Justice Society: World War II

Justice Society: World War II
4K UHD cover
Directed by	Jeff Wamester
Written by	Meghan Fitzmartin Jeremy Adams
Based on	Justice Society of America by Gardner Fox Everett E. Hibbard Sheldon Mayer
Produced by	Jim Krieg Kimberly S. Moreau
Starring	Stana Katic Matt Bomer
Edited by	Bruce A. King
Music by	Kevin Riepl
Production companies	Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release date	April 27, 2021 (2021-04-27)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Justice Society: World War II is an American

During World War II, President Roosevelt is asked by Colonel Steve Trevor to get the United States involved by creating a team of superhumans. Consisting of Trevor, Black Canary, Hawkman, Hourman, Jay Garrick / Flash, and led by Wonder Woman, the Justice Society of America is formed.^[2]

In the present,

The JSA's next mission involves saving a codebreaker from a Nazi fortress. He can presumably decode a message Trevor stole. Despite the risk of causing a time paradox, the heroes realize they need Allen's help.

The heroes and "Shakespeare", the JSA's war correspondent, break in the fortress, defeat the guards, and discover prisoners in the dungeons. A young prisoner in shackles recognizes Shakespeare and gives him a parcel containing a costume and tells him has to stop something terrible from happening. A guard attacks Shakespeare, only for the bullets to bounce off of him and was witnessed by Allen, Trevor and Wonder Woman. Shakespeare's actual name turns out to be Clark Kent. However, he has a different background from the Kent that Allen knows, and he has a mustache. Because of this, Allen realizes that he is in a parallel reality. Meanwhile, the JSA finds the codebreaker, whom Hawkman recognizes as Doctor Fate. Allen recognizes Fate as the man who called out to him. He asks Fate if it is possible for him to return. According to Fate, Barry can return but there is a lesson he needs to learn first and a mission he has to accomplish. Breaking the code with his powers, Fate directs the team to the Bermuda Triangle before disappearing.

Arriving at the Triangle by sub, the team is detected by Nazi warships. After

While attacking Manhattan, the Atlantean forces are confronted by the JSA. The heroes gain the upper hand until the monsters arrive, killing Hawkman and wounding Hourman. Garrick and Canary destroy the monsters while Wonder Woman and Allen fight Aquaman. With the help of Trevor, Wonder Woman breaks Aquaman's trident knocking sense into him which frees him from the Advisor's control since he needs to be in close proximity. Realizing what he has done, Aquaman retreats in guilt and the sea monsters and Atlanteans cease their attack and leave. The Advisor then reveals that a follow-up strike by Nazi jet bombers is imminent before killing Trevor with Aquaman's broken weapon. Barry knocks out the Advisor while Kent, clean shaven and wearing the costume he was given, returns to destroy the bombers. Before dying, Trevor proposes to Wonder Woman, and she accepts. The Advisor regains consciousness and escapes and the JSA vows to avenge Trevor.

Before returning to his Earth, Allen says goodbye to the JSA. Wonder Woman gives him the ring Trevor gave her, warning him of holding off for tomorrow. Allen and Garrick use their combined speed to send the former back to the moment he intercepted the bullet. After destroying Brainiac with it, Allen suggests forming a superhero team^{[N 2]} to combat future threats. He then returns to Iris and proposes to her. She accepts.

Voice cast

Production

The film was officially announced in August 2020, during the Superman: Man of Tomorrow panel at DC FanDome.^[3] Some of the concepts for the story and setting originated from a Wonder Woman animated series developed by producer Butch Lukic, who would later incorporate them into the film.^[4]

Release

The film was released on digital platforms on April 27, 2021, and was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 11.^[5]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10.^[6]

Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated the film a 9 out of 10: "Justice Society: World War II easily ranks among the best of long-running DC Universe Movies series. It draws just the right amount of inspiration from the source material while also pulling from adventure movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark to spin an entertaining superhero yarn. It deftly avoids the pacing issues that have plagued so many of these movies and manages to take full advantage of nearly every member of its ensemble cast. Clearly, Warner Bros. should be putting Barry Allen at the center of these animated films more often".^[7]

The film earned $732,012 from domestic DVD sales and $2,887,606 from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total domestic home video earnings to $3,619,618.^[8]

Future

The Flash makes a non-speaking cameo in Batman: The Long Halloween: Part II's post-credits scene. Additionally, Criss and Bomer reprised their roles as Clark Kent / Superman and Barry Allen / The Flash in the film Legion of Super-Heroes, which is also set in the Tomorrowverse.^[9]

Notes

References