1 00:00:00,930 --> 00:00:02,972 This is a Dynamike Network podcast. 2 00:00:24,718 --> 00:00:28,939 Hi and welcome to the Dynamic Duel Podcast, a weekly show where we review superhero films 3 00:00:29,299 --> 00:00:34,020 and debate the superiority between Marvel and DC by comparing their characters in stat-based 4 00:00:34,100 --> 00:00:40,242 battle simulations. I'm Marvelous Joe. And I'm his twin brother Johnny DC. And in this episode 5 00:00:40,282 --> 00:00:45,804 we are going to review the latest DC animated release, Justice League War World. It's the 6 00:00:45,844 --> 00:00:50,805 latest movie in the Tomorrowverse series of animated films. And you know what? I did not 7 00:00:50,825 --> 00:00:55,679 like it. but Jonathan says that if you watch it three times, it becomes good. So we're gonna 8 00:00:55,699 --> 00:01:02,402 learn all about his thoughts on the movie later on this episode. I mean, not great, but not 9 00:01:02,442 --> 00:01:07,084 the worst either. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting at the very least. Before we talk about the 10 00:01:07,104 --> 00:01:10,546 film, we're gonna go into the latest comic book movie news that came out from the past week, 11 00:01:10,966 --> 00:01:16,448 of which there's only one news item, and that is the Loki season two official trailer. As 12 00:01:16,528 --> 00:01:20,187 always, we list our segment times in our episode description. so feel free to check out the 13 00:01:20,207 --> 00:01:25,373 show notes if you want to skip ahead to a particular topic. And as our listeners may know, our Dual 14 00:01:25,413 --> 00:01:30,699 Simulator is so advanced that it's gained sentience and has named itself the Artificial Lifeform 15 00:01:30,719 --> 00:01:36,505 for Running Extensive Duels, just a rather very intelligent Simulator 9000, or Alfred Jarvis 16 00:01:36,545 --> 00:01:43,579 9000. He has a quick message for our listeners, so listen up. Why hello there. Do you love 17 00:01:43,619 --> 00:01:48,504 listening and chatting about Marvel and DC? Then become a part of the dynamic dual community 18 00:01:48,565 --> 00:01:53,810 on Patreon, where you can choose from three tiers. The dynamic two-o tier lets you listen 19 00:01:53,830 --> 00:01:58,836 to this podcast without ads and gives you access to its discord chat group, where you can chat 20 00:01:58,856 --> 00:02:03,723 with Johnny DC and Marvelous Joe. The Fantastic Four tier gives you that and more with two 21 00:02:03,763 --> 00:02:08,525 bonus episodes each month, including bloopers and top ten shows where Johnny and Joe count 22 00:02:08,545 --> 00:02:13,407 down your favourite Marvel and DC subjects. The X-Force tier makes you an executive producer 23 00:02:13,447 --> 00:02:17,869 of Dynamic Duel, where every month you help the hosts choose what to review and who to 24 00:02:17,909 --> 00:02:23,992 fight against each other. And finally, the Dynamite Podcast Network tier allows aspiring podcasters 25 00:02:24,012 --> 00:02:27,974 to create their own battle-focused show using this Monte Carlo simulator. 26 00:02:47,730 --> 00:02:53,255 Thanks AJ9K, and thanks to everyone who supports the podcast. Be sure to tune in to the Max 27 00:02:53,275 --> 00:02:58,962 Destruction Podcast on August 9th, that's tomorrow. to see who would win between Indiana Jones 28 00:02:59,003 --> 00:03:04,385 versus Jack Sparrow. This is a big one, guys. I'm really excited about it. I'm really pulling 29 00:03:04,445 --> 00:03:08,367 for Jack Sparrow on this one. You know what would have been a good matchup? Jack Sparrow 30 00:03:08,387 --> 00:03:15,170 versus Mera from Aquaman. No, I feel like that match would have shit the bed. Ha ha ha. Also, 31 00:03:15,290 --> 00:03:21,253 anime fans should check out the Dynamike Network's newest show, Senjou World, a battle podcast 32 00:03:21,273 --> 00:03:25,875 featuring your favorite anime characters. Yeah, debuted last week with three episodes including 33 00:03:25,976 --> 00:03:31,600 Yusuke from Yu Hakusho vs Tanjirou from Demon Slayer, Natsu from Fairy Tail vs Suna from 34 00:03:31,660 --> 00:03:37,725 Hitman Reborn, and Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul vs Eren Yeager from Attack on Titan. Yeah, 35 00:03:37,785 --> 00:03:44,211 this Thursday, host Zack is going to pit Escanor from The Seven Deadly Sins against Black Clover's 36 00:03:44,531 --> 00:03:49,795 Marieliona Vermillion. Make sure to tune in. Yeah, to listen to any of the Dynamike Network 37 00:03:49,935 --> 00:03:55,490 shows, click on the link in our show notes or... visit dynamicpodcast.com to see all the shows 38 00:03:55,970 --> 00:04:02,692 in our network. But with that out of the way, quick to the no prize! The no prize is an award 39 00:04:02,752 --> 00:04:07,814 Marvel used to give out to fans. Our version, the Dynamic Duel No Prize, is a digital award 40 00:04:07,834 --> 00:04:12,975 that we post on Instagram and in our email newsletter for the person that we feel gave the best answer 41 00:04:13,015 --> 00:04:18,337 to our question of the week. Last week's question was, who is your favorite Spider-Man or woman 42 00:04:18,637 --> 00:04:24,455 across the comics multiverse and why? And that was coming off the news regarding Sony's indefinite 43 00:04:24,495 --> 00:04:29,358 delay of the Across the Spider-Verse sequel, Beyond the Spider-Verse. We got a lot of great 44 00:04:29,418 --> 00:04:32,840 answers here, so let's go ahead and break down our three honorable mentions as well as the 45 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:39,104 no-prize winner. Our first honorable mention goes to Colby Hentges, who said, Hey boys, 46 00:04:39,144 --> 00:04:45,747 Colby Hentges. My favorite Spider-Man Across the entire multiverse is in the 616, the original 47 00:04:45,787 --> 00:04:51,330 recipe Peter Parker body but brain controlled by Otto Octavius. The Superior Spider-Man was 48 00:04:51,530 --> 00:04:56,693 such a good run. The Goblin Army versus Spider Army, just the way he pissed off the rest of 49 00:04:56,713 --> 00:05:02,417 the Avengers, it was great. Yeah, the Superior Spider-Man was a great arc in the Spider-Man 50 00:05:02,437 --> 00:05:07,840 comic books, largely because I think in some ways, Otto Octavius was a better Spider-Man, 51 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,562 not like morally or anything, or as a hero, but the ideas that he brought to the character 52 00:05:12,602 --> 00:05:16,925 of the Spider-Man mythos, all the technology and upgrading Peter Parker to the head of his 53 00:05:16,965 --> 00:05:21,920 own corporation and everything. All that stuff I thought was really cool. Yeah, it's Spider-Man 54 00:05:22,020 --> 00:05:27,665 as I've always wanted Spider-Man to be. He just looked super cool. I've always had problems 55 00:05:27,705 --> 00:05:33,149 with Spider-Man's costume, and I thought the superior Spider-Man costume is the most superior 56 00:05:33,309 --> 00:05:38,594 Spider-Man costume probably ever. It did a good job of kind of showing Peter Parker's weakness 57 00:05:38,794 --> 00:05:43,277 as like a science guy, you know, because after he invented the web shooters, for as smart 58 00:05:43,318 --> 00:05:47,201 as he is, he should have gone on to invent a lot of other cool shit for himself that he 59 00:05:47,241 --> 00:05:52,285 just never did that. Otto really introduced to the character. So great answer Colby, our 60 00:05:52,325 --> 00:05:58,209 next honorable mention goes to Christopher Minotti who said, Hi guys Christopher Minotti. My favorite 61 00:05:58,249 --> 00:06:04,014 Spider-Man is probably Spider-Man Noir. I love this character, I think he's great. His whole 62 00:06:04,034 --> 00:06:10,519 demeanor is really cool and his, I think his world is really interesting. I know this isn't 63 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:17,265 comics but I really liked him in the first Spider-Verse movie as well. He was very funny and an interesting 64 00:06:17,305 --> 00:06:23,029 character. Not to mention he does remind me of Batman and Rorschach. And I love those characters, 65 00:06:23,069 --> 00:06:29,174 too. Yeah, Abner O'Terry gave the same answer. And I have to agree, if you want to make Spider-Man 66 00:06:29,194 --> 00:06:36,580 cooler, make him more like DC characters. You can't deny it. Better, but I would say, you 67 00:06:36,601 --> 00:06:41,104 know, unique and different and interesting. Spider-Man Noir is cool. The comics version 68 00:06:41,144 --> 00:06:46,409 of the character is not like the into the Spiderverse version voiced by Nicolas Cage, but the character 69 00:06:46,449 --> 00:06:51,110 itself is a lot of fun. making Spider-Man more of a pulpy hero and setting it during the early 70 00:06:51,150 --> 00:06:55,232 20th century, I think is a really cool sandbox that they've come up with a lot of awesome 71 00:06:55,272 --> 00:07:01,513 stories for. Great answer! Our final honorable mention goes to Travis Herndon, who said, Hey 72 00:07:01,533 --> 00:07:09,095 guys, it's Travis. My favorite Spider-Man related character would definitely have to be Silk. 73 00:07:09,436 --> 00:07:14,317 I think she's a very underrated character, especially nowadays, since everybody kind of 74 00:07:17,410 --> 00:07:23,435 that she kind of gets the short end of the stick for fans. So for me, I definitely say Silk. 75 00:07:23,475 --> 00:07:28,059 Silk is my favorite and hope they do more with her in the later future, either in Sony or 76 00:07:28,139 --> 00:07:34,264 in the MCU. Yes, Silk is Cindy Moon. She's the Korean American Spider Woman who was bit by 77 00:07:34,304 --> 00:07:39,368 the same radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker after it had bit him. It fell to the ground 78 00:07:39,388 --> 00:07:44,873 to put her on the ankle. And then she was kind of locked away for a decade by Ezekiel, it's 79 00:07:44,913 --> 00:07:49,219 a whole story there. but she is a fantastic character, Silk. And yeah, it would be really 80 00:07:49,259 --> 00:07:53,882 cool to see her get her due in the same way that Miles and Spider-Gwen have. Yeah, I don't 81 00:07:53,902 --> 00:07:57,524 know much about the character, but she does have a cool look from what I've seen. She has 82 00:07:57,544 --> 00:08:02,066 a great costume, yeah. One of these days we'll do a duel with her, although it took us a long 83 00:08:02,086 --> 00:08:05,969 time to get to Spider-Woman eventually, which we did within the past couple months, but we'll 84 00:08:05,989 --> 00:08:10,451 get to Silk eventually. We wanna give a quick shout out to everyone who took the time to 85 00:08:10,651 --> 00:08:16,742 visit our website and record an answer, including Matt Estes, Connor Pierce, and Alex Wong. But 86 00:08:16,762 --> 00:08:22,806 the winner of this week's no prize is Anson Millard who said, Hey, what's up? This is Anson 87 00:08:22,826 --> 00:08:30,310 Millard. My favorite Spider-Man from the Spider-verse is the Spider-Man that appears in the 90s animated 88 00:08:30,370 --> 00:08:38,314 cartoon. The voice actor in my mind is the voice of Spider-Man. That cartoon was really awesome 89 00:08:38,494 --> 00:08:44,437 and it was in large part because of the character. He was a Spider-Man that could balance the 90 00:08:44,497 --> 00:08:49,060 humor. but then also the more serious moments you need to have as Spider-Man, so I think 91 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:54,283 he's the best. And purely for nostalgic reasons, I'm giving this answer the no prize win because 92 00:08:54,303 --> 00:08:58,245 like Anson said, it was a great version of the character. To this day, when I read Spider-Man 93 00:08:58,285 --> 00:09:02,727 comic books and I read that dialogue, I still hear it in the 90s animated Spider-Man's voice. 94 00:09:03,228 --> 00:09:07,490 It was iconic for me in the same way that like Kevin Conroy's voice will always and forever 95 00:09:07,530 --> 00:09:13,173 be Batman. Yeah, absolutely. I don't know the actor's name for the 90s cartoon, but he absolutely 96 00:09:13,193 --> 00:09:17,888 pulled off. the humor and fun of the character. Yeah, nailing the emotional beats as well, 97 00:09:18,288 --> 00:09:22,991 and like the hopefulness, I think, that should be behind Peter Parker's voice. I really hope 98 00:09:23,011 --> 00:09:27,453 they bring him back for like Beyond the Spider-Verse, just as like a cameo, that'd be really cool. 99 00:09:27,914 --> 00:09:32,936 That would be everything, that would be incredible. That needs to happen. But great answer, Anson, 100 00:09:32,976 --> 00:09:36,859 you win this week's No Prize. If you, the listener, want a shot at winning your own No Prize, stay 101 00:09:36,879 --> 00:09:41,341 tuned to later on this episode when we'll be asking another Question of the Week. And now 102 00:09:41,381 --> 00:09:43,377 that that's done. Lots of the news! 103 00:09:48,834 --> 00:09:53,357 Alright, this past week we got the official trailer for Marvel Studios' Loki Season 2, 104 00:09:53,397 --> 00:09:58,282 which will be debuting on Disney Plus in a few months. Loki is definitely one of the better 105 00:09:58,742 --> 00:10:02,625 Marvel Disney Plus television shows. Season 1 was really good, so I'm really glad that 106 00:10:02,645 --> 00:10:08,130 we're getting a Season 2. And the production quality that was all over Season 1 seems to 107 00:10:08,170 --> 00:10:14,475 be even more incredible here. The look and feel of the Loki television series is just incredible, 108 00:10:14,535 --> 00:10:19,695 and I'm so glad that that's staying consistent. Oh, yeah, just the color palette of the show, 109 00:10:19,735 --> 00:10:24,098 like the orange and green with a little bit of splash and purple whenever Kang is involved. 110 00:10:24,378 --> 00:10:30,842 It's just really well done. The color palette, the sets, the cinematography, the special effects. 111 00:10:31,002 --> 00:10:35,104 It all just looks so incredible, better than a lot of movies, honestly. I think we've said 112 00:10:35,124 --> 00:10:40,467 that on the show before. That was my first impression watching this trailer was, damn, everything 113 00:10:40,507 --> 00:10:45,995 still looks good. I would say this is probably Marvel's best. television series not only because 114 00:10:46,015 --> 00:10:50,098 you know Tom Hiddleston is great and the show is just really well written But I also really 115 00:10:50,138 --> 00:10:56,564 felt like it moved the narrative of the MCU forward in a way that a lot of MCU Movies and 116 00:10:56,584 --> 00:11:00,747 shows don't really feel like they're doing great now Yeah because Loki season one kicked off 117 00:11:00,787 --> 00:11:05,431 the whole multiverse thing that wasn't really revisited again until The recent Ant-Man and 118 00:11:05,451 --> 00:11:10,615 the Wasp quantumania movie where we got to get our introduction to King the Conqueror And 119 00:11:10,655 --> 00:11:15,999 we're gonna see him again in Loki season 2 It should definitely shepherd along the whole 120 00:11:16,039 --> 00:11:22,063 multiversal saga and bring us closer to the next Avengers movie, which is going to be The 121 00:11:22,083 --> 00:11:27,867 Kang Dynasty. But the trailer starts off with Mobius, played by Owen Wilson, and Loki, played 122 00:11:27,887 --> 00:11:33,871 by Tom Hiddleston, going to visit, and I'm going to butcher his name, Kehui Kuan, the recent 123 00:11:33,911 --> 00:11:39,035 actor who won Best Supporting Actor for Everything Everywhere All at Once. It's so cool to see 124 00:11:39,075 --> 00:11:45,214 him here playing a member of the TVA who witnesses Loki. time-slipping which is supposed to be 125 00:11:45,274 --> 00:11:49,855 impossible in the TVA. The chemistry between these three characters, you can already tell, 126 00:11:49,935 --> 00:11:55,497 it's just, it's gonna be fascinating. I think Owen Wilson is probably underrated in terms 127 00:11:55,537 --> 00:12:00,318 of the balance and laid-back feel that he brings to the proceedings. I'm really excited to see 128 00:12:00,358 --> 00:12:04,599 him show up in the Deadpool movie, which is rumored to happen. I think confirmed to happen, 129 00:12:05,359 --> 00:12:09,981 but either way, that'll be really cool. Loki explains how he's getting pulled through time, 130 00:12:10,021 --> 00:12:16,116 through the present and the past. We see come back in this season. She has a really dumb 131 00:12:16,156 --> 00:12:20,480 haircut. I wonder what's going on with her character because we see her like all over the place 132 00:12:20,500 --> 00:12:25,605 too. Like in one universe she's like in a record store and the other one she's like behind the 133 00:12:25,645 --> 00:12:31,491 register at a fast food place. Eventually we do see her kick ass in a few shots so we know 134 00:12:31,531 --> 00:12:36,796 that whatever happens she returns to form from season one but she gives a pretty good line 135 00:12:37,216 --> 00:12:41,462 exchange with Loki. in the trailer where she says we can't play God and he's like we are 136 00:12:41,482 --> 00:12:45,903 gods. You know, the problem is choosing who lives and dies, you know. I think it's a great 137 00:12:45,943 --> 00:12:50,745 concept for this upcoming season. Yeah, Sylvie was one of my favorite characters in season 138 00:12:50,905 --> 00:12:55,466 one. So, it's great that they found a way to have the actress return, if not that specific 139 00:12:55,526 --> 00:13:00,547 version of the character. I think one of the other main things I took away from this trailer 140 00:13:00,567 --> 00:13:05,369 was that the action looks pretty good. Tom Hiddleston kind of seems like a badass, you know, between 141 00:13:05,409 --> 00:13:09,658 like the cool suits that he wears. His wardrobe is fantastic. but he also just carries himself 142 00:13:09,698 --> 00:13:14,799 really well as Loki. He has this greater confidence, it seems, about him within this season, now 143 00:13:14,819 --> 00:13:21,881 that he's kind of become more accustomed to this TVA time spy role. The season looks incredible. 144 00:13:22,001 --> 00:13:26,642 It looks amazing. I hope it lives up to the hype that I feel from watching this trailer, 145 00:13:27,143 --> 00:13:32,664 but I guess we'll know starting October 6th on Disney+. We'll probably get another trailer 146 00:13:32,704 --> 00:13:37,625 before then, but speaking of season two of Loki, that brings us to our question of the week. 147 00:13:42,230 --> 00:13:48,414 Besides Loki, what other Disney Plus Marvel television series that has come out do you 148 00:13:48,534 --> 00:13:54,058 most hope gets a season 2? Yeah, Disney Plus has had quite a few other Marvel television 149 00:13:54,078 --> 00:13:58,101 series come out. Loki is the only one that's gotten a season 2. There's not really been 150 00:13:58,141 --> 00:14:03,244 any word on any other series getting a season 2, but if you could pick one to get another 151 00:14:03,284 --> 00:14:08,148 season, which one would it be? Record your answer at dynamicduel.com by clicking on the red microphone 152 00:14:08,188 --> 00:14:11,810 button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. which will prompt you to leave us a 153 00:14:11,890 --> 00:14:16,352 voicemail. Your message could be up to 30 seconds long, and don't forget to leave your name in 154 00:14:16,372 --> 00:14:20,674 case we include you on the podcast. We'll pick our favorite answer and award that person a 155 00:14:20,714 --> 00:14:25,337 Dynamic Duel No Prize that we'll post to Instagram and our email newsletter. Be sure to answer 156 00:14:25,377 --> 00:14:27,257 before August 12th. 157 00:14:35,022 --> 00:14:38,148 But I think that does it for all the news for this episode, so let's go ahead and get into 158 00:14:38,308 --> 00:14:45,101 our main event, where we review the latest DC animated film to come out, Justice League War 159 00:14:45,141 --> 00:14:45,341 World. 160 00:15:00,310 --> 00:15:06,271 Alright, Justice League Warworld is DC's latest direct-to-video animated film set in the same 161 00:15:06,371 --> 00:15:12,493 animated universe established by the film Superman Man of Tomorrow, known as the Tomorrowverse. 162 00:15:12,973 --> 00:15:19,515 Warworld is the seventh film set in the Tomorrowverse after prior films set up Superman, Batman, 163 00:15:19,555 --> 00:15:24,956 the Justice League, the Legion of Superheroes and the Future, and an alternate history slash 164 00:15:24,976 --> 00:15:31,483 dimension with a version of Wonder Woman in the Justice Society, during World War II. Justice 165 00:15:31,523 --> 00:15:36,748 League Warworld, like every single other film in the Tomorrowverse, has an incredible premise, 166 00:15:37,168 --> 00:15:42,052 though only half of those films, in my opinion, have been able to stick the landing well enough 167 00:15:42,112 --> 00:15:47,697 that I would recommend them to others. The Tomorrowverse is pretty hit or miss in terms of storytelling. 168 00:15:48,137 --> 00:15:54,602 So how did Justice League Warworld fare? Regrettably, I'd call it a miss, because while the idea 169 00:15:54,642 --> 00:16:01,338 of the film is fantastic, the execution, not so much. If you, the listener, do plan on checking 170 00:16:01,378 --> 00:16:07,400 the film out, maybe when it's on Max or something, stop listening now because there is an overarching 171 00:16:07,460 --> 00:16:12,101 mystery across the film and we will be getting into spoilers. Yeah, if you're not going to 172 00:16:12,121 --> 00:16:17,122 watch this film, why are you even listening to this review? You know, I guess if you want 173 00:16:17,142 --> 00:16:21,624 to know like what the movie is about, listening to this review is probably a more understandable, 174 00:16:21,844 --> 00:16:27,865 coherent experience in watching the film itself. So if you want to stick around for that, yeah, 175 00:16:27,925 --> 00:16:33,108 keep listening. I imagine a majority of the people who watch the movie are going to be 176 00:16:33,188 --> 00:16:38,831 amongst the most diehard DC fans, which is good, because anyone else I think is going to be 177 00:16:38,871 --> 00:16:45,755 considerably lost due to the film's fairly experimental nature. You know, it doesn't have your standard 178 00:16:45,795 --> 00:16:51,838 three act structure, and it plays out initially more like a series of anthological Elseworld 179 00:16:51,918 --> 00:17:00,050 shorts, which is what I wish this actually ended up being in the end. are essentially DC's version 180 00:17:00,130 --> 00:17:05,493 of what if, though like Elseworlds are a lot better. Like I'm almost embarrassed for Marvel. 181 00:17:06,194 --> 00:17:11,076 I'm not, and that's surprising that you're saying that, considering the quality of this DC film. 182 00:17:11,557 --> 00:17:15,559 I'm embarrassed for DC. No, I'm saying that the- Why are you trying to talk shit about 183 00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:21,182 Marvel when this movie sucked? Is what I wanna know. It didn't suck that hard, I mean, come 184 00:17:21,282 --> 00:17:28,394 on. Elseworlds are a way for DC to tell stories within new genres and time periods. and it's 185 00:17:28,434 --> 00:17:34,717 a chance to re-explore and re-examine characters that are familiar to us, such as Superman being 186 00:17:34,797 --> 00:17:41,041 raised in the Soviet Union, or Batman in a Tale of Lovecraftian Horror. Elseworlds are some 187 00:17:41,081 --> 00:17:45,983 of my favorite DC stories, so I was pretty excited when the trailers for Justice League Warworld 188 00:17:46,043 --> 00:17:52,787 showed us that DC's trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman would inhabit these alternative 189 00:17:52,867 --> 00:17:58,794 worlds. And exploring those worlds were the best parts of the movie. Wonder Woman as this 190 00:17:58,934 --> 00:18:06,118 nameless, gun-toting badass cowgirl in a western worked surprisingly well, Batman as a Conan 191 00:18:06,158 --> 00:18:12,462 the Barbarian analog in a swords and sorcery fantasy adventure was cool as hell, and Superman 192 00:18:12,662 --> 00:18:18,465 as a government agent dealing with a potential alien threat in a Twilight Zone-esque sci-fi 193 00:18:18,505 --> 00:18:24,308 horror was pretty crazy. Each of the different genres we encountered contained an interesting 194 00:18:24,368 --> 00:18:29,847 premise and a fair bit of action. Though if audiences weren't expecting something of an 195 00:18:29,887 --> 00:18:35,270 anthology in this film, they were probably really confused. Yeah, also because there were no 196 00:18:35,310 --> 00:18:40,933 real transitions between each act as well. Yeah, you're right, no transition whatsoever. Now, 197 00:18:40,973 --> 00:18:46,296 you and I are no stranger to DC's animated anthological shorts. We've reviewed several collections 198 00:18:46,316 --> 00:18:51,699 of them on this podcast, including Superman Shazam, The Return of Black Adam, Batman Death 199 00:18:51,739 --> 00:18:56,782 in the Family, and Constantine the House of Mystery. They're interesting. I enjoy most 200 00:18:56,822 --> 00:19:02,328 of DC shorts, as I did here in Justice League Warworld, even though they weren't technically 201 00:19:02,388 --> 00:19:07,272 shorts. It was the connective tissue between the individual tales that made things a little 202 00:19:07,292 --> 00:19:12,717 confusing for me in this film, and by the time we learned that, oh, it was all a dream, it 203 00:19:12,757 --> 00:19:18,343 was all an illusion, it wasn't quite the satisfying or clever reveal that I think the filmmakers 204 00:19:18,403 --> 00:19:24,204 intended. Yeah, the answer is that we did. ultimately end up getting weren't quite satisfying given 205 00:19:24,404 --> 00:19:28,827 that for a vast majority of this film, like two thirds of this film, we're stuck in this 206 00:19:28,967 --> 00:19:34,431 mystery that employs a lot of dream logic as it were. There's a lot of things that happen 207 00:19:34,471 --> 00:19:39,876 here that don't actually matter, that are confusing. And then once you realize what's actually going 208 00:19:39,996 --> 00:19:46,180 on, it's like, well, that was like a waste of time. It kind of felt like, you know? Yeah. 209 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:51,868 100% I agree with you. I think the most confusing and frustrating aspect of the conclusion to 210 00:19:51,908 --> 00:19:59,193 me was just how rushed and vague it was. Like, so much of the Tomorrowverse happens off-screen, 211 00:19:59,393 --> 00:20:04,197 like the formation of the Justice League or how Mongol captured Superman, Batman, and Wonder 212 00:20:04,217 --> 00:20:10,001 Woman to begin with. We don't know how or why Warworld established a telepathic link with 213 00:20:10,081 --> 00:20:16,305 Mongol, and it's super unclear to me as to whether or not the Lobo and Martian Manhunter in this 214 00:20:16,365 --> 00:20:21,624 film are the same ones from Superman Man of Tomorrow or if they're from another universe 215 00:20:21,644 --> 00:20:27,066 within the multiverse. Now, I kind of got the impression that Warworld was able to traverse 216 00:20:27,326 --> 00:20:32,088 multiple dimensions. Right, exactly. Now, we know Superman and Batman have met each other 217 00:20:32,268 --> 00:20:37,291 in the Tomorrowverse, but again, we're not entirely clear as to whether this version of Superman 218 00:20:37,591 --> 00:20:43,073 and Batman have met before. And Wonder Woman was really confusing because in the Tomorrowverse, 219 00:20:43,093 --> 00:20:47,355 Wonder Woman... was part of the Justice Society. We hadn't even seen her in the modern times 220 00:20:47,375 --> 00:20:52,897 yet, but she was talking to Clark like she knew him. Well, Superman was in the final battle 221 00:20:53,077 --> 00:20:59,220 of Justice Society. That's right. It was a different version of Superman though. Yeah, one that 222 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:04,622 manifested during World War II, as opposed to the Superman that was in Man of Tomorrow who 223 00:21:04,662 --> 00:21:08,884 debuted in modern times. Yeah, that's why Wonder Woman in this movie said that he looked so 224 00:21:08,924 --> 00:21:14,630 much younger. I see, yeah. I felt like the whole film was really not only a setup for Crisis 225 00:21:14,670 --> 00:21:20,353 on Infinite Earths, but a way to get Wonder Woman into the same universe as Superman and 226 00:21:20,373 --> 00:21:26,375 Batman. But it just was a really stupid way to do that. I'm like, couldn't you just use 227 00:21:26,495 --> 00:21:31,057 DC's animated film for next year, Crisis on Infinite Earths, to introduce the World War 228 00:21:31,097 --> 00:21:36,779 II Wonder Woman to the main timeline? Like, was Justice League War World even necessary? 229 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:44,034 Or was it just an idea that no one said no to? Because that's what it feels like. Absolutely. 230 00:21:44,374 --> 00:21:49,996 I think you're spot on right there. They're like, dudes, what if like Wonder Woman used 231 00:21:50,036 --> 00:21:56,199 her lasso like a cowboy? And the other person was like, yeah, man, I'm so fucking high right 232 00:21:56,219 --> 00:22:03,743 now. And what if like Batman was like Conan? Whoa. And what if like we're all aliens? Oh, 233 00:22:04,083 --> 00:22:09,805 that's an idea for a Superman story. There you go. Yeah. It's not a great way to develop a 234 00:22:09,845 --> 00:22:14,588 story for sure. And I'm absolutely convinced that's how this movie happened. It was cool 235 00:22:14,608 --> 00:22:19,952 that we got to see these obscure characters, but almost all of them, except for Warlord, 236 00:22:20,152 --> 00:22:27,578 were arguably handled somewhat disrespectfully. Jonah Hex was made a villain, Batlash was killed, 237 00:22:27,858 --> 00:22:34,523 Mashiest was killed, Snapper Car and the Langs were aliens, King Faraday was a hostile maniac, 238 00:22:34,783 --> 00:22:40,399 and even the White Martians were essentially laser d***. gun-toting fodder for the heroes 239 00:22:40,439 --> 00:22:45,082 to punch, which should have been a huge red flag for the filmmakers. Like, why do white 240 00:22:45,122 --> 00:22:50,646 Martians need to carry laser guns? They're fucking white Martians. Right? They have Martian vision. 241 00:22:50,906 --> 00:22:56,710 I mean, would any fans of these characters appreciate the way any of them were handled in this movie? 242 00:22:57,250 --> 00:23:02,754 I would argue probably not. The one good thing I could say about this film and all Tomorrowverse 243 00:23:02,774 --> 00:23:09,058 films is that the animation and character designs are a sight to behold. I think Diana definitely 244 00:23:09,098 --> 00:23:14,621 wins the award for best dressed in this film. Whether it's as a star-spangled cowgirl, a 245 00:23:14,661 --> 00:23:20,825 fierce damsel in a fierce bikini, or a spectacled and modest secretary, she looked great. It 246 00:23:20,865 --> 00:23:25,387 was cool seeing the three characters and how they exist within these three separate worlds. 247 00:23:25,667 --> 00:23:30,690 Visually, the film does have a lot going for it. Yeah, yeah. With Bruce in his story, I 248 00:23:30,730 --> 00:23:36,313 thought the Conan look was a little on the nose, but the bat helmet was cool. If not short-lived. 249 00:23:36,786 --> 00:23:40,887 I do wish he got to keep that bat cape a little bit longer. That would have been awesome. Yeah, 250 00:23:41,007 --> 00:23:46,948 yeah. Mongul's design was the only one I was iffy on. Like, it wasn't terrible. I think 251 00:23:46,968 --> 00:23:52,350 they may have been trying to differentiate him a bit from like a yellow dark side, but I wish 252 00:23:52,390 --> 00:23:57,431 he looked a little less shriveled. Yeah, he looks kind of scrawny here. I think he's usually 253 00:23:57,471 --> 00:24:02,493 more bulked up than that. But I might just be used to like Ed McGinnis's style of drawing 254 00:24:02,533 --> 00:24:07,002 the character and Ed McGinnis draws everybody really poofy. Yeah, no, that's how the character 255 00:24:07,202 --> 00:24:11,543 normally is depicted. Okay, okay. Now we've talked a little bit about some characters' 256 00:24:11,563 --> 00:24:16,545 appearances, but let's dive a little bit more into them in our character breakdown. Now Diana 257 00:24:16,565 --> 00:24:22,946 Prince, AKA Wonder Woman, was voiced by Stana Kanick, who lends a strong and exotic presence 258 00:24:23,026 --> 00:24:27,848 to Diana's character. And she did back in the first film she appeared in, Justice Society 259 00:24:27,888 --> 00:24:33,149 World War II. For sure, she's incredible. I thought she did an even better job in this 260 00:24:33,189 --> 00:24:38,910 movie. than she did in her debut voice appearance, and that was amazing too. Martian Manhunter 261 00:24:38,990 --> 00:24:44,314 at the end of the film revealed what he learned from each of the protagonists. From Diana he 262 00:24:44,354 --> 00:24:50,239 said he learned not to give up. Dedication, as it were, as we see Diana dedicated to the 263 00:24:50,259 --> 00:24:55,744 townsfolk despite the fact that they had broken the law because they were the ones in need 264 00:24:55,784 --> 00:25:00,788 of physical protection. It's often said that Wonder Woman is a tough character to tackle 265 00:25:01,129 --> 00:25:07,296 because she's a Warrior of Peace, which is contradictory, but I thought this was a great showcase of 266 00:25:07,336 --> 00:25:12,079 the caring and loving nature of the character and how she will defend those she cares about 267 00:25:12,279 --> 00:25:17,081 without hesitation or limits. Yeah, the movie was definitely rated R. I definitely remember 268 00:25:17,202 --> 00:25:22,144 being blown away by the level of violence in her Wild West story. In a Western film, you 269 00:25:22,204 --> 00:25:27,767 tend to see people get shot in the head. Moving on to Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, he was voiced 270 00:25:27,807 --> 00:25:28,908 by Jensen Ackles, 271 00:25:32,334 --> 00:25:38,937 to ever voice the character. He does a fantastic job. What he lacks in like, Kevin Conroy's 272 00:25:39,177 --> 00:25:46,341 deep, gruff perfection, I think he adds in character. I agree with you. Jensen Ackles, I think, has 273 00:25:46,381 --> 00:25:51,504 been the second best. I really like his Batman performance. Now from Batman, Martian Manhunter 274 00:25:51,524 --> 00:25:57,547 said he learned courage, which I think everyone displayed on the world of Skartaris. It's a 275 00:25:57,587 --> 00:26:03,191 dangerous place, but Bruce's true courage was tested when he made the decision to stand up 276 00:26:03,211 --> 00:26:09,894 to Deimos by refusing to kill Diana and Moriah, especially after revealing earlier that he 277 00:26:09,934 --> 00:26:16,878 felt, essentially, that everyone was evil and that evil was unstoppable. Warlord responded 278 00:26:17,138 --> 00:26:23,082 that while that may be true, good men stand up to the darkness within them and fight evil 279 00:26:23,182 --> 00:26:29,465 for those who can't, regardless of whether they can win or not. Bruce would have died for defying 280 00:26:29,505 --> 00:26:35,156 Deimos, But his courage to stand up for what he felt was right in the end was rewarded by 281 00:26:35,216 --> 00:26:40,498 Warlord when he saved Bruce from Deimos' bullet. Speaking of that, I thought it was weird that 282 00:26:40,538 --> 00:26:45,080 Deimos was firing a gun to begin with. He was a sorcerer. There's some weird choices made 283 00:26:45,100 --> 00:26:50,542 through that. That's in keeping with Skartaris, though. Skartaris is like the center of the 284 00:26:50,582 --> 00:26:54,504 world. It's like world at the core of the planet. But things from like the Bermuda Triangle get 285 00:26:54,644 --> 00:27:01,111 sucked into there. So Warlord uses a gun quite frequently. Really? That I did not know. OK, 286 00:27:01,131 --> 00:27:05,574 we'll have to do like a duel episode with Warlord at some point. But yeah, it just seemed like 287 00:27:05,594 --> 00:27:11,479 a weird hodgepodge of elements going on within this. What I thought was a swords and sorcery 288 00:27:11,519 --> 00:27:15,922 type world and actually turns out to be quite a myriad of things. Yeah, that's kind of what 289 00:27:15,962 --> 00:27:21,586 makes Scartaris unique from other swords and sorcery worlds, isn't the fact that the sorcerer 290 00:27:21,626 --> 00:27:26,534 can find a fucking gun and be like, I'm going to use this as like a magic wand. But like, 291 00:27:26,714 --> 00:27:31,796 why shoot a gun when you can turn into a giant snake though, am I right? Or do both, why not? 292 00:27:32,756 --> 00:27:39,199 Hahaha Moving on to Clark Kent, aka Superman, he was voiced by Darren Criss, who did a great 293 00:27:39,239 --> 00:27:44,261 job voicing the character in Superman Man of Tomorrow, and here as well. I don't know what 294 00:27:44,301 --> 00:27:51,344 it is, but he just sounds like a good, optimistic man. I think he might actually be the second 295 00:27:51,364 --> 00:27:56,738 best Superman voice after Tim Daly, from the new Superman Adventures. I buy it. Yeah, now 296 00:27:56,778 --> 00:28:02,141 from Superman, Martian Manhunter said he learned faith. I thought for a character that's an 297 00:28:02,321 --> 00:28:10,206 alien, Superman was perfect to do a 1950s sci-fi story with, as those often revolve around paranoia 298 00:28:10,386 --> 00:28:16,009 of the other. This was during the time of the McCarthy hearings and general public mistrust 299 00:28:16,349 --> 00:28:22,612 of anyone different or foreign, which in the melting pot of America, was hard to tell visually. 300 00:28:23,053 --> 00:28:29,315 But Superman represents the very best of American values, and in spite of everyone's mistrust, 301 00:28:29,636 --> 00:28:35,498 Clark refused to kill out of fear because he had faith that those people, no matter what 302 00:28:35,518 --> 00:28:41,500 they looked like or said, were good. And not just Bruce or Diana, but even Martian Manhunter, 303 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:47,463 an alien that Clark didn't recognize. The movie proved and reinforced that Clark and Bruce 304 00:28:47,803 --> 00:28:53,205 are opposites in that sense, because Clark believes that everyone's good, and Bruce believes that 305 00:28:53,225 --> 00:28:57,302 everyone's evil. But if you're a white Martian, though, he won't hesitate to kill your ass. 306 00:28:57,322 --> 00:29:02,444 I mean, they attacked him first. Sort of. One of the guys was reaching for his gun. Right, 307 00:29:02,544 --> 00:29:07,225 right, right. So those were the three protagonists of the movie. There's some other characters 308 00:29:07,245 --> 00:29:12,867 that I want to touch on, including Martian Manhunter. We last saw him during a cameo in Green Lantern. 309 00:29:12,987 --> 00:29:19,949 Beware my power. Apparently, perhaps sometime after that, he was kidnapped by Lobo and imprisoned 310 00:29:20,029 --> 00:29:25,504 on Warworld. We have no idea if Superman or Batman were kidnapped at the same time or when 311 00:29:25,664 --> 00:29:31,107 Wonder Robin was taken from her universe, particularly because Martian Manhunter said it took him 312 00:29:31,267 --> 00:29:37,391 lifetimes to psychically reach them. Now he could mean like animated short lifetimes or 313 00:29:37,431 --> 00:29:42,293 he could be a Martian Manhunter from a completely different universe who's been trapped a very, 314 00:29:42,333 --> 00:29:48,637 very long time. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter because he seemingly sacrifices 315 00:29:48,677 --> 00:29:54,672 himself in the end. to destroy Warworld after he merges with a white Martian. If this was 316 00:29:54,712 --> 00:29:59,575 the main tomorrow vs Martian Manhunter, at least he went out like a boss though, because he 317 00:29:59,595 --> 00:30:04,658 was mentally manipulating everyone, not just the Trinity during the illusions, but also 318 00:30:04,778 --> 00:30:09,881 Lobo, Mongul, and some random white Martian in the end. Yeah, it was quite the telepathic 319 00:30:09,921 --> 00:30:14,764 feat they had going on. I think if he is gone, that's kind of a waste because he's such a 320 00:30:14,824 --> 00:30:19,531 quintessential part of the League. Or at least should be. Right, exactly, I think that's one 321 00:30:19,571 --> 00:30:25,516 of the reasons why I think he might be a multiversal Martian manhunter. Again, not 100% sure on 322 00:30:25,556 --> 00:30:30,640 that though. I guess we'll have to see how Crisis on Infinite Earths plays out next year. I also 323 00:30:30,660 --> 00:30:35,344 wanted to touch on Mungo. He was the biggest disappointment for me in the movie. I was looking 324 00:30:35,404 --> 00:30:40,228 forward to him because he hasn't made too many appearances in the cartoons or anywhere outside 325 00:30:40,268 --> 00:30:43,711 the comics really, but he's a pretty powerful badass villain. 326 00:30:47,570 --> 00:30:52,891 enslaving their citizens and pitting their best warriors in gladiatorial matches. That was 327 00:30:52,971 --> 00:30:57,753 nowhere to be seen here. Instead the writers made it so that Mongol and the planet were 328 00:30:57,793 --> 00:31:04,415 empowered by negative emotions, which was a weird decision. I thought that was really weird. 329 00:31:04,955 --> 00:31:11,277 I feel like we never got a great sense for the power of Warworld as a weapon. It's a planet 330 00:31:11,317 --> 00:31:16,138 covered in planet destroying energy cannons. And we never got a good look at it. Like the 331 00:31:16,158 --> 00:31:22,781 whole concept of war world was super vague, which I feel was like a super mistake on behalf 332 00:31:22,821 --> 00:31:28,463 of the filmmakers. Like what were the stakes? We were told that war world was the ultimate 333 00:31:28,483 --> 00:31:33,485 weapon in the universe, but it was never shown. And in a film, you should always show, not 334 00:31:33,545 --> 00:31:38,928 tell. Yeah, the only time we got a good, like perspective of the entire planet and the scale 335 00:31:38,968 --> 00:31:44,798 of it was when it blew up. And at that point, who gave a shit? Exactly. Even after watching 336 00:31:44,818 --> 00:31:48,962 this movie, I don't even really know what Mongol does. I know he has an energy staff that he 337 00:31:48,982 --> 00:31:53,105 can threaten people with. But I don't know if it's just a glow stick, if it even fucking 338 00:31:53,185 --> 00:31:58,269 works. What can he do? He didn't do anything in this movie. I mean, he's kind of like dark 339 00:31:58,309 --> 00:32:04,515 side light. You know, he's strong, he's fast, he's pretty much invulnerable. He could teleport 340 00:32:04,675 --> 00:32:09,879 and he could like shoot out energy beams. He's also really smart. But yeah, I don't think 341 00:32:09,919 --> 00:32:15,067 you got a sense for really any of that in this movie. He was just a guy who couldn't follow 342 00:32:15,087 --> 00:32:21,432 through on his threats, got his ass beat by Lobo, and then got blown up. Weak ass villain. 343 00:32:21,912 --> 00:32:26,416 And it was really unclear too as to whether or not, like, he was the one in control of 344 00:32:26,476 --> 00:32:31,319 Warworld, or Warworld was the one in control of him. He kept referring to Warworld as a 345 00:32:31,419 --> 00:32:36,343 she, which was kind of confusing. That's not from the comics? I don't believe so, not that 346 00:32:36,423 --> 00:32:39,525 I know of. Hmm. But let's get into the story highlights. 347 00:32:47,182 --> 00:32:52,646 The first act is a western. It follows Wonderoman, a nameless cowgirl who wanders via horseback, 348 00:32:52,806 --> 00:32:58,371 into a town whose citizens are holed up in a run-down church by hired law enforcement led 349 00:32:58,411 --> 00:33:04,216 by Jonah Hex. After an altercation at the local saloon between Wonderoman and one of Hex's 350 00:33:04,297 --> 00:33:09,961 men, Wonderoman learns from Hex that the entire townsfolk had their land repossessed after 351 00:33:10,002 --> 00:33:15,678 failing to make payments while searching for gold. The townsfolk together then robbed the 352 00:33:15,718 --> 00:33:21,303 bank to get back the gold they used to pay for their stakes. As Hex asks Wonder Woman to join 353 00:33:21,343 --> 00:33:27,228 his team, other members brutally murder a young girl's parents as they attempt to flee. Wonder 354 00:33:27,268 --> 00:33:32,593 Woman saves the girl and joins the side of the townsfolk, defending them from Hex and his 355 00:33:32,673 --> 00:33:37,917 men. When she learns via her lasso of truth that Hex plans on blowing the rest of the church 356 00:33:38,077 --> 00:33:43,430 up with the people inside, Wonder Woman hijacks the train carrying the explosives while the 357 00:33:43,470 --> 00:33:48,851 townsfolk evacuate. Despite Wonder Woman blowing up the church and the gold stashed inside, 358 00:33:49,191 --> 00:33:55,293 ridding both sides of it, Hex still kills one of the townsfolk's other defenders, a man named 359 00:33:55,413 --> 00:34:01,755 Batlash. Wonder Woman nearly beats Hex to death before writing off on her own. I thought this 360 00:34:01,775 --> 00:34:05,976 was a pretty cool act, actually. I think it was the best out of the three stories, largely 361 00:34:06,016 --> 00:34:11,337 because the action, Wonder Woman was really badass with her lasso and she was a great shot. 362 00:34:11,794 --> 00:34:15,796 Yeah, I thought this was a great story, too. I'm really torn as to which of the three is 363 00:34:15,836 --> 00:34:21,039 my favorite. I actually think the Batman one is my favorite just because it does so much 364 00:34:21,099 --> 00:34:25,422 justice to the character of Warlord, whereas I really didn't care for what they did with 365 00:34:25,462 --> 00:34:31,186 Jonah Hex in this story. Like, they never told his backstory in this movie, maybe because 366 00:34:31,226 --> 00:34:36,009 it's so tragic and it would have made him sympathetic and they just needed him to be the bad guy 367 00:34:36,049 --> 00:34:41,346 here. I'm not sure. I thought it was weird how Wonder Woman had to divert the train in order 368 00:34:41,386 --> 00:34:46,868 to hit the church when the train was initially supposed to hit the church anyway according 369 00:34:46,928 --> 00:34:50,929 to Jonah Hex's plan. I don't think it was supposed to hit the church. I think they were just going 370 00:34:50,949 --> 00:34:55,530 to blow it up when it got near the church. Probably like light the fuse and then jump off the train 371 00:34:55,570 --> 00:34:59,531 or something like that. But it's fucking Wonder Woman. She has a better way. I thought that 372 00:34:59,551 --> 00:35:04,673 was actually cool for you because there really was no good side here. There was just one side 373 00:35:04,733 --> 00:35:10,308 that was oppressive and one that was not. Moving on to Act 2, that's a fantasy adventure in 374 00:35:10,328 --> 00:35:15,913 the world of Skartaris. It follows Batman, a sword wielding mercenary, who is part of a 375 00:35:15,973 --> 00:35:22,138 failed attack on the kingdom of Shambhala, which is led by the king known as Warlord. When Batman 376 00:35:22,238 --> 00:35:27,582 offers to take Warlord and his men to the evil sorcerer who hired the mercenaries, Deimos, 377 00:35:27,923 --> 00:35:33,054 in exchange for his freedom, Warlord accepts the offer. The group is attacked by dangerous 378 00:35:33,074 --> 00:35:38,815 Skartarin wildlife on their journey to Deimos' castle and suffers several casualties. Batman 379 00:35:38,855 --> 00:35:43,597 and Warlord are the only two to make it inside the castle where they have to outsmart booby 380 00:35:43,617 --> 00:35:49,778 traps and outrun a Minotaur. After Batman tricks Warlord into freeing him from his chains, he 381 00:35:49,818 --> 00:35:54,920 abandons Warlord to be killed by the Minotaur and makes his way to Deimos alone, where he 382 00:35:54,960 --> 00:36:00,761 finds Moriah, Warlord's ally who was lost during the journey to the castle, and a confused Wonder 383 00:36:00,801 --> 00:36:07,252 Woman. Deimos reveals that he hired Batman to bring Warlord to him before ordering Batman 384 00:36:07,272 --> 00:36:13,134 to kill Moriah and Wonder Roman. When Batman refuses, Deimos attacks him, but Batman is 385 00:36:13,194 --> 00:36:20,277 saved by Warlord, who managed to kill the Minotaur. They all gang up on Deimos, who flees. Warlord 386 00:36:20,437 --> 00:36:25,799 asks them to join his cause against Deimos, but Batman and Wonder Roman decline and depart 387 00:36:25,899 --> 00:36:31,446 via a portal. Like I said, this is probably my favorite of the three stories. Not just 388 00:36:31,486 --> 00:36:37,189 for Batman, although Batman is cool in it, but primarily for Warlord. The world of Skartaris 389 00:36:37,289 --> 00:36:42,212 is just intense and I thought they did a good job of capturing that. I thought it was really 390 00:36:42,352 --> 00:36:47,675 out of character when Batman abandoned Warlord to be killed by the Minotaur. And, you know, 391 00:36:47,695 --> 00:36:52,918 it turns out later that he was hired to let Warlord die, but then at the end he ended up 392 00:36:53,058 --> 00:36:57,060 fighting alongside him, so it felt kind of flippy floppy in that regard. I'm surprised actually 393 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:01,779 that Warlord didn't just straight up murder Batman. for betraying him like that earlier 394 00:37:01,799 --> 00:37:06,563 in the story. Well, I think it's because he saw that he wasn't gonna kill Mariah and Wonder 395 00:37:06,583 --> 00:37:11,687 Woman, that he realized this guy has some good in him. And I agree, Batman is definitely out 396 00:37:11,707 --> 00:37:17,332 of character in this story. I don't even almost see it as Batman, it's pretty much Conan. But 397 00:37:17,552 --> 00:37:23,156 I'm just a sucker for good fantasy action, I guess. Act 3 is a paranoid sci-fi thriller 398 00:37:23,196 --> 00:37:26,279 that follows Agent Clark Kent of the Central Bureau of 399 00:37:29,494 --> 00:37:35,217 interrogate a group of six people being held at a 1950s diner after they witnessed a UFO 400 00:37:35,297 --> 00:37:41,240 sighting. While asking the people questions, Clark uncovers their fears that one of them 401 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:46,523 may be an alien in disguise controlling their thoughts, with the Foreign Secretary Diana 402 00:37:46,584 --> 00:37:52,707 Prince and the Highway Patrol Officer Bruce Wayne being among the chief suspects. As tensions 403 00:37:52,767 --> 00:37:58,739 rise, Clark begins to hear music. When Bruce and Diana privately reveal to Clark that they 404 00:37:58,919 --> 00:38:04,903 also hear the music, they accidentally touch, flooding each other's minds with strange visions. 405 00:38:05,423 --> 00:38:10,947 In the chaos, Faraday pulls his gun on Bruce and Diana, accusing them of being the aliens, 406 00:38:11,327 --> 00:38:16,451 and when one of the people, a trucker named Potter, reaches for Clark's gun, Clark shoves 407 00:38:16,491 --> 00:38:22,315 him away to defend Bruce and Diana, accidentally sending Potter flying into a jukebox and breaking 408 00:38:22,355 --> 00:38:22,875 his neck. 409 00:38:26,494 --> 00:38:32,817 are white Martians, who attack Faraday and chase Clark, Bruce, and Diana. As the three flee 410 00:38:32,857 --> 00:38:38,940 in a car and fend off attacking white Martians, they eventually reach a barn with a large spaceship 411 00:38:38,980 --> 00:38:45,424 crashed on top of it. Upon entering the ship, they find a green Martian, as does Faraday 412 00:38:45,444 --> 00:38:50,927 shortly after when he catches up with them. After Clark knocks Faraday out when Faraday 413 00:38:50,947 --> 00:38:57,050 shoots him because he thought he was an alien too, the spaceship fades away to reveal Warworld, 414 00:38:57,370 --> 00:39:03,892 which also looks like the inside of a spaceship. It was kind of interesting watching this after 415 00:39:04,012 --> 00:39:10,914 our review of Secret Invasion, which was supposed to be a paranoid sci fi. But I think this short 416 00:39:11,134 --> 00:39:17,196 did a much better job of making the viewer feel the paranoia of like, who's an alien, who's 417 00:39:17,256 --> 00:39:22,677 not, then Secret Invasion did. For sure. Yeah, I thought it was a great twist when we see 418 00:39:22,717 --> 00:39:28,203 the guy with the broken neck. say, oh, I guess I'm the alien. And then all of a sudden, everybody 419 00:39:28,223 --> 00:39:34,506 was the alien. I was like, oh, shit. I thought this third story was OK. I think it was largely 420 00:39:34,806 --> 00:39:41,249 hampered by its need to actually progress the story into World and transition into that last 421 00:39:41,389 --> 00:39:48,391 act. Whereas the previous two acts were largely standalone. Right. Yeah, that's fair. I did 422 00:39:48,452 --> 00:39:53,153 enjoy seeing Clark, Diana and Bruce just like as civilians taking on these Martians, though. 423 00:39:53,398 --> 00:39:59,339 That was pretty cool. Like Bruce with the whole knocking off the cap of the fuel truck and 424 00:39:59,539 --> 00:40:04,241 Clark firing the flare gun. That was cool. It's like I need to remember that for the zombie 425 00:40:04,281 --> 00:40:10,203 apocalypse. I also thought it was interesting that the reason they justified the black and 426 00:40:10,223 --> 00:40:17,245 white coloring of the story was so that Warworld could keep Superman away from light and therefore 427 00:40:17,265 --> 00:40:22,691 his powers. Yellow light, yeah. In Act 4, we learn from the Green Martian, revealed to be 428 00:40:22,731 --> 00:40:28,053 the hero Martian Manhunter, that they're all currently on Warworld, and that Superman, Batman, 429 00:40:28,073 --> 00:40:33,455 and Wonder Woman have been living telepathic illusions forcibly cast by Martian Manhunter 430 00:40:33,875 --> 00:40:40,418 as a result of torture in order to stir negative emotions that energize Warworld. Martian Manhunter's 431 00:40:40,458 --> 00:40:45,860 plan to call out to the Trinity to save him worked, though the bounty hunter Lobo finds 432 00:40:45,900 --> 00:40:50,830 and subdues the heroes before they can escape. Just when I thought we had gotten all the answers, 433 00:40:50,930 --> 00:40:56,252 the whole mystery aspect of the movie keeps going with Lobo's introduction. Cause like 434 00:40:56,292 --> 00:41:01,993 literally he comes out of nowhere and he's really vague by saying like, oh, aren't you the cutest 435 00:41:02,093 --> 00:41:06,555 or something like that. And then like they wake up elsewhere on the war world planet and stuff 436 00:41:06,575 --> 00:41:09,816 and you have no idea what happened. You're still not getting all the answers you need. It's 437 00:41:09,836 --> 00:41:14,757 quite the frustrating film I found. Even after we thought we were getting a grasp on what 438 00:41:14,797 --> 00:41:20,477 was going on. movie still kept up the confusion but not like in an interesting way. It was, 439 00:41:20,497 --> 00:41:24,601 I just remember being really frustrated. Yeah it was definitely frustrating, definitely not 440 00:41:24,921 --> 00:41:30,506 intriguing in any way. Lobo was a surprise, I don't actually remember him from the trailers 441 00:41:30,546 --> 00:41:35,250 although he may have been. The Trinity awakens alone on Warworld and discovers that the people 442 00:41:35,270 --> 00:41:40,574 they interacted with in their visions were clones of people that had been captured by Warworld. 443 00:41:40,914 --> 00:41:45,710 They find their superhero costumes and decide to rescue Marshal Manhunter. who's been taken 444 00:41:45,750 --> 00:41:51,255 to Lobo to Warworld's leader, Mongul. I kind of wonder how each of them knew which costume 445 00:41:51,275 --> 00:41:56,540 belonged to them. I wonder if Diana reached for Batman's costume first or something like 446 00:41:56,580 --> 00:42:00,083 that. It would have been interesting for sure to see Batman wear Wonder Woman's costume. 447 00:42:00,503 --> 00:42:06,128 Ha ha ha. Mongul reveals to Martian Manhunter that millennia ago, Warworld established a 448 00:42:06,168 --> 00:42:12,033 telepathic link with him, promising him power. After killing its former inhabitants, the Largus, 449 00:42:12,658 --> 00:42:18,460 Mongol found he was unable to activate Warworld's weapon systems, though Warworld told him the 450 00:42:18,500 --> 00:42:23,722 key lied within the Martian race. Mongol and Warworld traveled the multiverse in search 451 00:42:23,742 --> 00:42:29,084 of Martians. They found white Martians, though they needed Lobo's help to find the last green 452 00:42:29,244 --> 00:42:35,287 one. Still unable to find the key, Mongol used Martian Manhunter's telepathic powers to fuel 453 00:42:35,347 --> 00:42:40,449 more negativity for Warworld, though he decides in the moment to kill Martian Manhunter to 454 00:42:40,489 --> 00:42:45,352 instill planet-wide despair. I don't know, Mungle's motivations are just kind of weird here. It 455 00:42:45,372 --> 00:42:50,296 doesn't make sense to really kill your most powerful fuel source for this weapon that you're 456 00:42:50,316 --> 00:42:56,241 trying to activate, as well as, you know, kill the one being that may be able to unlock the 457 00:42:56,281 --> 00:43:00,464 power of the weapon you're holding. Just a lot of weird motivational stuff. It was really 458 00:43:00,524 --> 00:43:05,749 weird that he would decide to do that. He needs Martian Manhunter. So why would he kill him? 459 00:43:05,929 --> 00:43:11,393 Just, it's just bad writing. Before Mungle can kill Martian Manhunter, Loba disables his bonds. 460 00:43:11,638 --> 00:43:17,301 so that Martian Manhunter can kill Mongol instead and Lobo can take over Warworld. As Superman, 461 00:43:17,321 --> 00:43:22,143 Batman, and Wonder Woman reach them and begin fighting off White Martians, Martian Manhunter 462 00:43:22,183 --> 00:43:28,227 disables Mongol and reveals that the key to Warworld is a merged green and white Martian 463 00:43:28,547 --> 00:43:32,629 because those races have been at war with each other forever and the Largus believed that 464 00:43:32,649 --> 00:43:37,872 they would never work together. After merging with the White Martian, Martian Manhunter activates 465 00:43:37,932 --> 00:43:44,477 Warworld and turns its weapons on itself. Before Warworld explodes, a mysterious harbinger arrives 466 00:43:44,737 --> 00:43:50,462 and teleports the Trinity to safety, telling them that the lives lost on Warworld is nothing 467 00:43:50,482 --> 00:43:57,108 compared to the threat of an upcoming crisis. Now talk about Deus Ex Machina. Absolutely. 468 00:43:57,248 --> 00:44:02,893 So dumb. There was no reason why they couldn't get to a Zeta Beam transporter and get themselves 469 00:44:02,913 --> 00:44:10,342 to safety. It was all just so rushed and unnecessary. I absolutely hated the fourth act of this film. 470 00:44:10,422 --> 00:44:16,064 None of it was good, in my opinion. No, I mean, I thought the last few minutes of Secret Invasion 471 00:44:16,104 --> 00:44:21,945 were bad. This one was even more abrupt and just out of the blue. I just remember thinking 472 00:44:21,985 --> 00:44:26,627 like, is that it? Like, there's got to be some kind of like after credit scene or something 473 00:44:26,667 --> 00:44:31,588 like that. But there wasn't. No, no, there's no resolution. And I really hate when films 474 00:44:31,628 --> 00:44:37,446 do this. They'll end the film just to set up the next film and not have a resolution. It's 475 00:44:37,566 --> 00:44:42,828 not a good way to do your film. Like audiences need that story resolution. It's fine if you 476 00:44:42,848 --> 00:44:47,910 set up another one, but make sure that you at least see the bad guy die or something like 477 00:44:47,950 --> 00:44:53,232 that, you know? Right. Exactly. And who is Harbinger? Can you tell me? Because I've never read Crisis. 478 00:44:53,933 --> 00:44:59,895 She was like a messenger for Pariah in Crisis on Infinite Earth. Like she's the one who helped 479 00:44:59,935 --> 00:45:05,277 him rally all the heroes together to face the oncoming threat. Hmm. Although she looks way 480 00:45:05,297 --> 00:45:11,594 different. than they depicted her in this movie. Talk about character design. Besides Mongol, 481 00:45:11,614 --> 00:45:17,219 this has to be the worst adaptation from the comics that I've ever seen. It looks more like 482 00:45:17,399 --> 00:45:23,004 Nova from Marvel. That's what I thought. Yeah, I was like total ripoff. The final act did 483 00:45:23,024 --> 00:45:27,047 have some decent action on behalf of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. It was cool to see 484 00:45:27,067 --> 00:45:32,776 them kick ass and stuff. I did think that. Lobo turning on Mongol was a little bit convenient 485 00:45:32,836 --> 00:45:36,399 until I realized that he was actually being manipulated by a martial man hunter And then 486 00:45:36,439 --> 00:45:41,083 it's kind of seemed to make more sense But I mean even that played largely into like my 487 00:45:41,123 --> 00:45:47,348 frustration with the story Like a lot of it on first viewing feels very empty and strange 488 00:45:47,448 --> 00:45:52,493 motivation wise until you get more information But you know the answers all come in piecemeal 489 00:45:52,533 --> 00:45:57,217 and they're not satisfying I guess the action at the end was good again the whole time. I 490 00:45:57,237 --> 00:46:01,644 was just wondering like Why aren't the white Martians bigger threats for a Superman, Batman 491 00:46:01,664 --> 00:46:06,547 and Wonder Woman? They should be. Absolutely. Well, Batman had fire. True. That actually 492 00:46:06,587 --> 00:46:11,911 was cool how he used that. But I don't know, the whole end just felt so cheap because it 493 00:46:11,931 --> 00:46:17,314 just felt like I was watching a really bad trailer for the next movie and not even a trailer, 494 00:46:17,374 --> 00:46:21,677 just, you know, like as a setup for something else that I'm not going to be able to watch 495 00:46:21,697 --> 00:46:28,226 for another year. It was a commercial. It was an advertisement. And I feel like robbed. Like 496 00:46:28,246 --> 00:46:32,687 this whole thing was just a gimmick to plug the next movie. Yeah, I think that Tomorrowverse 497 00:46:32,747 --> 00:46:37,389 could definitely have gone without this film. It seems like the most inconsequential DC animated 498 00:46:37,429 --> 00:46:42,571 movie ever. As I mentioned earlier, I would have been much happier if this was just an 499 00:46:42,612 --> 00:46:48,834 anthology collection featuring Elseworld shorts. Overall, the film's anthological approach to 500 00:46:48,874 --> 00:46:56,337 story structure and genre is interesting, but ultimately the film's disappointing and convoluted 501 00:46:56,377 --> 00:47:02,492 final act diminishes the film's overall appeal. It's hard to knock the film too much because 502 00:47:02,532 --> 00:47:08,194 I would say three out of its four acts were fairly good, but the final act just really 503 00:47:08,294 --> 00:47:14,757 ruins it. And because of that, I'm giving this two and a half stars out of five, a rotten 504 00:47:14,797 --> 00:47:20,899 rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Yeah, I think if the movie had done a better job of setting 505 00:47:20,959 --> 00:47:27,694 up early on some foreshadowing or hints as to what exactly was going on here. kind of clued 506 00:47:27,854 --> 00:47:33,636 audiences in better along the way as we go through these other interesting stories, I think it 507 00:47:33,656 --> 00:47:37,898 would have been much more successful. I also think, you know, they could have done a much 508 00:47:37,938 --> 00:47:43,640 better job with Mongol in the ending, of course, but the individual anthology stories, I think, 509 00:47:43,760 --> 00:47:48,742 mostly hit the mark they were trying to. So I agree. Two and a half stars. It was an interesting 510 00:47:48,842 --> 00:47:53,924 idea at the very least, and maybe worthwhile to explore. Hopefully next time, though, they 511 00:47:54,025 --> 00:47:58,555 do a better job if they do something like this again. Right, right. But that does it for this 512 00:47:58,595 --> 00:48:03,399 review. Let us know what you thought about the movie by writing to us at dynamicduelpodcast 513 00:48:03,519 --> 00:48:09,405 at gmail.com or by visiting us on Instagram or Twitter X. I don't know what the name of 514 00:48:09,445 --> 00:48:14,289 it is now. You can find links to all of our accounts by checking out our show notes or 515 00:48:14,349 --> 00:48:19,393 visiting our website at dynamicduel.com. And on our website, you can also find a link to 516 00:48:19,413 --> 00:48:23,857 our Patreon page where you can join our dynamic to OTR and chat with us and fellow listeners. 517 00:48:24,374 --> 00:48:28,697 our Fantastic Four tier, which gets you bonus content each month, our X-Force tier that makes 518 00:48:28,717 --> 00:48:33,081 you an executive producer of this podcast, or our newest tier that lets you join our Dynamike 519 00:48:33,181 --> 00:48:38,345 Podcast Network. If you can't join Patreon, you can still support this podcast by signing 520 00:48:38,405 --> 00:48:44,770 up for our e-newsletter also at dynamicduel.com. Or you can also rate the show on Apple Podcasts, 521 00:48:44,950 --> 00:48:52,216 Spotify, Podchaser, or on our website. Our next episode is going to be dual episode that is 522 00:48:52,276 --> 00:48:58,320 leading up to our team duel for episode 350 where we're gonna pit the Doom Patrol against 523 00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:02,762 the Guardians of the Galaxy. Yeah, next week we're gonna learn who will win in a fight between 524 00:49:03,063 --> 00:49:08,666 Dorothy Spinner, the Chief's daughter, against Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Yeah, that should 525 00:49:08,686 --> 00:49:12,428 be interesting. You know, Dorothy Spinner has the power of imagination. She creates all these 526 00:49:12,728 --> 00:49:17,531 monsters to fight on her behalf, essentially. And Moon Girl has her own monster in Devil 527 00:49:17,571 --> 00:49:22,073 Dinosaur. So I think this is gonna be a fun matchup. Yeah, for sure. I'm looking forward 528 00:49:22,093 --> 00:49:27,164 to it. I loved Dorothy in season 2 of Doom Patrol. But that does it for this episode, we want 529 00:49:27,184 --> 00:49:31,867 to give a big thanks to our executive producers Ken Johnson, John Sturowski, Zachary Hepburn, 530 00:49:32,047 --> 00:49:37,430 Dustin Belcombe, Miggy Matten-Geehan, Brandon Estergard, Nathaniel Wagner, Levi Yeaton, Nick 531 00:49:37,450 --> 00:49:43,834 Obanto, Austin Wazilowski, AJ Dunkerley, Scott Camacho, and Adam Spies for helping make this 532 00:49:43,874 --> 00:49:48,777 podcast possible. And we'll talk to you guys next week. Up up and away, true believers. 533 00:49:50,130 --> 00:49:53,006 World, good god y'all, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.