DVD News: Warner Home Video announces Superman: Unbound and Justice League: Flashpoint

tazmaniak

Back in April, Kevin Conroy revealed he'd just finished voicing Batman in a Flash movie he identified as Flashpoint and in July, Molly Quinn (Castle) said she was voicing Supergirl in a movie based on Superman: Brainiac. Now, we have the official announcement.

Superman: Unbound will be the second DC animated feature of 2013, following Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2. It will be released in the summer, coinciding with Man of Steel. Justice League: Flashpoint will be the third release, arriving in the fall.

World's Finest

Will_TWOTH

Interested in seeing an adaptation of Superman: Braniac.

CaptShazam

So will the entire DC animated universe be rebooted after "flashpoint"?

batlaw

CaptShazam said:

So will the entire DC animated universe be rebooted after "flashpoint"?

Sweet baby Jesus please no.

Flagwaver

I second that. Right now the only DC content I am getting is the animated shows (IF THEY'D FRIKKIN AIR!) and the DCAU movies. If they switch to New 52 DCAU, I will be completely done with DC.

CaptShazam

I know it is way too soon but I can see a Batman court of owls cartoon in the future.

David_D

Is there such a thing as continuity in these Warner direct to video features? I know there was in the case of JL and JLU, but I thought these other ones were all stand alone features plucked from the history of successful past stories. And they don't seem worried about chronology (e.g. they didn't do Batman Year One first, nor, I imagine, do they intend The Dark Knight to be the end of their Batman features).

I don't think the New52 will cause that to change. Sure, they might do some New 52 stories, and I know those might be ones some of you will want to skip, but I don't expect they will draw a line and force all the future animated features to be in one continuity, as they don't seem to have worried about that up to now. So even if they did do a Court of Owls feature, I don't think that would prevent themselves adapt pre-New52 stories.

CaptShazam

@David_D

I agree. Do you think the flashpoint is an odd choice for an animated feature?

David_D

CaptShazam said:

@David_D

I agree. Do you think the flashpoint is an odd choice for an animated feature?

It did surprise me, as I don't think it was a particularly beloved story. But as I think the Justice League Crisis on Two Earths feature was successful, maybe they saw this as another opportunity for that kind of story, that allows for alternate versions of the characters? It might be that was enough for them to go on.

Also, even though Flashpoint ended up being a dud in the comics, considering how long it takes most animated features to get made, they likely were developing (and even starting to produce?) some of this Flashpoint movie before all the comics were even out. So maybe they started down the road on this one before the fan reaction to the comics it is based on was in.

CaptShazam

@ David_D

It surprises me as well. It just seems to me to be a choice that will only appeal to a narrow audience.

Of course, the animation projects are almost always top notch. I expect this one to continue that.

David_D

CaptShazam said:

@ David_D

It surprises me as well. It just seems to me to be a choice that will only appeal to a narrow audience.

Of course, the animation projects are almost always top notch. I expect this one to continue that.

I agree that the brand awareness is more narrow than something like The Dark Knight or Year One. But I wouldn't be surprised if they marketed it as more of an alternate world Justice League story. I think that, along with concepts like a continent conquering Aquaman, and a sort of Batman and Superman they have never seen before, might be enough to sell it to people who never even knew there was a comic called Flashpoint.

Chuck_Melville

David_D said:

Also, even though Flashpoint ended up being a dud in the comics...

Was it!? I don't recall that being the case. I thought the sales were quite healthy, and I sure thought the series was a damn good read.

luckymustard

There needs to be a rotten tomatoes percentage for comic books. Thenwe could say whether or not Flashpoint was critically praised.

jaydee74

Flashpoint as an animated movie? I agree that it's an odd choice. Also, where the heck is my Judas Contract? That so needs to be made. I would also love to see a Court of Owls movie. That would rock. Also, as a Green Lantern fan, I want a Sinestro Corps War in the worst way.

dubbat138

I can't be the only one wanting "Dark Knight Strikes back" can I?

Paul

David_D said:

Is there such a thing as continuity in these Warner direct to video features? I know there was in the case of JL and JLU, but I thought these other ones were all stand alone features plucked from the history of successful past stories. And they don't seem worried about chronology (e.g. they didn't do Batman Year One first, nor, I imagine, do they intend The Dark Knight to be the end of their Batman features).

I don't think the New52 will cause that to change. Sure, they might do some New 52 stories, and I know those might be ones some of you will want to skip, but I don't expect they will draw a line and force all the future animated features to be in one continuity, as they don't seem to have worried about that up to now. So even if they did do a Court of Owls feature, I don't think that would prevent themselves adapt pre-New52 stories.

You're right. There isn't any sort of continuity between these, as evidenced by Dark Knight Returns sitting alongside All-Star Superman, Public Enemies and First Flight et al. They're all standalone.

Chuck_Melville

I'd really like to see a Crisis On Infinite Earths movie, though I do wonder if the logistics would make it feasible. They've toyed with aspects of it in various animations from time to time, and I'd really like to see the epic itself brought to the screen.

Switching to a minor DC player, I think the Time Masters mini-series of the late 80's with Rip Hunter would make a great candidate for a film, with various DC guest stars from past and present times making appearances while Rip hunts through time for the secret that will defeat the Illuminati.

I don't know if DC would want to do them now, since Bary Allen has returned as the prominent Flash, but there are a few of the Wally West stories that would make good films, including my favorite, The Return Of Barry Allen, in which Barry Allen seemingly returns from the dead just a few years after the Crisis where he was killed.

For that matter, the Classic Flash Of Two Earths would be a great candidate for a film!

dubbat138

Chuck_Melville said:

Switching to a minor DC player, I think the Time Masters mini-series of the late 80's with Rip Hunter would make a great candidate for a film, with various DC guest stars from past and present times making appearances while Rip hunts through time for the secret that will defeat the Illuminati.

Well if Black Panther can get a animated tv show Time Masters can get a DTV film.

jaydee74

Flash of Two Earths would be amazing and lots of fun.

Paul

David_D said:

CaptShazam said:

@ David_D

It surprises me as well. It just seems to me to be a choice that will only appeal to a narrow audience.

Of course, the animation projects are almost always top notch. I expect this one to continue that.

I agree that the brand awareness is more narrow than something like The Dark Knight or Year One. But I wouldn't be surprised if they marketed it as more of an alternate world Justice League story. I think that, along with concepts like a continent conquering Aquaman, and a sort of Batman and Superman they have never seen before, might be enough to sell it to people who never even knew there was a comic called Flashpoint.

It's being sold as Justice League Flashpoint, so I think the story will not only include more characters, but it'll be more tightly paced than Geoff Johns's standard "why do in a page what you can take an issue or two to get done"

I think much of the fan reaction to Flashpoint, and indeed the reason it sold as well as it did, was the fact that, by then, people knew it was leading to the relaunch, and wanted to see how that happened. The thing is that fandom at large don't always want journeys, they want destination, and Johns is an all-journey kind of writer.

jaydee74

I am curious to see how this animated Flashpoint will differ from the source material.

Paul

Chuck_Melville said:

Switching to a minor DC player, I think the Time Masters mini-series of the late 80's with Rip Hunter would make a great candidate for a film, with various DC guest stars from past and present times making appearances while Rip hunts through time for the secret that will defeat the Illuminati.

This! This! This! A thousand times, this!

I loved that series! It was coming out just as I was getting back into comics after an absence of several years. It would make a fantastic animated movie!

tazmaniak

First look at Superman: Unbound.

T.V. Guide

Starring the voices of Matt Bomer (Clark), Stana Katic (Lois), Molly Quinn (Kara) and John Noble (Brainiac).

Matt

dubbat138 said:

I can't be the only one wanting "Dark Knight Strikes back" can I?

Yes.

M

tazmaniak

Superman: Unbound trailer. This is the 17th DC Universe Animated Original Movie and the first to have no involvement from Bruce Timm.

http://youtu.be/EpnT__PBd6Q

LibraryBoy

They've done 17? Really? Huh. Does that include each of the Showcase shorts separately?

tazmaniak

LibraryBoy said:

They've done 17? Really? Huh. Does that include each of the Showcase shorts separately?

No, it doesn't include the Showcase shorts.

01. Superman: Doomsday
02. Justice League: The New Frontier
03. Batman: Gotham Knight
04. Wonder Woman
05. Green Lantern: First Flight
06. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
07. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
08. Batman: Under the Red Hood
09. Superman/Batman: Apocalypse
10. All-Star Superman
11. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
12. Batman: Year One
13. Justice League: Doom
14. Superman vs. The Elite
15. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1
16. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2
17. Superman: Unbound
18. Justice League: Flashpoint

shroud68

I love that they are doing so many films as the animated universe is a great replica of what we read in comics. My only complaint is the multiple versions of the characters as they differ from film to film. There is no world building which is my favorite part of the DC universe. I love the quality so for 80 minutes I'm loving it I just wish for more consistency film to film.

batlaw

Im all for Flashpoint. I liked the Superman brainiac story and this is looking good (but lame name). The the Superman design is kinda blah and takes away from some otherwise fantastic looking animation. I love love love that their doing these and Ive enjoyed them all to varying degrees but all good and I hope they dont stop. I just wish they would risk exploring some other characters. As is theyre getting less interesting and enjoyable.

DoctorDoom

batlaw said:

Im all for Flashpoint. I liked the Superman brainiac story and this is looking good (but lame name). The the Superman design is kinda blah and takes away from some otherwise fantastic looking animation. I love love love that their doing these and Ive enjoyed them all to varying degrees but all good and I hope they dont stop. I just wish they would risk exploring some other characters. As is theyre getting less interesting and enjoyable.

They'll only do characters that will definitely sell.

tazmaniak

First image and synopsis for Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.

When time travel allows a past wrong to be righted for The Flash and his family, the ripples of the event prove disastrous as a fractured, alternate reality now exists where a Justice League never formed, and even Superman is nowhere to be found. Teaming with a grittier, more violent Dark Knight and Cyborg, Flash races to restore the continuity of his original timeline while this new world is ravaged by a fierce war between Wonder Woman's Amazons and Aquaman’s Atlanteans. With breath taking action and an all-star voice cast, it's a bold, emotional vision that will forever change the landscape of the DC Universe.