What is Elseworlds? It's the imprint DC used to tell out-of-continuity stories during the Post-Crisis years of its comic book line, acting as the modern successor to the Silver Age 'imaginary story' concept. Among the most famous of the Elseworlds stories include 1989's Batman: Gotham By Gaslight, the first story in this franchise starring a Victorian-era dark knight; 1993's The Golden Age, a saga of the post-WWII years for the heroes of DC's Golden Age; 1996's Kingdom Come, Mark Waid's critique of the decade's extreme superhero trends; and 2003's DC: The New Frontier, Darwyn Cooke's take on superheroes during the McCarthy years. The last known published Elseworlds story was the 2010 miniseries Superman: Last Family of Krypton, which sees Jor-El, Lara, and Kal-El survive the destruction of Krypton and adapt to life on Earth, and how its people, in turn, adapt to the emergence of a super-family.
The Elseworlds imprint of DC Comics has been dormant for a while now, but lately has proven to be good material for the DC animated films to draw upon. The second movie in the franchise, Justice League: The New Frontier (2008), was a near-faithful adaptation of Cooke's miniseries. Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015) could be seen as the first-ever animated Elseworlds story. Just this month, an adaptation of Gotham By Gaslight was released.
I felt that there are smaller, overlooked entries in the Elseworlds imprint that would be welcome additions to the film line, and one of my favorites just happened to pop into my head after giving it a recent re-read. The story in question is 1998's Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl, written by Barbara Kesel, drawn by Matt Haley, and inked by Tom Simmons.
In this particular corner of the Multiverse (or is it Hypertime?):
"Batgirl, fierce protector of Gotham City, trusts no one...least of all super-powered crimefighters. Supergirl, protégé of Metropolis magnate Lex Luthor and Justice Society member, trusts far too easily. When a kidnapping draws Supergirl to Gotham, the two heroes must save Lex Luthor from the clutches of the Joker...if they can find a way to work together."
With the Supergirl TV show popular right now, an animated adaptation of this story would be a worthwhile tie-in. Here's my voice cast for such a picture:
+Main Characters
-Adrianne Palicki as the voice of Supergirl/Kara Zor-El
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1597316/?ref_=nv_sr_3
"After Krypton's explosion and the destruction of Argo City, Kara Zor-El became the last living Kryptonian. She landed on Earth and was found by the Justice Society. Already knowing their heroic exploits, Kara joined them. Wonder Woman became her surrogate mother, and the Society her new family. Later she met Lex Luthor, and he became her mentor and friend. Working on a case along with Batgirl several years later, Kara discovered Luthor murdered her baby cousin and planned to kill her. He only befriended her because he wanted to manipulate her. Supergirl wanted to kill him but Batgirl talked her out of it, and helped the Kryptonian hero expose Lex's crimes."
I remember reading an interview a while back in which Palicki mentioned her wanting to either play Supergirl or Rogue of the X-Men at some point (this was years ago, mind you). Having already 'granted her wish' by casting her as the voice of Rogue in my "X-Men Legends: Rogue and Gambit" post from some years back, and now I finally get to utilize her in a specific casting I thought of for a while. For a story like this, she's got the perfect voice for the Woman of Steel.
-Krysten Ritter as the voice of Batgirl/Barbara Gordon
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1269983/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"Barbara Gordon was the daughter of James Gordon and Barbara Eileen Gordon, and on one fateful night upon returning from a movie, making a shortcut through an alley, they were met by the mugger Joe Chill, who intended to kill the young Bruce Wayne and his parents; in the confusion, her parents were killed before her, causing Barbara to pick up her father's gun and arrest Chill. Taking pity on the now-orphaned Barbara, she was taken in by the Wayne Family, close friends of the Gordons who saw to it that she was given the best. Barbara now wears the cape and cowl of Batgirl and rules Gotham with tyrannical furor, using both might and technology, having created the Oracle Supercomputer to aid her. Her secret identity and vigilante antics are known to her billionaire benefactor and confidant Bruce Wayne, while her day job is as a crime fiction writer whose books are based on her own cases."
Ritter, thanks to her performance as the title heroine of Jessica Jones, has the grit and tough attitude befitting this world's caped crusader. I thought of the casting as a nod to how Jessica Jones, in the comics, briefly operated as the vigilante Knightress--though in this case, a Knightress who went full-on Batman in her career.
*Yes, I was deliberate in my casting of two actresses nowadays associated with Marvel productions. Oh, the intended irony...*
-Michael Moseley as the voice of Bruce Wayne
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1134612/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"Billionaire playboy philanthropist, he is the equivalent of Alfred to Barbara, helping her fund her hi-tech gadgets and helping her hide her secret identity."
While seen right now on the Netflix crime drama Seven Seconds, Moseley's past roles on shows like Scrubs and Sirens were the basis for my casting him as Bruce Wayne: 100% billionaire playboy.
-Salli Richardson-Whitfield as the voice of Wonder Woman/Diana of Themyscira
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0724757/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"Leader of the Justice Society and princess of the Amazons, Wonder Woman acted as a mother figure to Supergirl during her early years on Earth. Before Supergirl's arrival on Earth, due to Batgirl's actions and that of the monitoring "Oracle Eye", Gotham has been completely sealed off from normal society. An embargo is in place forbidding any Metahumans from entering the city, unless Batgirl permits it. Wonder Woman disapproves of Batgirl's methods, and is put in a bind when Luthor is kidnapped moments after the team has left Gotham, per an agreement with Batgirl."
One of my favorite actresses in genre TV had what I felt to be the best voice for this version of the iconic superhero.
-Titus Welliver as the voice of Lex Luthor
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0920038/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"Alexander Luthor was a popular, wealthy businessman who amassed a vast fortune thanks to his genius, business acumen and considerably shadier methods such like hiring a hitman to assassinate the Wayne Family, or murdering an alien baby in order to research his physiology. In order to hide his criminal activities he passed himself as a philantropist an even became Justice Society of America's main backer and ally. When Kara Zor-El made it to Earth, Luthor imediately positioned himself like her friend and mentor, planning to get rid of her once her usefulness came to an end."
Welliver's got the charisma and stature to make it work as this version of Luthor--heck, he could even portray him in live-action, for all I know.
-Vincent Kartheiser as the voice of the Joker
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0440229/?ref_=nv_sr_3
"The Joker is obsessed with Batgirl and desperately tries to win both her attention and love. Has the strength, physique, and costume of a circus strongman, thanks to shots of the Venom steroid."
ILoveStargirl helped me narrow it down to the Mad Men alum, who I know would have a fitting yet unique take for this version of the clown prince of crime.
-Tom Skerritt as the voice of Emil Hamilton
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000643/?ref_=nv_sr_1
"A former partner of Lex Luthor, Hamilton wants revenge against him for taking all the credit for his discoveries--especially the solar battery created from researching the deceased infant Kal-El--and decides to use the Joker as muscle."
I felt this was a decent role for the veteran character actor, and I can then make the claim for first thinking of Skerritt for a CBM. Skerritt would do a good portrayal of the embittered, vengeful scientist of this story.
+Additional Voices
-Kevin Michael Richardson as Captain Marvel--er, "Shazam"
-Lauren Landa as Big Barda
-Laura Post as Hawkwoman
-Jason Spisak as Vectron, Tarantula
-Brian Stepanek as Green Lantern/Abin Sur
-Tara Strong as Dr. Midnite
-Wally Wingert as Ambush Bug
-Grey Griffin as Interceptor, Asteria
-Bryce Papenbrook as Tim Drake, Firestorm
-Matthew Mercer as Starbolt
Ladies and gentlement, thanks for your time. And now, please give it up for DEPECHE MODE: