If you’re not a fan of the DC Cinematic Universe, you should check out DC animation. The DCEU got off to a rocky start, but where their live-action movies faltered, their animated movies succeeded. Well, at least most of them. For me, it all began with the animated Batman series and as time went on, the animation of DC has only become more impressive. For instance, Kevin Conroy’s Batman sounded cool (the most iconic voice) but he didn’t fight like the Batman we know. Shortly after the 2000’s began, technology became more advanced and it allowed some animated Batmans to bust out their moves. One of them is the one that belongs to the DC Animated Movie Universe, voiced by Jason O’Mara. Sure, he’s no Kevin Conroy, but he gave us a cool Batman voice.
All of this talk of DC animation is leading to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, the final film from the animated movie vault. To have more fun during quarantine, I bought a copy recently and gave it a watch. My reaction to it was a lot more than I expected. Not only was the action cool, but it crossed some lines that the superhero genre is normally reluctant to cross. Here’s a bit of a spoiler alert: it doesn’t have a happy ending. In fact, if you still haven’t watched it, but plan to, I suggest you stop reading now, because I will give spoilers.
If you’re a comic book junkie like me, you’ve most likely kept up with the previous movies that kicked off this animated DC universe. To be honest, it did the job that the DCEU tried to do, which was to build a shared universe with all the DC characters. First came Justice League War, then several other sequels followed, and these films covered the other major DC teams, including Teen Titans, the Suicide Squad, and Justice League Dark. Some were good, others not so much, but it really became a shared universe. That’s amazing, and what I love about it is that it spent several years developing these characters so they can eventually all band together and fight evil. Does that sound familiar? If you weren’t already thinking about the MCU, I would have to call you a liar.
When I talk about the evil the heroes faced, I’m speaking of the original Thanos, better known as Darkseid. How fitting that the greatest villain of the MCU should have a DC counterpart that’s actually even more dangerous. Not only was he the main inspiration behind Thanos, but his role in the DC Animated Movie Universe was closely similar to how Thanos played his in the MCU. When he invaded Earth, he inadvertently incited the creation of the Justice League, the team of the big DC heroes. They defeated him, and Darkseid vowed to return. It took him a while, but he made good on his promise.
Does this sound like the MCU Thanos? If that doesn’t sell it, just think about what DC was doing between War and Apokolips War. There were movies introducing other heroes to the Justice League, such as Aquaman (although that one was ehh) and giving the Suicide Squad and Justice League Dark their own movies. If that doesn’t sound like their following the path of the MCU, then I don’t know what does. All those standalone movies eventually led to the ultimate team-up against Darkseid’s bigger and badder invasion of Earth. In past superhero stories, that would usually mean good would triumph over evil. In this case, however, Darkseid was prepared and soundly defeated every hero that came at him. Basically, the first ten minutes of Apokolips War is Avengers: Infinity War.
What comes after that? Well, just remember what happened in Avengers: Endgame. The heroes actually failed to save the day and there was nothing they could do to reverse it. In an unexpected move, there was a pretty lengthy time jump and a lot of things happened during that gap. To sum it all up, the heroes had nothing else to do but lick their wounds. If you thought it was hard on the MCU heroes, the heroes of the DCAMU got it ten times worse. Batman was taken prisoner and brainwashed into becoming a servant of Darkseid, Superman lost his powers due to being injected with liquid Kryptonite, and a handful of other heroes, including Wonder Woman, are mutilated and brainwashed into becoming Darkseid’s elite guard. Oh yeah, talk about losing.
So how do they come back after this? Well, when the top dogs of DC fail, you must turn to the unusual ragtag heroes of DC. Just because Superman was powerless, doesn’t mean he was useless. Despite the devastating loss, his unrelenting resolve is what truly prevailed. He and Lois Lane helped organize a new kind of Justice League that took the fight to Apokolips. One of the central characters of this new League was John Constantine, one of DC’s biggest anti-heroes. If you miss the live-action show, this will certainly compensate for that loss. Constantine was pretty much the big hero of this movie and unlike Superman, his primary goal was redemption. His proficiency in magic and supernatural connections gave the League a significant edge in their fight against Darkseid.
Who else assisted the League? A whole new Suicide Squad led by the main woman herself, Harley Quinn. Under her command was Bane, Black Manta, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang, who surprisingly played the role of the hero rather well. Oh, and guess what big DC supervillain lended his support? Superman’s very own arch nemesis, Lex Luthor, who was originally a member of the Justice League, turned-servant of Darksied, turned-mole for the resistance of Earth. Yeah, Lex Luthor helped in typical Lex Luthor fashion, but believe it or not, he actually did put himself to good use. Luthor, Lois Lane, and Harley’s Suicide Squad even sacrificed themselves to give the League a fighting chance. Now that’s sacrifice.
If that doesn’t get you going, Batman’s son, Damian Wayne, played a big role in the film as the League’s substitute Batman. To be honest, I was never a big fan of this character, but this version actually intrigued me. From the beginning, we saw him as the devoted grandson to Ra’s al Ghul, then transition to Batman’s sidekick, then become a prominent member of the Teen Titans. It was great character development and it led to an emotional confrontation with a brainwashed Batman. Heck, he even manages to score with Raven. Speaking of Raven, she’s the daughter of Trigon, a very powerful demon. The heroes were so desperate, they needed to release him in order to give Darkseid a physical challenge. That was an awesome fight, but what came next was even more epic.
To sum it all up, Darkseid was defeated and sacrifices had to be made and the cost of victory took a toll on the heroes. I just can’t spoil it fully because I feel like fans should watch that for themselves, but I can promise you that it actually rivals Endgame’s emotional ending. It’s amazing that a short animated film can have so much in common with Endgame, but it really was an epic and emotional rollercoaster. I can only hope that the DCEU will follow the steps this animated universe took.
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