Plot summary: The Fatal Five travel back from the future with their sights set on new Green Lantern Jessica Cruz.

Is It Canon?

Bruce Timm says it is, so… case closed?

There are a few little inconsistencies such as a Hal Jordan being a Green Lantern at some point (nothing says he couldn’t have become a GL before or after what we’ve seen in the DCAU – albeit with a different origin story as his was given to Kyle Rayner), Kilowog and the Fatal Five getting a redesign, and there being zero mention of Supergirl. But shit like that happened between series in the DCAU and isn’t enough to make something non-canon in my opinion.

The film was originally in the art style of things like Crisis on Two Earths or Doomsday, but because for whatever reason they didn’t want it to be part of the DCAMU (an interconnected run of animated films based on The New 52) they opted to use the models and art style from the DCAU. I think this is where the debate over canonicity comes from, but given some people consider shit like Brainiac Attacks or Public Enemies to be ‘soft-canon’ I don’t see how you can think of this film as anything but canon.

Plus, Bruce Timm says it is!

Notes and Trivia

Original Release Date: March 30^th, 2019

Directed: Sam Liu (1)

Written: Eric Carrasco (story & screenplay) (1), Jim Krieg (screenplay) (1) and Alan Burnett (screenplay) (1)

Animation: DR Movie Co., LTD (21)

Music: Kristopher Carter (16), Michael McCuistion (15) and Lolita Ritmanis (15)

This film marks the return of Alan Burnett to the DCAU after skipping the entirety of Justice League and JLU, though he did work on Static Shock and The Zeta Project which ran concurrently. It was just always weird to me that he didn’t work on these two huge JL shows.

Due to the higher age rating, there are mature themes, more blood and Wonder Woman gets to carry a sword for the first time in the DCAU.

Star Boy’s costume was difficult to animate but would have been borderline impossible without the digital tools adopted by this point. Bruce Timm wanted it to be even more complicated, showing real constellations and whatnot.

The various minor changes to the Green Lantern corner of things are taken from Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Green Lantern: First Flight and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.

Superman fights The Fatal Five at ‘The Maggin Center’, a reference to comic writer Elliot S. Maggin.

The film is largely set in Portland, Oregon, where Jessica Cruz operates from in the comics. They were not allowed to use the iconic ‘Keep Portland Weird’ catchphrase for any signs, which is copyrighted, like the Hollywood Sign.

Jessica was originally going to lose a limb fighting the Fatal Five but they decided she’d been through enough in the film, so it was changed to her ring getting sliced into pieces.

DCAU Debuts

Star Boy is Thom Khallor, the work of Otto Binder and George Papp all the way back in 1961 as one of the scores of characters in The Legion of Super-Heroes. He can temporarily increase the mass of an object, though decreasing mass is exclusive to this film.

One of the comical number of human Green Lanterns, Jessica Cruz debuted in 2013, created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. Her backstory in the comics is largely the same as what is depicted here, but with the complication that she originally wielded ‘The Ring of Volthoom’ after the death of ‘Power Ring’, an evil alternate-universe Green Lantern (remember him?) After heroically sacrificing herself she was awarded a genuine Green Lantern Corps ring instead, making her one of like… seven human Green Lanterns operating at once. ‘Two Lanterns per Sector’, my ass.

Geoff Johns and Tony S. Daniel created Miss Martian in 2006 when Johns was told he could not use Supergirl in his run on Teen Titans. M’gann M’orzz (aka Megan Morse) is a White Martian who fled her planet to escape the civil war with the Green Martians and possesses all the insanely broken powers of Martian Manhunter. Upon arriving on Earth she initially pretended to be a Green Martian. Her profile was enormously boosted by her inclusion in the popular Young Justice series.

Bloodsport (Robert Dubois) did appear as part of The Legion of Doom in JLU but was killed towards the end of the series. The version appearing here is Alexander Trent, the second Bloodsport, who was created by Karl Kesel and Barry Kitson in 1993. In the comics he’s a white supremacist so they changed him to be a conspiracy theorist for this film. Most versions of Bloodsport have some form of mental illness and all are armed to the teeth with crazy weapons and usually a teleportation device. Idris Elba played the Dubois version in The Suicide Squad.

Recap

In the far future, three of the Fatal Five (remember them?) steal a time ship from The Legion of Super-Heroes. Star Boy followsh them to ensure they’re locked inside.

Unfortunately that means he’s stranded in our present without access to special medication, seeming deranged as he rambles about the future. Batman does what Batman does, tossing him in Arkham.

Months later, Mister Terrific opens the time ship, unknowingly setting the villains inside loose. The sight of them battling Superman on TV jogs Star Boy’s memory and he escapes Arkham.

Batman pieces together Star Boy’s ramblings to deduce he and the Fatal Five are looking for reluctant new Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, with the League arriving to fend off the attackers.

An exploration of Star Boy’s mind confirms his various wild claims, including Jessica becoming a legend. The villains detonate a series of bombs, occupying the League and convincing Jessica to surrender.

She escorts them to Oa, where the Green Lantern Corps are holding the other two members of the Fatal Five prisoner. Reunited, they stomp a bunch of Lanterns and drain the Central Battery.

The Five plan to destroy the freakin’ Sun, proving too much for The League. Luckily a recovered and newly determined Jessica wipes the floor with them.

Star Boy flies into the failing Sun, using his powers to hold it together at the cost of his own life. Later at his funeral, the Legion of Super-Heroes arrive from the future to pay their respects.

Best Performance

Elyes Gabel is JUST on the right side with his delivery of Star Boy’s ramblings. There’s a ‘code’ element to be deciphered, which in some ways feels like the writers saying ‘hey, this guy isn’t crazy at all, just a little troubled’, but it does flirt with borderline offensive stereotypes of metal illness. I think they get away with a lot of it because he’s pretty charming too, with fun lines like the fear of clowns bit, as well as his sad, determined farewell at the end.

The other two newcomers, Diane Guerrero and Daniela Bobadilla are really solid as Jessica Cruz and Miss Martian respectively. Guerrero does a good job selling the anxiety angle, while Bobadilla is suitably spunky like the best work of Nicholle Tom as Supergirl, who she is functionally filling in for.

The DCAU trinity of Kevin Conroy, George Newbern and Susan Eisenberg seem like they’re mostly here for fan service, with Conroy naturally being by far the best of them thanks to his grouchy mentorship of Miss Martian. The other two’s roles could probably have mostly been performed by recycling old clips. But it does make me smile hearing their voices again, so I guess I have in fact been serviced as a fan. I did enjoy Newbern’s delivery of the sassy comeback to Batman, who ignores him being hospitalised.

I much preferred Michael Beach as Mister Terrific, with Kevin Michael Richardson not playing him with enough swag in my opinion. Conversely Bruce Timm does a shockingly good job filling in for Richard Moll as Two-Face. It’s not just a single line they can hide either, he has to actually act a little and it’s a charming scene.

‘Episode’ Ranking

I think the first half of this film absolutely rules, demonstrating what I long argued while writing all these reviews: the DCAU should have had way more movies to allow them to juggle the large cast of characters. It feels like everybody involved was a little older and wiser, though perhaps some of what I’m responding to is simply them being afforded a good long break from this continuity so feeling creatively refreshed on returning to it, versus the grind of having to crank out dozens of episodes in a row.

Comparing this opening to the broadly similar one from ‘Far From Home’ really is night and day, as this version immediately builds the Fatal Five to look dangerous, lays the groundwork for Star Boy’s mental health subplot, and I’m a huge fan of Thom using his powers to force Persuader to headbutt the control console to compete the lockdown the heroes had tried to start, thus trapping them inside.

Star Boy’s cosmic costume looks fantastic throughout. I talked about it in the notes/trivia section, but this really would not have been possible without digital tools. It’s striking enough against normal backgrounds but really sings when he’s in space with other stars to pop against. You’d think he’d blend in too much and be washed out but that’s not the case at all.

The movie is anchored by a pair of mature subplots, at least relative to the DCAU. Star Boy’s schizophrenia is surprisingly well handled in my opinion. He’s not locked up in Arkham because he’s schizophrenic, he’s locked up because he causes a disturbance trying to acclimate to the time period and then once they have him in custody they accurately diagnose him with schizophrenia. That may not seem any different to you, but I thought it was a good detail. I was extremely charmed by him being friends with Two-Face, who has his back when inmates try to pick on the scrawny Thom, and shows him genuine empathy in return. I liked the “eating for two” line. Then his ten months of good behaviour are ruined when he sees the Fatal Five on TV, ostensibly restoring his access to his powers and reminding him what he was rambling about in the first place. I liked how much self-validation he gets from being a superhero, constantly asserting it to be true while everybody looks at him dubiously. It’s not just a bit played for laughs, as we see the ‘unreliable narrator’ moment of him being told he won’t be allowed to be in the Legion anymore if he stops taking his meds, seemingly his biggest fear. This all leads to his genuinely sad sacrifice play at the end, rewarded by being honoured at the funeral as the hero he was desperate to be in life.

Jessica’s backstory is straight up harrowing, effectively utilising the subtle ‘language’ of dreams before you even realise we’re seeing one. Her would-be murderer seemingly exists only as a mute shadow. The whole thing is done with a blueish hue that simultaneously passes for conveying it being nighttime, and making it feel subtly vignettey. The musical stingers work in a similar way, giving a bit of a thriller/horror vibe but also taking on a surrealist tone. Moving from that to her working through her anxiety techniques in her refreshingly small, untidy apartment, bundling up in a hoodie and psyching herself up to go to a therapy session that isn’t working for her… five of the finest minutes in the DCAU.

These two pockets cross over with a mostly cute little quasi-romance. In Thom’s time Jessica is a revered hero, so he treats her with a matter of fact earned respect rather than the weighty expectations the League seem to put on her to fulfil her potential. You’d think the pressure of a legacy would be just as bad, but he doesn’t push her to do anything because to him she’s already a legend. In return she identifies with his mental struggles and bonds with him easily while the more impatient Miss Martian rolls her eyes. From there we get the telepathic bond sequence, with the jealousy when Jessica sees a picture of Thom and a girl, and the cute hall of heroes scene where Jess is shoulder to shoulder with the great Green Lanterns of old.

The D-Story is Batman’s mentorship of Miss Martian and I think it’s a nice final little button on the movie. They get off on a good foot with the takedown of Bloodsport, which is kind of my platonic ideal of a short battle against a villain in each episode of the show to demonstrate these heroes are constantly working, making the world feel lived in. M’gann gently poking at Bruce about his hypocrisy complaining about a teen sidekick by morphing into Robin was a good bit. Ditto her razzing him when they see The Legion of Super-Heroes are all teenagers. He’s hard on her throughout but because this is DCAU Batman he’s got a lot of heart, wrapping his cape around her when she freaks out from the fire, and bringing Jessica into Thom’s mind to calm him.

Perhaps no scene better encapsulates their enduring take on the character than when he stares at the giant statue of himself and declares it looks nothing like him. There’s such a specificity to that tiny interaction. It’s done for M’gann’s benefit because on some level he wants to engage with her. It’s funny, because he DOES have a sense of humour, but it’s also so curmudgeonly because he’s got a rep to uphold. And it’s just so damn silly but doesn’t make him look bad at all. Conroy and this creative team just understood how to harness the totality of Batman. Then they wrap it all with him telling her she’s been voted in as a full time member of the League, but giving one last playful barb by suggesting it wasn’t unanimous. Never change, Bruce.

Solid action scenes throughout. I like tiny details like Tharak using a laser to collapse the ground under Star Boy when he has them pinned with his density powers, or Miss Martian showing her inexperience by phasing through a missile only for it to explode behind her and knock her down. Batman using pressure points to take down the far more powerful Mano is a classic too, with Conroy bolstering it with “you might not be human, but you fall like one” before he’s even won the fight. So good.

However I said at the top that it was specifically the first half of the film that I like so much. I don’t think it ever goes off the rails by any means, but I do think they perhaps ran out of steam a bit around the midpoint. I get what they were going for with Jessica surrendering – the strongest part of it is her being forced to walk into the woods with the same musical stinger as her flashback at the beginning – but it just feels a little… paint by numbers? I appreciate seeing more of the Green Lantern Corps and everything, but yeah, a little more generic in the back half. All hope is lost, Jessica digs down deep and saves the day, then Star Boy dies to save everybody. Again, none of this is bad, I’m just not as interested in talking about it. If you’re a terrible person you probably object to Jessica soloing the Fatal Five when the rest of the League struggled far more against them, but that’s just superheroes, baby! Plus if it really bothers you, it was technically the Eye of Ekron that was overpowering the others, and that was no longer in the picture when Jess makes the save. But again, this really should not matter.

These movies generally enjoy some inherent advantages over episodes when it comes to ranking them, so I try to grade them a little harsher to compensate. Still, even with its limitations I don’t think I can go lower than sixth.

[Rankings Note: I’m not writing a whole new post about the updated rankings, but for those who are curious Sam Liu would slide straight in as the number one director, while our new trio of writers would debut at Number 2, pushing everybody but Gail Simone down a spot. The animation and composer standings would be unaffected.]

Destroyer
Double Date
For the Man Who Has Everything
Clash
The Great Brain Robbery
Justice League vs. the Fatal Five (NEW ENTRY)
Task Force X
Question Authority
Ancient History
Fearful Symmetry
To Another Shore
Panic in the Sky
The Return
The Once and Future Thing, Part 1: Weird Western Tales
Epilogue
Flashpoint
Shadow of the Hawk
The Ties That Bind
The Cat and the Canary
The Greatest Story Never Told
Divided We Fall
The Balance
Dark Heart
Alive!
Initiation
This Little Piggy
Flash and Substance
Kids’ Stuff
The Once and Future Thing, Part 2: Time Warped
Doomsday Sanction
Wake the Dead
Ultimatum
Grudge Match
I Am Legion
Hawk and Dove
Far From Home
Patriot Act
Chaos at the Earth’s Core
Hunter’s Moon
Dead Reckoning

Rogues Roundup

The Fatal Five (Peter Jessop/Matthew Yang King/Sumalee Montano/Philip Anthony-Rodriguez) (second appearance)

In addition to being built up better from the start, they’re just infinitely more competent. I don’t care that they had the numbers advantage, anyone who can hurt Superman is a badass. Not only can they trade hands with him on a strength and durability front, the Persuader’s axe is able to give him a nasty wound. None of them have particularly noteworthy personalities, but in lieu of that they are extremely deadly.

It was probably smart to limit them to a trio in the first act, establishing that their mission is to rescue the other two, with Emerald Empress the standout character among them. The telepathic flashback really hammers that home by making her the one to turn the tide in their battle against the Legion of Super-Heroes. Even in defeat, it’s her capture that makes the others run away, and having her absorb the entire Central Battery was a crazy display of power.

Likewise it was a good decision to have them bicker a lot because conflict is inherently more interesting than everybody getting along, so you have stuff like EE berating Mano for being slow in her rescue and Tharok teasing Mano about not being able to touch her. Again, they’re not very interesting individually but as a collective they’re surprisingly passable as the antagonists of a feature film, especially given how niche they are to most.

Overrall it’s a huge improvement on their appearance in JLU but I do have to hold that original appearance against them a little, keeping them at Unlucky Number 13.

Lex Luthor
Darkseid
Steven Mandragora
Amanda Waller & Project Cadmus
Circe
Task Force X
Amazo
Galatea
Shadow Thief
Gorilla Grodd and The Legion of Doom
Chronos
Mongul
The Fatal Five (↑)
Brainiac
Granny Goodness
Devil Ray
The Rogues
Tala
The Patriot aka General Wade Eiling
Deimos
Dark Heart
Tobias Manning
The Jokerz
Felix Faust
The Annihilator
Roulette
Gentleman Ghost
Metallo
The Ultimen
Doomsday
Hades
Solomon Grundy
The Thanagarians
Brimstone
Ares
Mordred (and Morgaine le Fey!)
Mordru
Virman Vundabar
Sonar