While DC / Warner Bros. struggle to make a bit in the box office, the way Marvel Studios has been (excluding Nolan’s Batman movies), DC Universe Animated original movies has been quite the opposite. Have you thought why? The answer is simple: most of the stories (of these animation movies) have been heavily inspired from the comics, which have resulted in their success. One would then question, why they would not bring an original story. If you have read the comics, you’d realize the great stories that readily available – which they simply adapt. There has been so much thought and effort that went into these story arcs, in comparison to coming up with another original story is almost as reinventing the wheel (not to forget the additional cost). The Dark Knight Returns (based on Frank Miller’s comics) is the perfect example. Bringing back a masterpiece for the fans (by the way this one is on every Bat-fan’s top ten comic list), that’s a winning recipe. Not to forget, it will reach an even wider audience, the ones who do not have the patience to read the comics but would love to watch the animation instead (I know many, they do exist). Sometimes they do change around the story a little bit, add a few characters but the major plot is the same. They did a great job with Justice League: Doom.
Justice League: War is based on the story from the DC reboot series: New 52, Justice League Origin by Geoff John & Jim Lee. You can read the review here.
Another release has been scheduled for 2014, Batman & Son. Considering the comic book behind this, we are super thrilled for this release and are confident it will be a good flick. For the comic fans, there are a few variations against the comics: Deathstroke has been introduced in this one (which is DC is releasing it as “loosely” based on Grant Morrison’s work. This should definitely be entertaining. I hope this animation continues with Morrison’s story arc and not be one-off release like Justice League: Doom – would have loved to have seen a sequel to that. Or maybe even a prequel. Unfortunately, for the animation movies there have been no sequels or prequels. Nonetheless, they are still entertaining.
Watch the trailer here for Batman & Son:
Expected to release in Spring, 2014. Can’t wait for it, read the comic book first – read our review on that here.
