Brightboy Adventures was lucky enough to get into the World Premiere of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse at the Paley Center for the Media in Beverly Hills. UGO.com, Warner Home Video, and DC Entertainment hosted the evening for the cast and fans to take the first official glimpse of the next DVD in the DC Animation films. The film did not disappoint and included a lot of “new shticks” (as Executive Producer Bruce Timm called them) from our favorite DC superheroes.
The film is based on Superman Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner’s original work in Superman/Batman: Supergirl and the film material stayed pretty close to the original work. Naturally the transition from graphic novel to DVD does call for some changes, the production was able to stick close with artwork and storyline. This time around the Big Blue Boy Scout and the Caped Crusader have changed a little in this “semi-sequel” to Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Batman still doesn’t see the good in people and has suspicions in the sudden appearance of Kara Zor-El, also known as Supergirl for the layman. Superman is looking thinner and is very overprotective of his newly arrived cousin, the only family and fellow Kryptonian he has. Kara is having issues controlling her powers and finding her place in the world. She wants to be a normal Earth girl, but Superman’s friends believe she is a big liability - Wonder Woman comes to take Kara (initially against her will) to Paradise Island to help her learn to control her abilities and Batman agrees. Superman eventually falls in line with his fellow heroes and Kara comes to terms with it and takes on the training. Darkseid is in search for a new leader for his Female Furies and he sets his Omega Effect eyes on Supergirl! The film also includes cameos by Granny Goodness (perfectly voiced by Ed Asner), Artemis, the Harbinger, Kryto, Doomsday, and Big Barda. There are intense battle scenes, “kryptonese” dialogue and some occasional laughs (some major comedic relief is provided by Batman!!).
During the Q&A session, Director Lauren Montgomery alluded to the title of the movie and why it was changed to Apocalypse from Supergirl; mentioning that their Wonder Woman film did not have great sales stats and so movies with women as the main character won’t get to go far (getting Supergirl on the cover was even a battle). And though female characters don’t sell DVDs well, this film is full of stong-willed and well balanced (albeit scantily clad) women. Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Artemis, Lyla/Harbinger, Granny Goodness, the Female Furies, Big Barda and an army of Amazons dominated scenes and held their own with Superman, Batman and Darkseid. The look of Supergirl was spot-on with her graphic novel appearance. It’s unfortunate that the opinion of female driven stories is so negative, but Bruce Timm and Lauren Montgomery have done a great job of still making the female hero a strong character and hopefully the marketing will draw in the female fanbase.
After the screening of the film there was a short Q&A with Bruce Timm, Lauren Montgomery, Andrea Romano (Casting Director/voice of Stompa), Tab Murphy (Screenplay), Tim Daly (voice of Superman), Susan Eisenberg (voice of Wonder Woman), and Rachel Quaintance (voice of Lyla/Harbinger and Artemis). Tim Daly discussed his personal likeness to Batman and how much he noticed Superman had cut back on the “carbs” this time around. Susan Eisenberg talked about how much stronger Wonder Woman has gotten over the years that she has voiced the character. The entire panel recognized how tremendous of a job Andrea Romano does casting the voice talent and how great a person she is to work for. Andrea Romano said that getting Andre Braugher to voice Darkseid was a wish come true and Ed Asner was so great to work with. The biggest news of the Q&A came from Bruce Timm though. He announced the next three films in the DC Animated DVD series. The first two, All-Star Superman and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights were announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2010. Timm commented that All-Star Superman is “already in the can” and just awaiting release in 2011. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights will be similar to the previously released Batman: Gotham Knight with several different stories told over a linking story arc. There will be approximately six stories told about different members of the Lantern corps., including Kilowag, Sinestro, and Abin Sur. The 3rd film got its “official” confirmation from Bruce Timm last night, Batman: Year One. Timm said that the film will stick very closely to the Frank Miller graphic novel; Batman will not have all the gadgets and muscles that he is known for in modern storylines and films. All three films should be great additions to the DC DVD library.
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse will be released September 28th on Blu-ray and DVD. Every fanboy (and girl) should check it out. A special thanks to UGO.com for the opportunity to see the premiere and meet the cast and crew.
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| Brightboy Adventures w/ Tim Daly |
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| Brightboy Adventures w/ Bruce Timm |
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