Jim Krieg started his writing career working on the likes of X-Men: The Animated Series and Ben 10: Alien Force before making the leap to the DC Universe. There, he's lent his talents to everything from Green Lantern: The Animated Series to Teen Titans Go!, Young Justice, and many more.
The prolific writer has also served as a producer on countless DC animated movies, both before and during the recent "Tomorrowverse" era.
With the Crisis on Infinite Earths trilogy, he returns to his roots as a writer and recently sat down with us to discuss his work on the third and final chapter. As well as sharing new details about Kevin Conroy's original role as Batman in the movie, Jim also takes us through the cameos which didn't make the cut, the logistics of telling this story, and why he made sure to give Batman Beyond a role here.
Finally, he addresses what comes next for the DC Animated Universe now that DC Studios is stepping in to tell its own DCU canon stories in this medium (which many fans have taken as a sign of these direct-to-Blu-ray movies reaching their end).
You can check out the full interview with Jim about Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part Three below.
This is the grand finale of the trilogy, but I wanted to start by asking what it was like writing that final line for Kevin Conroy’s Batman?
Wow, what a great question. It was very profound, but originally, that was a 3 or 4-page scene. The JLU characters were talking to him on comms and, after everyone called it out so much this week, I looked up the first draft because it had to be cut down for time or availability of other actors…or budget! I read it and thought, ‘Oh, what we ended up with was way better.’ It’s short, but it’s way better because that’s all that needed to be said, In retrospect now, I wish there was a whole longer scene and goodbye, but we didn’t know.
You mentioned the JLU and we get a glimpse into that world with John Stewart, so was it a priority to revisit that reality even if it is quite brief?
Oh yeah, absolutely. These people are so beloved and these versions of these characters really matter. We knew from the beginning we wanted to hit whatever animated universes we could and some were easier to do because we have those assets and character designs. I wouldn’t have minded visiting others, but we had to visit ones where the designs weren’t too shockingly different from ours. They had to live in the same universe. It would be weird if you cut to the Batwheels world, you know? It would be incredibly tragic [Laughs] to kill that world. It would be nightmare fuel.
You get the chance here to focus on Lex Luthor just like in the comics. How much fun was it to write that character given the circumstances and the fact he’s at his evil best here?
It’s wonderful to hear you say that because I have so much sympathy for Lex and kind of admire him in a way. His plan, which could in theory save everyone, has the idea of destroying Superman baked into it. You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs! [Laughs]
We’ve talked about the Super Friends before and you managed to get them into this movie. How was it revisiting them…and destroying their world?
I think the whole point is that none of these characters are dead. They’ll live forever. To some extent, they’ve all been reborn and continue to live. The Tomorrowverse will end and all of these other cartoons ended as well. The characters themselves live on and those versions of these characters could be reborn if somehow miraculously these old shows we love so much got rebooted in some way. They live in our hearts and will always be there. It was a shame we couldn’t have one of those voice chameleons like Eric Bauza do all those great voices from Super Friends because they’re etched in my mind as the voice of those characters.
Batman Beyond plays a role here too and has more to do in this threequel. Is there pressure that comes with that given how beloved he is and the desperation to see more of him on screen?
They’re so desperate for it that they were angry he didn’t have more to do in Part Two! I understand that. 30 years ago, Mr. Spock showed up in Star Trek: The Next Generation and they built it up and built it up and a few minutes later, it was over. It’s a little heartbreaking because I really wanted to spend some time with that guy because I missed him. The point of a cameo is you get to see them again and feel that emotion towards them. Then, the story has to keep rolling on because it’s not all about that character. It felt like an opportunity to include Terry and I can’t tell you how many times over and over we tried to bring back Batman Beyond, only for it to never get any traction. It’s a shame as I love that world.
At the end of the film, we see the creation of a new Earth-Prime. You wrap things up with a glimpse of a younger Wonder Woman, so what influenced that decision?
In the first draft, there was a check-in with a lot of the characters but quite frankly, we just didn’t have the money. The idea was they’d all be new versions of themselves, so they’d all have to be a new design. I wanted a coda with all of them showing Dinah and Oliver getting together…the goodbye between Huntress and Batman is nice and the flip in the new world was that, in the new world, they weren’t father and daughter. It was the Helena Bertinelli version but they’d have a connection because she’d say something like, ‘Always make sure the perp is unconscious’ and then it brings them together. It was supposed to be like the end of Heaven Can Wait where Warren Beatty’s memories are erased and he doesn’t remember his past but still has that connection. It’s a really sweet moment to have this longing to see these characters together and know that, in the new world, they are going to find each other. I hope there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lois and Clark won’t find each other on Earth-Prime. They do.
This is the end of the Tomorrowverse and DC Studios has its own plans now, so do you see these movies living on in some form moving forward?
I have no idea what the future holds in store. This was absolutely the time to pass the torch and I think we knew this was part of the design of these ten movies. We knew we had to get here for these last three movies and all the ones building up to it, I hate to break it down into practical terms, but we needed those assets even down to the shorts. I knew those dinosaurs had to show up in Crisis Part Three because it’s in the book and I wanted to get as much as that into the piece as possible. We needed dinosaurs, so The Losers fighting them was a way to do both that and have those assets available for this movie. That happened again and again and again.
Justice League Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part Three is now available on Digital, 4K UHD in limited edition SteelBook packaging, and Blu-ray.