
After Lois departs, Superman and Wonder Woman proceed to have a video call with U.S. President Amanda Waller (voiced by Penny Johnson Jerald). She tells our heroes that the forensics team is linking the Justice League towards the three scientists’ murders and that they better properly address this issue to the authorities soon or they won’t have the luxury of her protection for much longer.
That night, Batman glides his way to the Magnus household. Upon his arrival, he discovers Will getting berated by Dr. Karen Beecher (also voiced by Kari Wahlgren). She despises his faith towards the Justice League and believes that the so-called “heroes” will eventually hunt them down.
After she storms out of the room, Will meets up with Batman and proceeds to tell him how Dr. Beecher thinks that the Justice League is purposely killing off prominent scientists. When the Dark Knight asks about Project: Fair Play, a program that Luthor created, Magnus isn’t able to give him anything important. As Batman is taking his leave, Tina arrives and tells him that she’s worried about her husband being too clever for himself. Kirk assures her that he won’t let anything bad happen to either of them before he departs through the skies.
Meanwhile, Steve in doing some bo staff training when a Boom Tube suddenly appears with Wonder Woman arriving through the portal. Trevor already knows that she’s come to him in order to find out what the Forensics Team has discovered, but he refuses to tell her. So, she proceeds to make a deal: They’ll have a Bo Staff duel. If she wins, she receives the data. If Steve wins, he’ll “get her”. As such, the two of them proceed to engage each other in combat. Wonder Woman ultimately defeats him, yet Trevor unintentionally sparked a bit of emotional rage within her when he discovers that she used to be someone else’s love. Steve tells her that Ray Palmer’s body was found, but it was also sliced in half, hinting that forensics is linking that murder to her own sword.
From there, we proceed into her backstory. On the planet Apokolips, a peaceful end has finally been brought to a millennial war. Highfather (voiced by Dr. James Kildare himself, Richard Chamberlain), the ruler of New Genesis, has agreed to a harmonious treaty with Darkseid (also voiced by Bruce Thomas), the ruler of Apokolips. The term is that Bekka, granddaughter of Highfather, will marry Darkseid’s son Orion (voiced by Josh Keaton).
On the eve of the wedding, Bekka is within her sleeping quarters when Orion flies up to her balcony thanks to his Astro-Harness. It turns out that he’s not supposed to be here given the current time, but he says that he’s not much into rules and wants to show something special to his “spitfire” bride. As such, she climbs on as they glide and zoom towards their destination.
It turns out that the planet Apokolips has a hidden area of grace and majesty as Orion takes Bekka to his special spot. Knowing that they must be on their guard for future treachery, he gives her a special wedding gift which turns out to be a sword. Not only that, but it also has a Mother Box built into the pommel. With such undeniable caring built towards one another, the two proceed to share a passionate embrace.
And so, the day of the wedding has arrived as Granny Goodness (voiced by Khary Payton) proceeds to declare the young lovers as husband and wife. As they make their way through their applauding loved ones, Bekka suddenly tugs at Orion to hurry towards the stars.
It turns out that Highfather had ulterior motives as he and his fellow warriors of New Genesis launch a surprise attack on Darkseid’s forces. Apokolips’ finest are caught off guard and are quickly slaughtered, capped off with Highfather using his cane to viciously shock Darkseid and kill him.
Upon seeing the treachery being laid upon his homeland, Orion returns to fight back. However, he’s quickly subdued by Lightray as Highfather proceeds to unleash his final strike. After a short while, Bekka comes in and uses her sword to smack the cane away. However, she’s too late as Orion succumbs to his injury. It turns out that Highfather was willing to let him live with his granddaughter, but not at the expense of the mission.
Robbed of a happy life to a man she’s grown to love, Bekka raises her sword towards her treacherous grandfather and says that she would have warned both her husband and his family if she could relieve the moment. With Highfather’s forces beginning to claim Apokolips as their own, he offers his granddaughter one last chance for “redemption”. However, she feels that there is no chance for such atonement as she actives the Mother Box in her sword and ultimately escapes to Earth as the flashback comes to a tearful end.
With the Justice League on the verge of becoming Public Enemy No. 1 due to the overwhelming evidence from the crime scenes, we cut to Batman stealthily overhearing a private meeting of the government’s most renowned scientists. From Will Magnus (accompanied by his wife Tina) to Karen Beecher, they’ve gather at the home of Doctor Sivana (voiced by Daniel Hagen) to talk about Project: Fair Play and whether or not the attacks represents the Justice League’s attempts to keep them quiet. When they bring up the plan’s creator, they also mention how no one has recently seen Luthor.
Just then, Batman hears a Boom Tube opening in the front lawn as he sees his similarly-shaped behemoth arriving to finish the job. Kirk proceeds to attack his gigantic counterpart as the scientists watch the brawl occur from inside. Just then, two more Boom Tubes open as the two remaining creatures arrive to carry out their mission.
Upon their smashing entrance into the house, the three monstrous beings proceed to slice, stab and incinerate every last scientist until only Will and Tina Magnus remain. Tin comes in and tries to help out his master, but is quickly dealt with.
Batman tries to come to their rescue, but is knocked back by one behemoth as another one uses its sword and impales Tina. Kirk ultimately attacks her executioner, but Will is confronted by another gigantic being and ends up getting incinerated with its Heat Vision. Just then, Superman and Wonder Woman finally arrive and attack their lookalikes. Shortly afterwards, all three creatures activate their Boom Tubes and depart.
Afterwards, the Justice League arrive back at the carnage as Batman is distraught for not being able to save Tina. Just then, they discover that despite him suffering from third-degree burns, Will Magnus is still clinging to life. As such, they take their friend back to headquarters in order to heal him. Afterwards, the Justice League proceed to talk about their attackers. Batman says that the government has been trying to harness Boom Tube technology ever since Bekka’s arrival and that maybe someone has finally mastered it. With even more overwhelming evidence now hanging over their heads, the scene ends with Kirk suggesting that they get help from a specific person.
As such, we then cut to Superman flying up towards space as he arrives at a satellite within Earth’s orbit. After being let into the construct, he learns from a more physically-deteriorated Luthor about Project: Fair Play. It turns out that it was a program that would be used to effectively combat and permanently wipe out the Justice League. However, Lex isn’t the one behind the devious master plan, since he’s only interested in knowing about the entire universe. Superman discovers that this knowledge is mainly derived from the same rocket that brought him to Earth in the first place and that he was given fake copies. As such, he’s rightfully angry that his own “legacy” was kept from him for so long. Lex then reveals what really happened during Kypton’s final moments: How Jor-El was supposed to end up as his true father, but Zod ruthlessly interfered and gave his own DNA instead. Not only that, but his biological father was the one who ultimately doomed his home planet. Luthor says that he originally kept this information away due to the fear of Superman becoming too much like his dad. After Lex informs him that his original files are in the hands of President Waller, Superman takes his leave.
Just as he starts making his way back to Earth, one of the behemoths uses a Boom Tube to enter the satellite and unleash its attack. As the construct blows up, Superman looks back in horror as he now believes that Lex has been killed off.
Even worse, Earth’s defense satellites catch this act and believe that Superman has killed off Luthor as Steve Trevor contacts President Waller on what just happened. With the breaking point finally tipped, she gives the order to launch Project: Fair Play.
With every last citizen of Metropolis evacuated, Steve proceeds to lead the U.S. Military towards Justice League headquarters in order to arrest them. Not willing to go down before knowing who’s framed them, Superman and Wonder Woman decide to hold off their opposition while Batman activates the tower’s nearly-impenetrable force field.
Lois is also at the site for her news broadcast when she suddenly gets a call from Jimmy Olsen (also voiced by Yuri Lowenthal). He’s hiding in the police office’s morgue where he’s going to get some video of the dead scientists’ bodies. Suddenly, a coroner and a cop walk in and find him. Olsen is captured as he’s escorted out of the room, but the scene ends with the coroner discovering that one of bodies is missing.
Meanwhile, Superman and Wonder Woman head outside to confront the military while Batman activates the building’s force field. Shortly afterwards, Kirk is stunned and surprised to see that Tina is alive and well. However, it turns out to be a trap as he’s easily pummeled.
Shortly afterwards, Tin arrives and proceeds to restrain Batman. Meanwhile, the fake Tina makes her way over to Will Magnus’ corpse and proceeds to give him a shot, bringing him back to consciousness.
Outside, Superman tells the military that Magnus is healing inside and that he’s the only one who can help them prove their innocence. When he refuses to hand Will over, Steve proceeds to fire a shot at them. Superman tries stopping the blast with his hand, but is pushed back from the force. Not only that, but he discovers that it actually hurt him. From there, the military proceeds to fire away as Superman and Wonder Woman are forced to fight back in order to protect themselves.
Back inside, Batman is shocked to not only see Will Magnus completely healed (due to the organic nanites), but that he was the one who framed Kirk and his teammates all along. He tells Batman that the military’s laser guns shoot out the same radiation as the red sun, which causes Superman to start losing his powers. He then explains how Platinum came to be. Will was jealous of Tina’s undying care for Kirk and she kept pushing her husband to help him find a cure for his cancer. Eventually, his inner rage caused him to accidentally kill his year-old bride when he hit her and Tina’s head ended up striking a table, where she instantly died. From there, he molded a platinum isotope into her likeness. Afterwards, his “Metal Men” arrive with the centerpiece of his plan. Since a creative genius like himself is capable of such a violent act, then similar horrors would continue throughout humanity. That’s why he ultimately created the Nanite Bomb, a device that will send billions of nanobots through tiny Boom Tubes around the world and each one would be implanted into the minds of everyone on the planet (including the Justice League), thus he would achieve interconnection throughout Earth.
However, the reason he hasn’t committed this act yet is because he didn’t an energy source that could supply his device with the much-needed power. Now, he finally has it: Superman’s childhood rocket. As such, he and his Metal Men head out to prep their ultimate plan.
Back outside, Superman and Wonder Woman continue their tussle with the U.S. Military. They manage to defeat some of their opposition, but the radiated lasers start to take their toll as Superman collapses from the intense pain. Wonder Woman fights her way towards him and tries to teleport them out, but she discovers that her Mother Box has been neutralized. With our heroes still refusing to stand down, Trevor and company ready their weapons and prepare to permanently finish them off.
Just then, a Boom Tube opens in the middle of the battlefield as Lex Luthor emerges from the portal alive and well. He tells everyone that he teleported out in time before the blue Metal Man caused his satellite to explode, but he’s not able to beam himself into the Justice League’s headquarters. Luthor then tells Steve that Will Magnus is the true mastermind behind the framing of our heroes and that his plan to interconnect everyone on the planet is close to happening.
Back inside, the Metal Men are close to completely hooking up the Nanite Bomb to Superman’s rocket. Suddenly, they feel the building vibrating in short bursts. They discover that Superman and the military are trying to make their way inside, but the force field is able to withstand its ground. Not even Wonder Woman’s own Mother Box is able to create a Boom Tube inside the building.
With time running out, Superman flies up into space and uses the gravitational pull from reentering Earth’s atmosphere to land a vicious punch onto the building. This gives Batman the chance he needs as he kicks open an electric surge and backs Tin into it, severely damaging the robot and freeing Kirk from his bonds. Upon discovering what happened, Will sends his Metal Men after the Dark Knight, but not before Batman is able to reach the controls and shut off the building’s force field.
This allows Superman to fly in and save his comrade as he carries the Metal Men across the city and down into the subway. Shortly afterwards, they merge together to become a single Metal Man. From there, Superman receives a severe beatdown as the behemoth is able to constantly uses Boom Tubes to teleport towards a distinct advantage and keep up its vicious attack. Even when Superman is able to cause some damage with his Heat Vision, it’s able to instantly repair itself due to its own nanites.
Back at Justice League headquarters, Will preps the Nanite Bomb and starts its countdown. Batman comes in to try and stop him, but Platinum knocks him out and tries to finish him off. Thankfully, Wonder Woman manages to save him as the two of them proceed to engage each other in final battle. Meanwhile, Batman confronts his former friend. However, Magnus possesses enhanced strength as he begins his final fight.
Back with Superman, his fight with the Metal Man continues to be fierce. Fortunately, he turns the tide in his favor by using his X-Ray Vision to discover three Mother Boxes inside of the creature and uses his Heat Vision to incinerate them out of existence. From there, he proceeds to punch the Metal Man towards the Earth’s core where he permanently finishes it off by submerging it in the molten lava.
Back at Justice League headquarters, Wonder Woman continues her tough fight with Platinum. Bekka continually finds herself getting cut up while her foe is able to recover from any battle damage due to its nanites. Fortunately, Wondey ends up getting the last laugh after stabbing her foe initially does nothing. Just as Platinum is about to finish her off, Wonder Woman activates the Mother Box on her sword and sends her metallic menace through a Boom Tube where she’s sent towards the sun and ends up incinerated.
Meanwhile, Batman has his final fight with Will Magnus. Both sides are able to swap punches and kicks, but Will is able to heal from his injuries due to the nanites. In the end, Kirk manages to get the drop on his former friend as he delivers a barrage of punches to Magnus’ face. With blood pouring out, Will tempts him to drink his vital fluid. Thankfully, Batman refuses to give into his bloodlust and just tosses him onto the ground. Afterwards, he tries to deactivate the Nanite Bomb. Just then, Wonder Woman comes in and jabs the timer with her sword, canceling the countdown. However, the rocketship’s core starts to destabilize.
Fortunately, Superman arrives back at headquarters to help take care of the situation. As such, he carries his childhood rocket out past Earth’s atmosphere and throws it into space where it proceeds to safely explode. With his mission ending in failure, Magnus ends up committing suicide as he activates a device that nullifies his own nanites and proceeds to disintegrate into dust.
We then cut to one week later where clean-up is still going on, but the Justice League has continued to grow in respectability. Meanwhile, Bekka is taking her leave in order to address the problems of her past back on her home world. Luthor arrives to accompany her, as well as explore other universes. Before he leaves, Lex gives Superman a data sphere containing all of the original Kryptonian files and tells him to use all of its vital information to help make Earth a better place.
With that, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor depart through a Boom Tube. With their newly-acquired information, Superman and Batman decide to get started on using it to help out their home planet. As such, the film ends with Supes telling his fellow hero: “The past is like another planet” as the final shot focuses on a picture of Kirk’s bittersweet past with him alongside his two deceased friends.
Because we’re dealing with an original story, I’ll jump right into my character analysis. First up. we’ve got Batman. From the looks of his backstory, the earliest version of Kirk Langstrom we’re given seems to make him somewhat nervous and anti-social. Thanks to Tina, he had someone who gave him compassion and let him know that someone cares for him. Even though Will served as his friend, he became unaware that their female friend would unintentionally become the one thing that turned his best pal into his mortal enemy. Entering the film, we knew that he had cancer and his backstory inadvertently gave him another way to combat it: gain a bat’s characteristic of drinking blood from his victims and fuel his body with fresh red juice. It’s unknown in this present time whether he’s cured of his cancer and he’s just stuck with his vampire-like thirst or if he still has the fatal illness and needs to suck blood in order to stave it off, but this character trait is definitely an interesting variation to someone who’s originally Man-Bat in the main DC Universe. Michael C. Hall mainly brings a soft-spoken delivery to the role, but he brings his voice to a necessary level when he needs to such as the scene where he’s alongside his fellow Justice League teammates and he’s distraught over the death of “Tina”. Also, he also delivers some sarcastic tones during some of his dialogue, which delivers some generally funny moments. Overall, Hall succeeds in a somewhat mysterious, yet generally grounded performance for this alternate Dark Knight who fits the film’s “Monsters” motif.
Next in line, we’ve got Wonder Woman. On the surface, she’s an extremely-skilled, tough-as-nails warrior who can goes toe-to-toe with the best. However, her characteristics reveal something personal and hauntingly emotional. Ever since the incident on Apokolips destroyed her chance at a lifetime of eternal happiness alongside a man she came to love, she’s never given romance another shot. True, there was no need or time for romance due to the main purpose of the story, but she would only accept friendship from other men and not compassion. As seen in the third episode of “Gods & Monsters Chronicles”, Steve Trevor quite possibly comes the closest to rekindling her deep emotions to someone again, but it’s mainly sly romantic banter. After the main conflict is dealt with, she finds it within herself to head back to New Genesis in order to confront her past and hopefully, she’ll be able to find love once again. Tamara Taylor gives Bekka a confident tone in her voice and is moderately effective in bringing this New Goddess to life. She throws herself into the role and delivers with the right amount of fury and vigor.
Finally, we have our Superman. This last son of Krypton flaunts the same powers as our main Man of Steel, but he shares a similar ruthlessness that his biological father had due to his rough upbringings. Fortunately, he still shows compassion, especially when he discovered Silas Stone’s skeletal remains. Near the beginning of the film, he does teeter around a god complex due to the overpowered nature that he and his teammates possess. Of course, that comes into play later on with Magnus. So, upon learning the truth about his heritage and foiling Will’s plan does he ultimately earn back said data from Lex and is also given a proper tool to help build a better world. Benjamin Bratt has a commanding presence in his voice that fits really well with this version of Superman. His tone and delivery makes him a leader that sounds intimidating and fierce, yet it never overpowers anyone else. Side Note: This Superman’s real name is Hernan Guerra. The reason I didn’t bring it up during the story recap is that unlike Batman and Wonder Woman whose names are addressed, it’s never spoken of during the film. This confused me after I went online and discovered the real name of this Superman. More than likely, it’ll be addressed once I get to the film’s tie-in comics. However, that’s kind of a problem if a movie wants to stand on its own merits.
The god complex that’s mentioned early on is a neat way to set up our villain plot. With his world domination plan to interconnect all of humankind, Will is similar to Dr. Horrible in that he thinks he’s making the planet better by ruling it himself. Fueled by the jealousy that he created due to his wife showing ample amount of concern toward Kirk, Magnus ends up becoming the true monster of this piece by killing off every scientist involved in Project: Fair Play. Therefore, it’s only fitting that it’s one monster that ultimately stops another with Batman forced to fight his former friend with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. As usual, the animation is very fluent and runs very smoothly from start to finish. If there was anything I would criticize, it would be the graphic nature of how the remaining scientists got killed off. Even though it’s part of Magnus’ plan, a few moments look a little too gruesome for a PG-13 film. Also, I would have liked more subtle hints on Will’s developing hatred during Kirk’s flashback or at least have some visual story-telling of what happened when his jealousy peaked. After all, movies are a visual medium. Even though Magnus’ explanation was well-told, it did break the “Show, Don’t Tell” rule to me. Other than that, there’s not much else to complain about here.
Overall, this is a very effective tale. The animation is solid, the characters are engaging, the voice acting is superb and the story does a nice job in weaving its tale involving its own universe of literal gods and monsters. More character development on our three heroes will come in my DC Subsidiary series, but that’s for another time. In the end, hunt down this film after viewing the Chronicles online in order to see this effective Elseworlds entry.
Next Time: We’re heading back to Gotham City where a new opposition has arisen, but they’ve caused the Dark Knight to disappear. In order to find him and stop this menace, Damian, Dick and Alfred will be getting new additions to their Bat-Family as we dig into “Batman: Bad Blood”.
Justice League (created by Gardner Fox), the New Gods (created by Jack Kirby) and all related characters are owned by DC Comics.
