New info re Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (DC animated DTV)

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths will be the seventh release in Warner Premiere's DC Universe Animated Original Movie line. AICN and World's Finest have put up some details about the movie. It'll be released in spring 2010 (with the exact release date still to be announced) and has the following plot description:

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths features an original story from award-winning animation/comics writer Dwayne McDuffie (Justice League) inspired by the popular Crisis-themed stories that have rocked the DC Universe. In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, a heroic Lex Luthor from an alternate universe appears to recruit the Justice League to help save his Earth from the Crime Syndicate, a gang of villainous characters with nearly identical super powers to the Justice League. What ensues is the ultimate battle of good versus evil in a war that threatens both planets and, through a devious plan launched by Owlman, puts the balance of all existence in peril.

Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman and Green Lantern: First Flight) and Sam Liu (Hulk Vs and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies) are the co-directors. The voice cast includes:

Mark Harmon as Superman
William Baldwin as Batman
Chris Noth as Lex Luthor
James Woods as Owlman
Gina Torres as Super Woman
Bruce Davison as the President

Here are two images that have been released from the movie:

Owlman

Lex Luthor and the Justice League

 

[Gryffindorian]

This reminds me a lot of Grant Morrison's JLA: Earth 2. The Crime Syndicate later made another appearance in the JLA series.

 

[Christopher]

Okay, so, not DCAU.

Not loving the character designs, but maybe they're just not well-rendered in that frame, which seems more like part of an action shot than a glamour pose. And it is Lauren Montgomery, at least partly, and that's reason for optimism.

This reminds me a lot of Grant Morrison's JLA: Earth 2. The Crime Syndicate later made another appearance in the JLA series.

The Crime Syndicate was around decades before Grant Morrison came along.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yes the Earth 3 Crime Syndicate...I think the poster means Grant Morrison's Crime Syndicate of Amerikca which was kind of an updated Crime Syndicate post Crisis and featured a new Johnny Quick and Power Ring (ironically enough the successors to the original Syndicate versions) and they are using J'onn's recent costume design!!! The Green Lantern looks like Kyle Rayner which happened to be the Green Lantern in the Earth 2 graphic novel. I think I found my new avatar in Owlman!!!! Liking the animation...and Christopher the DCUA as we know it has been dead for several years now since the conclusion of Justice League Unlimited. I'm not sure what you were expecting with this. The casting decisions on this one is very interesting.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

...and Christopher the DCUA as we know it has been dead for several years now since the conclusion of Justice League Unlimited. I'm not sure what you were expecting with this.

There had been a lot of speculation about whether this would turn out to be Dwayne McDuffie's Worlds Collide under a new title.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Ah okay...that explains Christopher's disappointment then. Yeah i was kind of hoping this would be Worlds Collide as well but this is just as good. I like the Alexander Luthor outfit.

 

[Christopher]

I wasn't expressing disappointment, just observing that the question some had raised has now been answered.

Of course I'm aware that the DCAU has been inactive for years, but I'm also aware that the makers of the DCU DVD films have not entirely ruled out the possibility of returning to it if the right project came along. As stated above, there was some speculation about whether this might be that project, and now we know it isn't.

 

[Corran Horn]

I'd prefer to hear the DCAU voice cast but I'll be picking this up.

 

[CaptainCanada]

They're using the 00s Martian Manhunter costume, which was really ugly, but otherwise, looks neat.

This definitely a bit of a feeling like they repurposed aspects of Worlds Collide, which was also supposed to involve the Crime Syndicate.

Mark Harmon as Superman should be interesting.

 

[davejames]

Sounds pretty cool.

Although I'm definitely getting bored with seeing the same animation style again and again.

 

[TemporalFlux]

There had been a lot of speculation about whether this would turn out to be Dwayne McDuffie's Worlds Collide under a new title.

Well, I am disappointed that it's apparently a re-tooled "Worlds Collide"; and I think this confirms that the DCAU is completely dead. The interest was apparently there to do the already written DCAU story of the Crime Syndicate; and if they couldn't do an easy DCAU project, then I can't ever imagine them going out of their way to make a DCAU feature from scratch.

 

[Christopher]

Although I'm definitely getting bored with seeing the same animation style again and again.

It's not the same style. Why do people think that? There are some broad similarities in the use of line and color, but each movie has used different character designers, and there have been several different directors and animation houses involved. Even the use of color has been evolving; the past two films (after Gotham Knight) have incorporated more anime-influenced color stylings.

Heck, I wish the animation style in the earlier movies had been nearly as superb as that in Green Lantern: First Flight.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah the entire purpose of this new line is for them (Warner Bros Animation) to explore different types of animation and to use different and unique voice actors. We have seen a reflection of this new direction (guided by Bruce Timm...this is probably why so many fans seem to think this still is DCUA) in each of the movies released so far too.

 

[davejames]

Although I'm definitely getting bored with seeing the same animation style again and again.

It's not the same style. Why do people think that? There are some broad similarities in the use of line and color, but each movie has used different character designers, and there have been several different directors and animation houses involved. Even the use of color has been evolving; the past two films (after Gotham Knight) have incorporated more anime-influenced color stylings.

Heck, I wish the animation style in the earlier movies had been nearly as superb as that in Green Lantern: First Flight.

Yeah I've noticed the differences, but compared to the wildly different styles in, say, Batman Gotham Knight (or even between today's comic book artists), the ones here are barely even noticeable.

I realize that kind of detailed animation takes a lot more time to do than this simplified JLU style, but they could still vary things more than they are. Drawing the faces a little different and changing the voices each time doesn't really do it, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Samurai8472]

No ring on the Green Lantern?

 

[Christopher]

I realize that kind of detailed animation takes a lot more time to do than this simplified JLU style, but they could still vary things more than they are. Drawing the faces a little different and changing the voices each time doesn't really do it, as far as I'm concerned.

It's not just the JLU style! Look at just about any animated show of the past decade, from any studio, not just Warner Bros., and you'll see that it uses a similarly streamlined or caricatured design style. That's because it works well for animation, allowing more fluid motion and expression. But there are clear differences in the specifics of the design styles being used in the different shows, and in the different DCU movies. For instance, Lauren Montgomery's character design style in Wonder Woman (according to Montgomery herself) is more influenced by Disney than by Bruce Timm. Montgomery's Wonder Woman is radically different from Timm's Wonder Woman, and from Timm's way of drawing women, period.

And heck, the Sinestro in GL: First Flight looks hardly anything like the DCAU Sinestro, not to mention the profoundly different Kilowog. The GL:FF character designs are nothing like Timm's or Murakami's design style. They're less caricatured, more detailed. The differences are very noticeable.

 

[davejames]

It's not just the JLU style! Look at just about any animated show of the past decade, from any studio, not just Warner Bros., and you'll see that it uses a similarly streamlined or caricatured design style. That's because it works well for animation, allowing more fluid motion and expression. But there are clear differences in the specifics of the design styles being used in the different shows, and in the different DCU movies. For instance, Lauren Montgomery's character design style in Wonder Woman (according to Montgomery herself) is more influenced by Disney than by Bruce Timm. Montgomery's Wonder Woman is radically different from Timm's Wonder Woman, and from Timm's way of drawing women, period.

And heck, the Sinestro in GL: First Flight looks hardly anything like the DCAU Sinestro, not to mention the profoundly different Kilowog. The GL:FF character designs are nothing like Timm's or Murakami's design style. They're less caricatured, more detailed. The differences are very noticeable.

Hmm, seeing them side-by-side, I admit there's a lot more variation in style than I thought. Although somehow when I'm actually watching these new movies it all feels way too familiar.

Maybe it has more to do with the storytelling style, or the way the action sequences are staged, or the music...

Somehow they just aren't feeling different enough to me.

 

[CommodoreKong]

It's too bad this isn't the DCAU story, though I do like some of the new voice actors they've gotten for this story. Looking forward to hearing Mark Harmon and Gina Torres performances.

The Martian Manhunter looks pretty bad, the other characters designs look fine though.

 

[Samurai8472]

I can't imagine Mark Harmon as Superman. I feel like he's going to slap GL or Flash around the back of the head for doing something stupid.

 

[Christopher]

^Wow, your primary cultural referent for Mark Harmon is about a generation removed from mine. I still think of him as the guy who romanced Cybill Shepherd on Moonlighting after getting AIDS on St. Elsewhere. (Not the same character, obviously.) Well, that and the Secret Service guy from The West Wing.