Hello, my friends. The world is constantly plunging us into a chaotic attempt to make sure that we properly balance our lives within a system that’s as righteous as we’re able to make of it. However, that notion can get potentially rocked to its core as a result of a major tragedy. On that note, we’ll see how it comes to pass as I welcome you back to another entry of…
Comic books and video games have had a longtime relationship between each other, especially when famous characters of the ink & panel get to embark on a special adventure within the digital realm. While this isn’t the first time that we’ve talked about a film that’s intertwined within a gaming series, our subject for this review will see certain heroes locked against each other in a personal struggle. As such, it’s time for me to bring my own law & order to the animated movie version of…
Released on DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray and for digital download on October 19, 2021, this film is based on the first entry of the NetherRealm Studios-developed fighting game series of the same name (specifically, “Injustice: Gods Among Us”), as well as a thirteen-issue tie-in comic called “Injustice: Gods Among Us-Year One” that was originally written by Tom Taylor. So, what harrowing situation will Earth’s mightiest heroes find themselves in? Let’s place this on justice’s scale and find out.
We open in Metropolis as Kal-El a.k.a. Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman (voiced by Justin Hartley) overhears the morning hustle & bustle of the city’s patrons from his bed via his super-hearing. Suddenly, his highly-advanced hearing begins to pick up a pair of heart beats from his wife Lois Lane (voiced by Laura Bailey). Just as she wakes up, he realizes that she’s pregnant as she also learns of this joyous news before they share a tender kiss while hovering over their bed. From there, he begins to frantically ponder where their child should go for their education. She assures him that they’ll have plenty of time to figure that out before she heads into the bathroom in order to get ready for work. Suddenly, Kal’s super-hearing picks up a certain situation from afar as he zooms out to deal with it.
Following the title card, we cut to a warehouse where Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman (voiced by Black Bolt himself, Anson Mount) is able to beat up a group of thugs. Just as the remaining goon is about to shoot him from behind, Superman speeds in and crushes his gun before Bruce takes the fleeing perp out with a Batarang. He then tells Kal-El that the Joker is in Metropolis and that he wants to know why. Just as Clark is about to deliver some personal good news, Batman says that Lois is pregnant and that he easily found out due to Kal’s trembling right hand. From there, Bruce takes a USB Drive from a defeated thug and accesses its contents which involved S.T.A.R. Labs. Wayne congratulates him for this joyous moment before he tells Clark that he’ll take his leave from the city once he captures his foe. From there, Batman makes his signature stealth exit.
Over at the docks, Lois is with photographer Jimmy Olsen (voiced by Zack Callison) as he takes some pictures of a shady dealing from afar. Lane notices that the fiends aren’t with their boss as she suspects something fishy and wants to get moving. However, Jimmy wants to get one more shot. Unfortunately, he comes across a familiar figure who fires a gun at him as the bullet goes right through the camera and strikes Olsen, instantly killing him. It turns out that the murderer was the Joker (voiced by Kevin Pollak) as Lois tries to run away. However, she gets hit on the head and winds up unconscious by Dr. Harleen Quinzel a.k.a. Harley Quinn (voiced by Gillian Jacobs).
Over at S.T.A.R. Labs, Batman comes across a ransacked lab where its main content was stolen. Later, Superman arrives at the docks as he horrifyingly discovers Jimmy’s lifeless body. After removing the smashed signal watch from the former photographer, he suddenly gets a fierce chill as he realizes that Lois has gone missing.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Bruce demands to know why the scientists were experimenting on Kryptonite, to which the head technician says that they weren’t going to weaponize it. Instead, they were trying to find out if it could help them cure diseases or even be used as a power source. Shortly afterwards, Kal-El zooms in and informs the Dark Knight that he can’t find Lois. After discovering one of Joker’s cards at the crime scene, Supes asks his friend to help him find his wife, to which he silently agrees.
After Superman flies off, Batman heads out while contacting his fellow Justice League members as he asks for as many able bodies as he can get in helping him search for a missing person that’s been captured by the Joker. Oliver Queen a.k.a. Green Arrow (voiced by Dr. Dan Lewis himself, Reid Scott), Hal Jordan a.k.a. Green Lantern (voiced by Brian T. Delaney), Victor Stone a.k.a. Cyborg (voiced by Brandon Micheal Hall) and Diana Prince a.k.a. Wonder Woman (voiced by Korra herself, Janet Varney) receive the call as they learn that Lois has been captured. Bruce then tells Diana to head over to the Metropolis docks in order to find out if there’s any witnesses who spotted her or the Clown Prince of Crime and that he’ll meet up with her there.
Meanwhile, Batman gets in contact with Barry Allen a.k.a. Flash (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) and tells the Scarlet Speedster to check every underground corner of the city. Barry ultimately runs into a subway tunnel before he hears some looping laughter coming from a side room. He heads inside and discovers a makeshift, yet ransacked lab with a giant jack-in-the-box that’s emitting the eerie laughs. Not only that, but he also notices Jonathan Crane a.k.a. Scarecrow and finds out that the fiend has been killed by Joker’s toxin. Suddenly, some fear gas gets pumped into the room as it reaches Flash and paralyzes him in absolute terror. He then sees an illusionary pair of skeletal arms popping out from the floor and grabbing his legs before an actual buzzsaw shoots out from the wall and fatally slices him.
Shortly afterwards, Wonder Woman contacts Batman after capturing the familiar goons and informs him that the Joker is fleeing from Metropolis via a stolen submarine. Superman then flies in and locates them via his X-Ray Vision before he tells Bruce that it’s missing a warhead. From there, Supes dives in and easily lifts the submarine back onto the dock before he bursts in.
He then makes his way to the central chamber as he manages to locate Joker and Harley. However, Scarecrow’s fear gas has been emitted throughout the inside of the seacraft and is able to affect Kal-El. As Superman demands to know where Lois is, they step aside before he’s suddenly met upon by the monstrous being itself: Doomsday. Fueled by his determination to make sure that no one suffers from the being, he flies into the infamous creature and carries it out of the submarine before he heads towards outer space with it.
Back on the ground, Joker & Harley attempt to flee in order to avoid the wrath of other heroes. However, they get caught within a giant green hand as Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Batman arrive. Bruce then analyzes the fear gas and learns that it’s been combined with Kryptonite particles. He then demands to know what his foe has just done, to which Joker says that he’s pulling off his greatest joke ever and that it’s his “masterpiece”.
Batman then contacts Superman and tells him that whatever he’s seeing, it’s not real. By the time Kal-El snaps out of his fearful rage, he realizes too late that it wasn’t Doomsday that he took into space, but it was actually Lois herself. He then notices a scar on her chest before he uses his X-Ray Vision and discovers a trigger that’s been placed on her heart. Back in Metropolis, the missing warhead is inside the clock tower and has a receiver on it. Just as Lane’s heart finally stops beating, the warhead gets detonated as Metropolis gets engulfed in a nuclear explosion, while Green Lantern uses his ring to protect himself, his fellow heroes and their culprits.
With the entire city in nuclear ruin, Superman mournfully returns to the former city of Metropolis with his dead wife in his arms. Meanwhile, the Joker has been placed in Arkham Asylum as Batman demands to know why he decided to go through with this sinister scheme. Joker explains that he got tired of constantly losing to the Caped Crusader, so he decided to make it easy on himself and go after someone who wasn’t used to consistently fighting him.
Back with Supes, he’s met by Wonder Woman who assures him that he shouldn’t blame himself for this horrid turn of events that the Joker has thrusted upon him. Kal-El then gives Lois’ corpse to Diana before he takes off. Shortly afterwards, he’s met upon by Green Lantern. Superman demands to know where the Joker is at, to which Hal says that Batman has taken the fiend to Arkham Asylum. Supes then begins to fly towards the building, but Hal encases him in a green ball of will and tells his comrade to take some time in order to properly process his “unfathomable loss”. However, Kal-El refuses to comply and easily punches his way out. Green Lantern then tries to stop him again, but Superman easily swipes the ring off of his hand as he reverts back to his flight suit and falls out of the sky. Supes manages to save him before Jordan warns him to not do something that he’ll regret throughout his life. However, Kal-El says that he already has before he flies off.
Over at Arkham Asylum, Joker tells Batman that he’s “the punching, kicking embodiment of wrath” because “someone” has taken “everything” from him. He then asks what will become of Superman after what he’s been put through, to which Bruce says that his comrade will grieve, yet he’s “incorruptible” and will ultimately be “the best man” he’s ever known. However, Joker doesn’t believe it before he mentions that “the world will burn”. As he proceeds into his maniacal laugh, the whole building starts to shake before Superman ultimately bursts into the interrogation room. From there, the unthinkable act happens as Kal-El rams his fist through Joker’s chest and kills him to the shock of Batman.
We then shift over to Gotham City at night as Harley is being driven to prison by a pair of cops. They all hear on the radio that the Joker has been slayed by Superman as one of the officers even describes it as “good news”. This shocks and angers Quinn as she breaks free and subdues both officials before she steals their police car.
Later, she arrives back at the hideout (in particular, the Gotham Pranks warehouse) as Harley sings a brief song about her deceased “puddin'”. Suddenly, she’s met upon by Green Arrow before she throws a small clown bomb at him. He’s able to shoot an arrow at it, but he gets knocked down by the explosion. From there, Quinn runs in with a mallet and attacks him with it. However, it turns out that she accidentally used a toy mallet. She then takes out a gun and aims it at him, but Oliver manages to recover before he lodges an arrow into the chamber. Amazed by the impressive accuracy, Harley wants him to do it again. However, Queen simply traps her within a net arrow. As he drags her away, he says that he’s taking her to a secret location. She then incessantly asks several questions to him before he gives her a special arrow that emits sleeping gas and knocks her out.
Up in the Justice League Watchtower, Superman overhears several newscasts about the recent event as Wonder Woman and Batman approach him. Bruce criticizes Clark for not being the better man in that moment, since it can lead to fatal consequences. Supes says that those consequences have already happened in the form of 11 million dead citizens, along with his wife and unborn child. Wayne says that they’re not executioners, but Diana chastises him for all of the times that he arrested the Joker, only for the fiend to regularly escape. Batman says that the law must be followed, but Prince tells him that those laws are utterly “weak & ineffective” and that they’re either “twisted by evil people to escape just punishment” or they “don’t apply at all”. After they notice that the newscast has also reported on some overseas bloodshed, Superman agrees with Wonder Woman. Bruce warns him to reconsider, since it would tarnish everything that the Justice League and himself are supposed to represent. However, Clark refuses to support “ideals that don’t protect the innocent” before he and Diana take their leave.
Later in Bialya, Superman forces his way into the President’s office and forcibly takes the corrupt leader named Hussein away in order for him to properly stand trial over in The Hague (over in the Netherlands and home to both the United Nations’ International Court of Justice & the International Criminal Court). Over in his hideout, Green Arrow learns of this from a newscast before Harley wakes up and finds herself handcuffed to a column. He tells her that they’re in the Arrowcave, which is located underground and completely lead-lined in order for her to avoid Superman’s wrath. She then criticizes the name of his hideout before suggesting a better one: the Quiver. She then makes a seemingly innocent request before Ollie knocks her out again with another sleeping gas arrow.
We then cut to the next day as Superman makes a speech in front of the United Nations. With Wonder Woman by his side and with the Justice League viewing this broadcast from the Watchtower, Kal-El proceeds to share his former Earth-based identity of Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent to the populace. He then says that no matter a person’s “lands, beliefs or petty squabbles”, he’ll make sure that the incident in Metropolis never happens again. As such, he officially announces a worldwide ceasefire that will immediately go into effect and that all global hostilities will stop, or else he’ll rub them out himself. Though the crowd initially hesitates, they ultimately applaud his course of action.
We then cut to Superman and Wonder Woman setting their worldwide mission into motion. As the newscasters report, Kal-El is able to destroy the corrupt military might of M’Gota (a fictional country) and end its devious government’s “genocidal war” against its own people. Over in Kashmir, he then meets up with Diana as they proceed to tear that country’s own military vehicles & armaments apart before they declare it as “an arms-free zone”. Afterwards, Clark is able to get the leaders of Israel and Palestine to agree on his peaceful terms.
Later, several heroes have gathered in the Justice League Watchtower in order to talk about the recent events. Batman argues that the team shouldn’t serve as “the world’s police force”, since their current actions could see them devolving into tyrants. Wonder Woman counterargues by saying that Superman’s actions over the past week proves otherwise and that justice is actually being served. However, not everyone on the team is liking this new direction as Arthur Curry a.k.a. Aquaman (voiced by Derek Phillips) refuses to let Kal-El’s new world order take hold over his kingdom of Atlantis. Not only that, but Nathaniel Adam a.k.a. Captain Atom (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) says that the officials over at the Pentagon won’t also be willing to allow this. Another fellow hero also joins the discussion as Patrick O’Brian a.k.a. Plastic Man (voiced by Oliver Hudson) asks how the punishment process will be handled, especially since he used to be a criminal and even needed multiple chances in order to turn his life around.
Diana says that the punishments will fit whatever crime was committed, but Aquaman doesn’t like how she and Kal-El will be the ones who get to “decide these punishments” as he decides to step down from the Justice League. Not only that, but Billy Batson a.k.a. Shazam (also voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) is also backing out of the team since he and the majority of the magic-based heroes have the same opinion as Arthur. Even Green Lantern isn’t able to join this new world order, since he and his fellow Earth-based Emerald Knights (in particular, John Stewart & Guy Gardner) have been ordered by the Guardians to head towards Oa. Batman says that everyone here understands, especially since they all have “to make their own choice about this”, to which Wonder Woman says that it’s something they agree on. From there, the meeting is adjourned as the Justice League gets fractured by this brewing conflict.
We then shift to an undescriptive Middle Eastern country as a pair of U.S. drones are looking to take out the leader of a terrorist group, even though their upcoming strike would potentially cause some collateral damage via the loss of some innocent lives. One of the drones manages to fire its missiles, but Superman interferes before he takes both of them out. Back in the war room, a U.S. General tells the President (also voiced by Kevin Pollak) and his aides that Kal-El would go on to sweep every last one of their drones out of the skies. After the General mentions that there would’ve been some lives lost as a result of the strike if it was successfully executed, a military aide tells the President that Superman is carrying out his promises of protecting people from harm. However, the General says that this was an act of treason, especially since Clark isn’t solely stopping other foreign governments with his act. As such, the President asks him how he’s proposing to respond.
As such, we shift over to the Kent Family Farm over in Smallville. As Jonathan Kent (again voiced by Kevin Pollak) is asleep, he’s suddenly approached by a group of armed soldiers who quickly subdue him. Pa is then approached by Evan McCulloch a.k.a. Mirror Master (again voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) who gives his team the order to “light it up”. From there, they proceed to use several incendiary grenades and set the farm house on fire. Afterwards, the group reconvenes as Mirror Master uses a device on his belt to help them escape through a mirror.
Shortly afterwards, Superman arrives too late to stop them. Evan then communicates to him through the mirror and assures him that his Earth-based father is alive, yet he’s in a place where he’ll never find him. Mirror Master then tells Kal-El that as long as he stops going after the world’s governments and only emerges to deal with alien threats, then Pa will stay unharmed. In his anger, Superman punches the mirror before Evan threatens him by mentioning that if he doesn’t comply with these demands, then his father will be slowly sent back to him in severed pieces.
We then cut to the Fortress of Solitude as Kal-El ponders about his own global mission for a bit. Wonder Woman then tells him that even though he’s hit this major setback, he still needs to push forward with his original intention. Superman then says that his father is his last link to his humanity and that he can’t afford to lose him, to which Diana says that he can rely on his fellow super-powered friends to help him out of this situation. From there, the scene ends with her asking him who’s responsible for kidnapping his dad.
Later, Wonder Woman arrives with Cyborg and Hawkman at a seedy & villain-filled bar called The World’s End. She assures their foes that they’re not here to fight them and that they’re only here for Mirror Master. Shortly after she spots him, she heads over to talk to him. However, his holographic form vanishes before he properly pops up in a nearby mirror and tells her to leave. However, he’s soon approached by Raven as she partially exposes him from the mirror in order for Diana to wrap her Lasso of Truth onto his neck. She then takes out her sword and being to press the pommel onto the mirror, slowing making it crack. Evan says that he was following orders before Wonder Woman tells him to cough up Jonathan Kent’s location. As she continues to shatter the mirror, he reveals that Pa is being held within Salar de Uyuni over in Bolivia. After he gets pulled out of the mirror, Diana then tells him to remove his clothes.
Later, she and Superman arrive at their destination before she gives him Mirror Master’s belt. She then tells him that once he enters this vast reflective field, there will be a squad of ex-special forces & a few superpowered villains standing between him and his father. When Kal-El asks her if Batman helped her in retrieving the belt, she silently signals that he didn’t. After he gets assured by her that he’ll find his dad, Superman proceeds to fly in and begin his rescue mission.
Later that night at the White House, the General informs the President that their plan to halt Supes’ New World Order has failed. As such, he gets told to come up with a new strategy before he’s excused. Afterwards, the President gets met upon by Batman who criticizes him for foolishly going after Superman’s parent. Bruce says that he won’t tell Kal-El about this, but he warns the Commander-in-Chief that his life will be in danger should Supes ever discover that fact. Not only that, but Clark would make sure that there wasn’t a single piece of evidence to prove his sudden assault otherwise, since it would only look like the President has suddenly gone missing while his corpse would actually get sent all the way to a distant planet. The President then says that Superman wouldn’t commit such an act before he looks for some conformation for his notion, but Batman simply takes his signature silent leave.
Later on in the Bat Cave, Dick Grayson a.k.a. Nightwing (also voiced by Derek Phillips) is having a training session with Damian Wayne a.k.a. Robin (also voiced by Zach Callison). Dick is able to defeat Damian due to the youthful warrior being overly-aggressive with his legs and for constantly trying to hurt his adversary. Grayson then reminds the young Wayne that there are criminals out there who truly deserve another chance at redemption before brushing off the fact that the lad used to be in the League of Assassins with his grandfather. In his anger, Damian throws his escrima stick at Nightwing. Thankfully, Superman was able to speed in and catch it. Realizing that Kal-El has arrived in order to talk with Bruce, he and Damian take their leave, but not before the latter commends Clark for doing what had to be done towards the Joker.
Afterwards, Superman asks the Dark Knight why he didn’t help him save his father. However, Bruce says that he was doing his part before he tells Kal-El to stop his global operation, especially since it’s bringing unwanted fear towards any would-be dictator. Clark says that it’s a good thing, since it prevents those tyrannical leaders from harming innocents. Batman reminds him that he killed a man, to which Superman says that the Joker was a monster. Bruce says that they can’t act as executioners, especially since their tendency to spiral out of control can get started by a single kill. Kal-El then says that he originally came here to make peace with him, but he instead feels like his fracturing friend doesn’t understand the magnitude of how much the Joker has taken from him, to which Bruce simply tells him that he’s “in pain”. Clark then criticizes him for spending so much time in his cave while he neglects his attempts to console Dick & Damian, especially since they’ve suffered their own losses. This angers Batman as he punches Superman in the face, yet Kal-El doesn’t suffer any significant damage while Bruce ended up hurting himself. Wayne then reluctantly shows off his injured hand as Clark uses his X-Ray Vision and tells him that he’s suffered a hairline fracture with some minor ligament damage, yet he’ll recover in a few weeks. Afterwards, Superman tells him that he’s making an announcement in Gotham tomorrow and would like him by his side. However, Batman declines as Kal-El takes his leave.
Back in the Arrowcave, Green Arrow watches a newscast where Wonder Woman announces that North Korea has been stripped of its nuclear armaments as their warheads were confiscated. However, the reporter does mention that the country fought Diana and ended up with “several hundred casualties” before they finally lost to her. As Harley joins him over at his main console, Oliver wonders why no one is calling Superman out for his actions and whether Batman is okay with all of this. Suddenly, Bruce makes his hacking presence known to inform him that he isn’t. From there, he tells Queen to bring some of the special arrows that he made and to keep Quinn in his hideout.
Over with Superman, he tells the Gotham reporters that while he regrets having to kill the Joker, he doesn’t like it how there’s individuals who’re trying to defend the actions of similar psychopaths. He then brings up the notable inmates over at Arkham Asylum and how the institute has constantly tried to bring them some much-needed care, but he says that those insane individuals aren’t worthy of said help. As such, he announces that he’s moving “the worst criminals to a secured facility”. Over in the Bat Cave, Batman, Nightwing and Robin were able to watch this while the two former figures have prepped the Batwing in order to head out and stop this act. Bruce then tells his son to hop in, but Damian says that he’ll only do so if they’re going “to help Superman burn Arkham to the ground”. He then chastises his father for being on the wrong side of this situation before Wayne and Grayson silently fly off. On their way towards the twisted facility, Nightwing says that while he understands why they have to stop Kal-El from going through with his current action, he tells Bruce to not be so hard on his son, especially since he had far more time to properly mold Grayson into the hero that he is.
Meanwhile, Green Arrow is driving towards the infamous facility as well. Batman informs him that Cyborg and Wonder Woman are also on their way there and that he’ll be there shortly. Oliver then tries to call him out for secretly bugging his hideout, but the Dark Knight simply hangs up. Shortly afterwards, Harley reveals that she was hiding out in his car, especially after she somehow broke out of his safe room. She then says that she wants to bring down Superman, especially since she declares herself as a hero. After she climbs into the front passenger seat, she then puts on a gas mask before she subjects Queen to one of his sleeping gas arrows. Despite him getting knocked out, they end up speeding right towards their destination before crashing their way in.
Over within Arkham Asylum, the on-staff doctor assures Superman, Wonder Woman & Cyborg that her subject is making progress with his treatment. However, Diana says that they’ve lost faith in the facility and that their inmates “will be moved”. Shortly afterwards, Batman and Nightwing come in to stop them. To their surprise however, Superman’s group was expecting their arrival since Robin had joined them as Kal-El lets Bruce know that he’s not going to stop them.
Wayne tries to tell him that he doesn’t belong here, but a particular inmate named Victor Zsasz (also voiced by Reid Scott) says that Superman now has his own scar and is able to feel the freedom from that murderous release. Shortly afterwards, Kal-El gives Victor the order to transport Zsasz to his new containment as the fiend gets sucked into a portal. Wonder Woman then has Stone do the same thing for Mad Hatter before Batman warns him to stop. Just as Cyborg is about to send the Riddler away as well, he suddenly gets viciously shocked as the Dark Knight is causing this via a receiver on his utility belt. After Nightwing gets him to stop, Victor then accesses the data stamp on the virus and discovers that Bruce uploaded it onto him when they first met back in 2012. As such, both sides are preparing to engage each other.
Suddenly, Harley comes over the loudspeaker and tells the Caped Crusader that she intends to help him. With her in the main control room, she ends up freeing the inmates as they proceed to swarm our heroes. As such, Batman and Superman agree to put their feud with each other on hold for now.
From there, a massive fight breaks out as Kal-El initially goes up against Waylon Jones a.k.a. Killer Croc (voiced by Edwin Hodge). Suddenly, he finds himself duking it out against Clayface. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman is able to subdue Poison Ivy while Batman delivers a shocking strike to Bane.
Over with Robin, he starts off in a fierce fight against Deadshot before he’s suddenly approached by Solomon Grundy as the massive, undead fiend grabs him by his head. Fortunately, Superman uses his Heat Vision to slice the ghoul’s limb off before flying into the massive being in order to attack it.
Meanwhile, Nightwing helps Damian out of Grundy’s severed hand before they find Deadshot, Calendar Man and the Riddler bearing down on them. Robin finally defeats the infamously-accurate assassin, right before the Riddler was about to deliver a surprise attack. Damian then proceeds to chase after him, while Dick is easily able to defeat Calendar Man.
He then notices that Robin has caught up to the Riddler and is starting to ruthlessly beat him up. Grayson then tells him that when he was the Boy Wonder, he didn’t pummel his foes up while they were in a helpless state. However, Damian tells him that he’s not Robin anymore before throwing his escrima stick at him. Unfortunately, it ends up viciously striking Nightwing in the head before he limply falls over. The young Wayne then rushes over to his side and begs him to get up, but to no avail.
At that moment, Superman is fending off Solomon with his Freeze Breath before he notices the grim fate that has fallen upon Dick. As such, he viciously flies right through Grundy and finally defeats him. From there, Kal-El brings the brawl to an end by slamming his fist into the ground and causes a massive shockwave that knocks over everyone. He then tells the inmates to get back in their cells, to which they comply. Batman then rushes towards Grayson’s lifeless body as he discovers what his son has accidentally done. Despite Robin saying that Dick had always dodged his past stick throws, Bruce shoves Damian away before he picks up Nightwing and begins to head out. As Kal-El and his group look on, Robin says that he didn’t mean to do this. However, the Dark Knight simply says that he was wrong to try and redeem his son.
Later, a small-time theft is being pulled off by Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman (voiced by Tiana herself, Anika Noni Rose) as she managed to steal a ruby. Suddenly, she’s approached by Superman who only wishes to talk to her. He informs her that Nightwing is dead and that Bruce will “need someone”. Selina then asks Kal-El why he can’t just talk to Wayne himself, to which Clark says that too much has happened between them before he flies off. Later, she arrives in the Bat Cave before she notices that Batman is relentlessly punching a post. Even worse, the constant strikes have caused his hands to bleed through his gloves. Catwoman is then able to get him to stop before she removes his cowl and tells him to not be Batman tonight. She then tells him to let himself “fall apart”, since she promises to hold him together. As such, Bruce proceeds to cry within her arms.
We then shift over to the afterlife as Nightwing wakes up and realizes that Damian was the one who accidentally killed him. He then sees a structure in the distance and assumes that it’s Heaven before he makes his way over there. As he reaches the main gate, he’s suddenly met by a mystical woman named Rama Kushna (also voiced by Laura Bailey) as she tells him that this isn’t his resting place. Instead, she brought his soul here in order to help her with a vital mission. She tells him that his world’s future is currently riding upon a dangerous thread and that she believes that his soul could help it “tip the scales”. From there, she proceeds to transform him into his new role & persona. Upon the completion of her spell and with him now having access to her own powers, Dick ends up in an astral form and with a new codename: Deadwing.
Over at the League of Assassins’ headquarters, Superman arrives as he meets up with Robin. Even though Damian has accepted his fault of accidentally killing Grayson, he tells Kal-El that they have far-more urgent matters to deal with. Not only that, but they’ll need more allies in order to properly combat his father. From there, Damian’s grandfather himself steps in as Ra’s al Ghul (voiced by Raza himself, Faran Tahir) admits to his previous attempts of trying to destroy Gotham City in order to “renew it”. Nowadays, he’s putting his own plans aside in order to help Clark create “the perfect Gotham” that they both want. As such, he offers his services to Superman. As Robin tells Kal-El that his grandfather has never bowed to anyone in his life, Ra’s even attempts to sweeten his offer by allowing him access to a project of his that would “immeasurably” help him. However, Clark declines as he doesn’t want to join forces with a villain before he flies off. From there, the scene ends with Damian asking his grandfather how they can convince Kal-El to finally team up with them, to which Ra’s says that he’ll simply wait for “time & circumstance” to come into fruition and finally make Clark reconsider.
Later on in the Justice League Watchtower, Superman meets up with Michael Holt a.k.a. Mister Terrific (also voiced by Edwin Hodge) as he’s mapping out the entire multiverse. He explains that there’s an infinite number of Earths containing alternate versions of themselves who’ve made different choices than what they made. From there, he designates their world as Earth-1. Afterwards, Kal-El tells him that he needs more of his T-Spheres in order to effectively eliminate their world of every single gun. As they both take their seat over at a Chess board, they begin to play as Michael says that it’s impossible to eradicate every last firearm. Even though Clark says that they could still remove the majority of them, Holt says that even though they could possibly do it, that doesn’t mean that they should, especially since the people would greatly revolt against that decision. As he gets closer to winning, Superman says that at least a lot of their fellow humans would be alive to voice their disapproval and would only be able to come after them with “sticks”. Mr. Terrific then decides that they should also get rid of cigarettes, since he says that they claim even more lives than guns. Not only that, but they should arrest every single smoker as well. From there, he says that they must also imprison anyone who drives above the speed limit due to the excessive number of traffic fatalities, lock up every pet owner who neglects to chain up their dangerous dogs and even rub out anyone who doesn’t recycle. During this whole argument, Michael was able to take advantage of this compounded guilt-shaming in order to turn the tide and win his chess match. Either way, due to the potentially escalating levels of never knowing when enough is enough, Holt says that he refuses to offer Clark any more of his T-Spheres.
We then shift over to Gotham as Green Arrow and Harley access a secret entrance within a public restroom before they descend towards a hidden base. From there, they meet up with Batman, Catwoman, Captain Atom, Huntress & Atom as Oliver sees that they’re not thrilled to see Quinn amongst them, but he tells them that he’s hiding her from Superman’s wrath. After Selina allows Harley to watch some TV as a distraction, they properly begin their meeting as Bruce says that Superman must be stopped, due to him not thinking straight. As such, he tells them that they’re going to break into the Fortress of Solitude in order to steal a Red Sun Cannon and use it to depower Kal-El. Queen then asks about the possibility if Clark is waiting there for them, to which Batman says that he has a contingency plan in place as Nathaniel says that it’ll be him fighting the rogue Kryptonian as a means of distraction.
Up in the Justice League Watchtower, Wonder Woman informs Superman that despite a small amount of human casualties, Cyborg & Hawkman have prevailed over Myanmar’s military and that their junta has fled as a result. Just as she mentions that his will shall be imposed over mankind, he asks her to refrain from that statement since he doesn’t see himself as a god and that he only wishes “to keep people safe”. Diana then confirms her faith in his notion by leaning in for a kiss, but Kal-El declines as he says that even though she’s been more than a friend to him in these insane times, it still hasn’t been long enough since Lois’ death for him to romantically move on yet. Suddenly, their sensors detect a pair of U.S. submarines off the Chinese coast as they assume that the President is trying to take advantage of this mostly-worldwide ceasefire.
From there, Superman flies towards the White House, enters the Oval Office and tells the Commander-in-Chief to call up the submarines in order to have them retreat. Kal-El then proves his might by picking up the President, causing the Secret Service to burst in and aim their guns at him. However, Clark easily disarms them by using his Heat Vision in order to heat up their firearms and forces the agents to discard their weapons. Superman then demands to know why the President is doing this, since it’s an authoritative act that he wouldn’t approve of. He then realizes that the Commander-in-Chief was in on this and that it was a huge distraction as Kal-El flies off.
Over at the Fortress of Solitude, Catwoman is able to pick the lock and let her teammates in. Just as Batman’s group is about to approach the Red Sun Cannon, they suddenly discover that Jonathan Kent is here as well.
As such, Bruce decides to terminate their mission and gives the order to retreat. Green Arrow then asks him why they’re backing out, to which Batman says that because Superman isn’t thinking clearly, he’ll think that they’ve come here in order to kidnap his dad. Unfortunately, they’re soon met upon by Kal-El who was able to defeat Captain Atom. Just as Clark tells them that they’re under arrest, he suddenly keels over in pain before it’s soon discovered that the Atom has shrunken down into his head and is using a shard of Kryptonite to subdue him. From there, Bruce tells Huntress and Green Arrow to go get the Red Sun Cannon.
Just as they reach it however, it gets blown up by Ra’s al Ghul and his armed League of Assassins before a fight breaks out amongst the groups. While Batman, Huntress and Catwoman do their part in fending off these enemy agents, Ra’s approaches Superman and helps him out of his current dilemma.
He places a mask over Kal-El’s mouth as a “highly-concentrated chemotherapeutic gas” gets into his system. With this form approaching him, Atom is forced to retreat. Unfortunately, he’s not able to escape as he gets enveloped before its radioactive nature viciously tears him apart and kills him.
Back in the physical world, Oliver is able to evade the enemy gunfire and take out several agents with his various arrows. During the commotion, Bruce is able to slip into a side room and discover a key Kryptonian device.
With every agent defeated, Queen then finds himself up against Superman as he preps a Kryptonite arrow. As Clark begins to approach him, Green Arrow fires away. Even though Kal-El is easily able to deflect it, the arrow gets accidentally redirected towards Jonathan as he gets hit by it.
