Superman and DC fans might want to crucify me for this, but honestly it would seem that apart from Christopher Reeve and his ability to bring the man of steel to life, the animated versions seem to have done a much better job of carrying on the legacy than any other movie. Perhaps it’s because there are fewer limits when it comes to animation, or maybe there’s just more of an ability to tell a story with a voice actor than there’s ever been with a live actor that has a limited range. Whatever the case, Superman has been a lot more convincing when it comes to his animated movies than anywhere else apart from a couple of live action movies that were worthy of legendary status. The battles that this hero has had and the heroes he’s fought beside are nothing short of epic, and it would seem that animation captures it best.
Here are five of Superman’s best animated movies.
5. Superman/Batman: Apocalypse
As if Kara crash-landing on earth and stumbling around without a clue as to what was going on, Darkseid becoming aware of her presence only makes things worse. While Batman’s mistrust of Kara is kind of misplaced Superman and the dark knight do eventually realize that she’s not evil, just untrained and unaware of how earth culture works. When Darkseid takes Kara and brainwashes her though she becomes a potent weapon in his arsenal that could spell big trouble for anyone in their path. Thankfully the heroes manage to subdue her, save the day, and bring her back to earth where she begins to acclimate to her new home.
4. Justice League: Doom
The one thing that many people took away from this besides the fact that the enemies of the Justice League found a way to play on the vulnerabilities of each member is that Batman provided the method for which to do it. Knowing that someone on your team has contingency plans for taking down his fellow heroes if they decide to go rogue is a good and bad thing to be honest, but it’s not exactly the way one gains trust among their peers. Before he could be voted out Batman quit, even after defending his position. This is further proof that despite being an asset to just about any team, Batman is one huge liability as well.
3. Justice League: War
In a way this almost sounds like the basis of the Justice League movie we already got but with Darkseid instead of Steppenwolf. The plot is kind of the same since the Mother boxes are present on earth and the Parademons are attempting to get them for their master. Plus there’s even a moment when Superman is fighting Batman and Green Lantern since he’s under the impression that they’re working with the Parademons. It’s kind of a mess really as it gets going but it turns into the kind of story that might have elevated the Justice League in the opinions of many had it been the movie we received.
2. The Death of Superman
This was one of the saddest and darkest stories that any fan of DC could recall since for years and decades even it was believed that Superman was supreme, that there were few if any that could give him a serious run for his money. Then Doomsday quite literally beat the man of steel into a bloody pulp, and the immovable object had to give way to the irresistible force. The worst part was that Doomsday, despite being knocked out, wasn’t killed since he was incapable of being destroyed in such a manner. People were actually freaking out as to whether or not Superman was really dead, since it was the death of a legend.
1. Reign of the Supermen
Some folks actually became irritated at this in the comics since there were so many different stories and so many versions of Superman that started popping up left and right that it was hard to know just which way to look. The idea that each one of them was more capable of greater violence than the straight-laced man of steel ever was proved to be interesting, but eventually the convoluted nature of the overall story started to wear on people as clones, robots, and legacies continued to be unveiled and pushed in a manner that seemed to indicate that it would never end. Once the whole thing finally got sorted out it was great, but by that time it was too late since Steel had already come out and the name of Superman was tarnished for a while.
For whatever reason, Superman seems to be more popular when he’s kept in the realm of animation since his powers, his character, and his adventures are simply more entertaining. Maybe one day a live action movie will come along that’s loved by everyone.
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