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Justice League vs. Teen Titans

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Justice League vs. Teen Titans
Promotional poster
Directed bySam Liu
Screenplay by
Story byBryan Q. Miller
Produced byJames Tucker
Starring
Edited byChristopher D. Lozinski
Music byFrederik Wiedmann
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Home Video
Release dates
  • March 26, 2016 (2016-03-26) (WonderCon)
  • March 29, 2016 (2016-03-29) (United States)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Justice League vs. Teen Titans is a 2016 American animated superhero film directed by Sam Liu from a screenplay by Alan Burnett and Bryan Q. Miller. It is the 26th film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and the seventh film in the DC Animated Movie Universe. The film features the voices of Taissa Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Stuart Allan and Jason O'Mara.

The film had its world premiere at WonderCon on March 26, 2016, and was released through digital download on March 29, followed by home media release on April 12 by Warner Home Video.

Plot

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Years ago, the demon Trigon conceives his daughter Raven with the human Arella. When Arella discovered his demonic nature, she ran away and was taken in by a group of mystics who lived in another dimension called Azarath. As she grew older, Raven wondered about her father. She attempted to use her powers to learn more about him. Trigon used her probe to find and destroy Arella along with Azarath and all its inhabitants. Raven managed to imprison Trigon inside a magical crystal in what was left of Azarath. Sometime later, she met and joined the Teen Titans.

In the present-day on Earth, Trigon sends a demonic corruptor to Earth, which briefly possesses Weather Wizard, following a battle between the Justice League and Legion of Doom. Ignoring his father Batman's instructions beforehand, Damian Wayne helps defeat the entity, but left the League with no background information from it.

As a consequence for his reckless actions, Nightwing takes Damian to join the Titans. He meets Starfire, their leader; Jaime Reyes, a teenager infused with technology that turns into a beetle-like exoskeleton; Garfield Logan, a metahuman with the ability to shapeshift into any animal; and Raven. At first, Damian doesn't get along with them, believing he can be a better leader. When he almost dies in an altercation with Jaime, Raven uses her power to heal him. They inadvertently bond through this experience - she sees flashes of his life and he sees Trigon within her.

Meanwhile, Batman and Cyborg investigate the earlier attack. Superman is later possessed by one of the entities and brutally damages Atomic Skull, grabbing the attention of Diana and Batman. Before calming him down with Kryptonite, Batman learns the entity was after the "girl", but Superman escapes before the kryptonite can disable him. Batman requests Cyborg to help him in tracking the girl in question. Elsewhere, the demonic Superman raises a gate somewhere in the desert.

Starfire takes the Titans to a carnival in order for them to try and get along. Unbeknownst to the Titans, Raven is called by Trigon's entities, who attack Raven. She fights them off with aid from the Titans. After the attack, Raven explains her backstory to the Titans, who had not learned about it until that moment. When they return to the Tower, the Justice League attempts to take Raven with them. Flash, Diana, and Cyborg are possessed by the entities; Batman avoids possession by knocking himself out with a nerve toxin designed to take down Bane. After the League beats the Titans senseless, Raven agrees to go with them to save their lives, but as they teleport away, Jaime knocks Cyborg out and frees him from possession. Raven takes the rest to Superman and summons Trigon to Earth. Cyborg awakens and uses his Apokoliptian technology to teleport them to Superman. Damian stabs Superman with Kryptonite, releasing him from his possession, who then heads to release the entity from Flash and Diana.

The League stays behind on Earth to battle Trigon while Cyborg joins the Titans in a venture to Hell to save Raven. Robin confronts and defeats a demon in the form of his deceased grandfather Ra's al Ghul.[N 1] Raven uses a spell to create a magical prison to detain Trigon, and shrinks the crystal down to wear on her forehead. Robin then persuades a reluctant Raven to stay on Earth with the Titans. In a mid-credits scene, a mysterious costumed girl[N 2] riding a flying chunk of rock is seen heading towards the Titans Tower.

Voice cast

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Voice actor Character
Justice League
Jason O'Mara Bruce Wayne / Batman
Jerry O'Connell Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman
Rosario Dawson Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
Christopher Gorham Barry Allen / Flash
Shemar Moore Victor Stone / Cyborg
Teen Titans
Stuart Allan Damian Wayne / Robin
Sean Maher Dick Grayson / Nightwing
Kari Wahlgren Koriand'r / Starfire
Taissa Farmiga Rachel Roth / Raven
Brandon Soo Hoo Garfield Logan / Beast Boy
Jake T. Austin Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle
Villains
Jon Bernthal Trigon
Steve Blum Lex Luthor
Toyman
Terrence C. Carson Ra's al Ghul
Rick D. Wasserman Weather Wizard
Solomon Grundy
Atomic Skull
Other
Laura Bailey Angela Chen

Production

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The film was announced by DC Comics, along with Batman: Bad Blood, in July 2015 during San Diego Comic-Con.[1] The voice cast includes Jon Bernthal, Taissa Farmiga, Jake T. Austin, and Brandon Soo Hoo, and returning cast members Rosario Dawson, Jerry O'Connell, Jason O'Mara, and Christopher Gorham.[2] Frederik Wiedmann composed the film's score.[3]

Distribution

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The first official image from the film was released, as well as an image of Jon Bernthal recording voiceover for the film.[2] A sneak preview of the film was released as a bonus feature on Batman: Bad Blood.[4] The sneak preview of the film was later released online along with the film's official trailer.[5][6][7][8]

Justice League vs. Teen Titans had its world premiere at the Los Angeles WonderCon on March 26, 2016.[9] The film was released via digital download on March 29, and straight-to-DVD and Blu-ray on April 12.[10] A gift set of the film was released with an exclusive Robin figurine.[11] It was released straight-to-DVD on May 30 in the United Kingdom.[12]

Sequel

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Main article: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

An adaptation of The Judas Contract was planned as the third DC Universe Animated Original Movie, to be released after Superman: Doomsday (2007) and Justice League: The New Frontier (2008).[13][14] The project was announced in 2006 but later put on hold.[13][14] This film was to be based on "The Judas Contract" story from 1984 featured in Tales of the Teen Titans #42–44 and Teen Titans Annual #3 by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.[15] Warner Bros. Animation's writer/producer Bruce Timm confirmed in April 2010 that there were no current plans to revive the project,[16] but in July 2016, Warner Bros. revived project as Teen Titans: The Judas Contract and was repurposed as a sequel to Justice League vs. Teen Titans.[17][18] Farmiga, Austin, Wahlgren, Soo Hoo, Allan and Maher reprised their roles, and Christina Ricci and Miguel Ferrer have joined the cast.[19] The film was released on April 4, 2017, and is the final film role of Ferrer, who died on January 19.

Reception

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Critical reception

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The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 80%, with an average score of 6.6/10, based on 5 reviews.[20] Brian Lowry of Variety gave the film a mixed review, calling it inferior to other entries of the franchise.[21] Eric Diaz of Nerdist awarded the film a rating of 3.5/5: "The movie is mostly entertaining with some pretty fun action beats. It captures the essence of the Titans, shown mostly as they were portrayed in the animated show, but with a slightly more grown-up feel".[22]

Sales

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The film has earned $4,585,929 from domestic home video sales.[23]

Notes

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  1. ^ Following his death from the 2014 film Son of Batman.
  2. ^ Identified offscreen as Terra, marking continuity to Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.

References

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  1. ^ Curto, Eric (July 11, 2015). "Two New DC Animated Film Coming 2016". DCComicsMovie.
  2. ^ a b Sands, Rich (January 18, 2016). "Roll Call: Meet the Cast of Justice League vs. Teen Titans". TVInsider.com. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  3. ^ "Frederik Wiedmann Scoring 'Justice League vs. Teen Titans'". Film Music Reporter. January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  4. ^ McGloin, Matt (January 18, 2016). "Justice League Vs. Teen Titans Animated Movie Announced". CosmicBookNews.com. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  5. ^ Jayson, Jay (January 24, 2016). "Justice League Vs. Teen Titans Sneak Peek Released". ComicBook.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  6. ^ "Watch: Justice League Vs. Teen Titans Preview Trailer". CosmicBookNews.com. January 24, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  7. ^ Siegel, Lucas (March 22, 2016). "Justice League vs. Teen Titans Clip Features Suped-up Demon Weather Wizard". ComicBook.com. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  8. ^ Siegel, Lucas (March 29, 2016). "EXCLUSIVE: Teen Titans Train Together in Action-Packed Justice League vs. Teen Titans Clip". ComicBook.com. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  9. ^ Perry, Spencer (February 3, 2016). "Justice League vs. Teen Titans to Premiere at WonderCon". SuperHeroHype.
  10. ^ Gerding, Stephen (January 29, 2016). ""Justice League vs. Teen Titans" Releases Box Art, Release Date & Blu-ray Details". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on July 12, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  11. ^ Osburn, Alex (January 29, 2016). "Justice League Vs. Teen Titans: Box Art and Home Entertainment Release Details". IGN. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  12. ^ "Justice League vs Teen Titans [Blu-ray]". Amazon.com. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  13. ^ a b "DC Universe DVD Releases Coming from Warner Bros". MovieWeb. July 24, 2006. Archived from the original on August 31, 2006. Retrieved August 31, 2006.
  14. ^ a b Harvey, James (February 28, 2008). ""Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" Animated Feature On Hold". WorldsFinestOnline.com. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  15. ^ "'Comics Buyer's Guide' Fan Awards Archives". CBGxtra.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
  16. ^ Marnell, Blair (April 27, 2010). ""Green Lantern" And "Wonder Woman" Animated Sequels Aren't Happening, Says Bruce Timm". MTV. Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  17. ^ "Top 5 Easter Eggs in 'Justice League vs. Teen Titans' That Reveal More About the DC Animated Universe". Moviepilot. March 31, 2016. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  18. ^ Damore, Meagan (July 23, 2016). "SDCC: "Justice League Dark" Animated Film Confirmed; "Teen Titans" & More Announced". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  19. ^ Kit, Borys (January 19, 2017). "Christina Ricci, Miguel Ferrer Join Voice Cast of 'Teen Titans' Animated Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  20. ^ "Justice League vs. Teen Titans". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  21. ^ Lowry, Brian (March 28, 2016). "Blu-Ray Review: 'Justice League vs. Teen Titans'". Variety.
  22. ^ Diaz, Eric (March 30, 2016). "Review: Justice League vs. Teen Titans". Nerdist Industries. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  23. ^ "Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016)". The Numbers. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
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