JUSTICE LEAGUE: WAR Producer Discusses DC Animation

JUSTICE LEAGUE: WAR Producer Discusses DC Animation

Producer James Tucker discusses the future of DC's animated films.Producer James Tucker discusses the future of DC's animated films.Producer James Tucker discusses the future of DC's animated films.

By TwistedKingdom - Jan 22, 2014 10:01 AM EST
Source: Newsarama.com


At the world premiere of "Justice League: War" in New York Tuesday night, producer James Tucker discussed the direction Warner Bros. may be headed with DC Animation - a shared universe. Apparently there will be a continuity based off of (but not directly adapted from) the New 52.

"It's our own version of the New 52 universe, our own start," says Tucker. He also advises they'll leave room for original stories within the universe they create down the line.

Regarding voice talents, they hope to keep the voices consistent, though voice director Andrea Romano did caution since this is a series of films and not a TV series, some may have to come in and out. They may also recast to fit different art styles or story styles.

"We try to start from a story, then go to an art style, and let that dictate the rest," says Romano.

Dream projects Tucker and director Jay Oliva mentioned included "Gotham by Gaslight," "Red Son," "Long Halloween," and "Kingdom Come." They said that the last one would be especially difficult, as Alex Ross's art would be hard to mimic and animate. Tucker was also careful to emphasize "dream projects" as neither are in development.

"Son of Batman" and "Batman: Assault on Arkham" have been announced for 2014. But, thanks to an after-credits scene for Justice League: War, the next New 52 film may be heavily teased.

Justice League: War POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT!



After the devastation to Earth due to the attack by the forces of Apokolips, a shot of the ocean is shown. A vessel rises and Ocean Master, Aquaman's brother, emerges. In his arms is a dead old man. "The Surface Dwellers have killed our king. This is an act of war. And they will pay", says Ocean Master.

While the panelists wouldn't (or weren't allowed to) say any more about the scene or what it implied, they did reiterate that they had plans for Aquaman. When Newsarama asked if we'd see an adaptation of "Throne of Atlantis," the storyline that crossed over Aquaman and Justice League in the New 52, Tucker simply stated…

"You'll see a movie with Atlantis in the title."

"Justice League: War" is available digitally now, and on DVD/Blu-Ray February 4, 2014. What do you think about a shared animated DCCU?
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HavocPrime
HavocPrime - 1/22/2014, 10:41 AM
The film was good but it sorely missed Aquaman in it
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 1/22/2014, 11:04 AM
dc animation balls it's just creating the U on the big screen that seems to be the struggle . the comics actually are better than marvel at this point IMO just because of the direction of there events at this moment............
QuestiontheAnswer
QuestiontheAnswer - 1/22/2014, 11:11 AM
@knocturnalzen10
Actually Marvel has had some good ones recently like Infinity and Battle for the Atom. I heard Thor is great as well. DC's Batman though is moving from one great arc to the next, I wonder what they'll follow it up with.
DatScarletPimPerNeLL
DatScarletPimPerNeLL - 1/22/2014, 11:13 AM
For the life of me, I'll never truly understand WHY there is such a huge disconnect between the team of writers/directors who do the successful animated features & those who are in charge of the live action portrayals. Is it ego, money, status etc...where's the breakdown happening?
It's bittersweet that how but for a few very well executed/translated DC animated projects & features could move the WB/DCCU 5 or 6 steps forward, a mediocre to poor live-action representation can take it 2 or 3 steps back. Why is there no cohesive & forward thinking dialogue happening between the genres underneath the same umbrella no less? Quite frustrating.
batcheeks8
batcheeks8 - 1/22/2014, 11:17 AM
And they're going to shove Superman and Wonder Woman's relationship down our throats in the animated universe too. That much is obvious.

I really enjoyed JL: War but the obvious hints and Wonder Woman herself bothered me.
GeekyCheekyChic
GeekyCheekyChic - 1/22/2014, 11:26 AM
Loved it. I hadn't seen any trailers I just assumed it would follow Origin so I was pleasantly surprised when the little kid bust out SHAZAM!
After watching it I could see that New 52 is definitely the way DC movies are going and I totally understood why Affleck is Batman. If the JL movie is remotely like this then it will rock the box office hard.
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 1/22/2014, 11:48 AM
@
QuestiontheAnswer

INFINITY was ok for me , didn't like how it ended with Thano's son didn't like battle of the atom x-men has gone down hill for me . i enjoy x-force more at this point , but Thor imo close with batman arc recently are the best serise i've seen in a lil bit with guess who's back an the butcher
DukeAcureds
DukeAcureds - 1/22/2014, 12:09 PM
Official confirmation!!!
DCAU take two!!!
DCAnU!!!!
Awesome. Really hyped for Justice League: War and Son of Baman, now.
TheGambitFreak
TheGambitFreak - 1/22/2014, 12:42 PM
Shhhh... You're welcome.

JatevinM
JatevinM - 1/22/2014, 1:02 PM
I still dont understand why the people who write the animated features aren't the same people writing the live action movies. The animated features are really good.
redlion
redlion - 1/22/2014, 1:56 PM
@ OmegaDaGod

Totally agree with that. Mask of the Phantasm is the best CBM yet, imo.

Just curious, does that Omega actually have a meaning? Or is it just a random name you chose?
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 1/23/2014, 4:08 AM
I am looking forward to watching this. Hopefully the film will be good. I know DC's animation are top notch.
Luminus
Luminus - 1/23/2014, 4:58 AM
Here's my review (posted on Amazon) for anyone interested:

DC is pretty much the grand master when it comes to animated comicbook movies. As of late, they've started to take a curve toward a more mature tone (upping the violence, mild sexual inuendo, foul language -- that sort of thing) and this one is no different. There's even a small scene demonstrating a potentially dysfunctional family, when Batman is smashed against a couple windows as a toddler watches. The way he gets blamed for it is very familiar and ugly and is the kind of sutble adult themes DC adds to their animated movies that's just the icing on the cake.

In a nutshell, following on from the alternate universe (New 52) created by the previous movie, Flashpoint: Paradox, Darkseid's Parademons have infiltrated the earth and begun planting mother boxes so that they can open more boom tubes for the rest of the army in addition to preparing the earth for terraforming.

Batman and Green Lantern:
The banter between these two has been done very well, from the first meeting and Lantern's subsequent surprise that Batman is real to the way Batman just assumes control even though he's incredibly underpowered compared to both the villains and the heroes. I also love how Batman's detective skills are put on display as he name drops several alter egos of the Justice League members to their obvious surprise.

The Flash and Cyborg:
Unfortunately, the Flash doesn't get much to do here. We're shown a glimpse into his life in the police department and then he's in action as the Flash in an altercation involving Cyborg. Speaking of which, Victor Stone's story arc here is very impressive. I've never cared too much for Cyborg. Quite frankly, he just seemed to be a tacked on member of the Justice League. However, here we get some meaty character development with his issues with his father, the horrific accident (which they actually show) that leads to the operation which makes him Cyborg, and the eventual father/son friction resolution. I'm still not sold on the outfit, though.

Captain Marvel a.k.a Shazam:
Okay, this was a weird inclusion/substitution (Aquaman is missing for some reason), in my opinion. With Shazam on the team, I felt like the JL basically had 2 Supermen and thus would better be named the Unstoppable League. Really, the team is so incredibly overpowered in this movie it's a wonder there was even a challenge to begin with. I'm not very familiar with Shazam other than the few times I've seen him on film, but the portrayal of the character didn't seem at all out of place or annoying.

Darkseid:
I absolutely love what they've done with Darkseid. He's much bigger than he used to be and (YES!) he's got that scary, growling voice again as he should have.

Superman:
I'm not entirely comfortable with this version of Superman. He doesn't feel like the authority figure that I know Superman to be. This one seems more rough, for lack of a better word. What I do like about him is the no-nonsense fight he has with Green Lantern and Batman. This Batman vs. Superman fight is EXACTLY how it would go down. Period. It was a pleasure to finally see that. Some will mention the lack of Kryptonite, but Lex Luthor has access to Kryptonite and I think he's actually smarter than Batman and yet he STILL can't beat Superman.

Now to the cons, because there always are (some mild spoilers):

Wonder Woman:
Sigh. What happened? This version of the character is easily the worst I have ever seen, which is disappointing coming off of the spectacular Wonder Woman animated movie DC released. The entire scene with the ice cream and the little girl was so incredibly cringe worthy and ridiculous, I wanted to smack someone just for the heck of it. Just stop, whoever you are who thought this was cute. Just... stop. Wonder Woman gets called a word (rhymes with bore and happens at least twice) and doesn't open up a can of whoop-you-know-what on the moron who said it is just more flame to the fire. The incident is a sort of tongue in cheek moment (it involves cross dressing) that the producers probably thought was funny, but it's just one more nail in the coffin for the character in my opinion. I know it's just a guy and she can't just smash his head in, but come on. Up until this point, we've seen the men on the team do their thing with all seriousness and when we get to the only woman on the team, it's ice cream is yummy and my "outfit makes me feel strong, too!" Ugh. Also, her amazonian warrior talk is way over the top. I just couldn't take her seriously.

Darkseid:
Although Darkseid is incredibly powerful here, he gets horrifically maimed in a way that I just don't get. I mean, if it's that easy to maim him, why is it so hard to just have Green Lantern shoot him dead? At first, I thought it might have something to do with Wonder Woman's sword, but then the Flash does something non-powered and has no problem. It's inconsistent.

Captain Marvel a.k.a Shazam:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the word "Shazam" is the magical word used to change between Captain Marvel and Billy Bastion. When Captain Marvel introduces himself to the team, he calls himself "Shazam," but doesn't change back to Billy. Also, is Shazam stronger than Superman? There's an incident where Darkseid shoots Superman with his Omega Beams and knocks him out, but when Shazam is hit with it, he's up in no time.

Batman and the Flash:
There's a quick scene of Batman getting punched by Darkseid and he survives it. This happens with the Flash as well. Yeah, that's not happening.

Before I go, I just want to clear something up from the movie that I've seen someone complain about. This is a big spoiler, so turn away now if you don't want to know...

When Batman rescues Superman on War World, Superman grabs his captor and strangles the life out of him. Now, this might seem to be a new theme going on with Superman - what, with the events of Man of Steel and all - but it's actually not normal Superman. He's been altered into a Parademon, but the process hasn't had a chance to be completed as he proceeds to try to kill Batman immediately after.
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