"Justice League vs. Teen Titans" Animated Feature News & Discussion Thread (Spoilers)

[Mostezli]

Just watched the sneak peak, and knowing that Sam Lui is directing and Alan Burnett is writing have me believing that this may actually be good and not decent to weak. I also believe this means Warner Bros Animation is taking note that people haven't been taking well to the Jay Oliva & Ethan Spaulding direction.

Oliva made the better DTV's before AND since the shift. Spaulding...the worst.
As far as sales are concerned, streaming has been a recent option and the movies haven't been nearly as exposed as when they used to premiere on CN prime-time.

I'm still a bit incensed that the film is called Justice League vs. Teen Titans and not the inverse if it's not really a Justice League film. Assault on Arkham being called a Batman film was a pretty bad in that respect too.

That's how they reel in a larger audience. The dvd covers even indicate that.

Anyway, hopefully we'll be able to put the Damien films and Justice League films pre Titans behind us after the 2017 slate, if these changes in staff are being made because the reaction to Gods and Monsters was positive while others films since 2014 have not enjoyed much success.

The sales figures to JL: G&M are atm the lowest (not surprising since it's recent). The average critical score is also around the ballpark of these flicks. Son of Batman has still made the most, with the last $6 million gross attributed to Justice League: Doom.

It's a shame too, I don't want Warner Bros not to expirement with new talent and fall back on the sort of "old faithful" group that's always worked. It's just that the people making decisions now don't have the story telling maturity to, well, tell a decent story. I've really very much enjoyed all of James Tucker's work pre- JL: War; I don't really know who is to blame for the dry spell in creativity aside the new writers and directors.

Tucker, since he's the one in charge of this division, including hiring the talent.
If he would rather do silver age or lighter interpretations, it shows.
Thus explains the odd infusion of humor & tonal imbalance since JL: War.
Also, Superman Unbound is just the worst.

 

[RoyThomasConan]

Thanks for the reply!
I think saying Oliva directed the best films both before and after the switch is pretty far out there, considering he only directed the 2-part the Dark Knight Returns before the switch from Timm to Tucker as EP. I don't think objectively that the Dark Knight Returns is better than half of the films that preceded it. And as for after the switch, its been Oliva and Spaulding, and saying Oliva turns in better work than Spaulding is stating the obvious to put it politely. And I also believe that again objectively Gods and Monsters was a better executed film and "whole" feeling production than any others post EP switch, and it was directed by Sam Liu.
Whatever's going on, I think the shift backwards in creative team for JLvsTT is good for quality, but may be bad for diversity if indicative of a mandate of some sort. I loved mainstays like Sam Lui & Lauren Montgomery(especially Montgomery) but I also liked seeing other directors jump in like Michael Chang, Brandon Vietti, and Joaquim Dos Santos. I liked Oliva's work on The Dark Knight Returns very much as well, but with his subsequent works mounting up I'm beginning to think it was only the material I liked. Oliva is great at an action sequence though. Spaulding however, his films, they even just LOOK lackluster. Son of Batman and Throne of Atlantis aside, it's even easy to tell during Assault on Arkham when he handled a scene because the quality of motion and line work steps down. And for what it's worth, Unbound wasn't the best, but I think it's miles better than all the films in the connected "NewDCAU" so far.

 

[Mostezli]

One final post on this tangent.

I loved mainstays like Sam Lui & Lauren Montgomery(especially Montgomery) but I also liked seeing other directors jump in like Michael Chang, Brandon Vietti, and Joaquim Dos Santos.

Me too. Oliva is up there with them.

Spaulding however, his films, they even just LOOK lackluster. Son of Batman and Throne of Atlantis aside, it's even easy to tell during Assault on Arkham when he handled a scene because the quality of motion and line work steps down.

Agreed.

And for what it's worth, Unbound wasn't the best, but I think it's miles better than all the films in the connected "NewDCAU" so far.

imho, the best of the Tucker Era is better than the worst of the Timm Era.

 

[RoyThomasConan]

@Mostezli thanks, we may not agree on Oliva your opinion of him.

Back on topic as I realize I was degressing into something related to the upcoming film but not the content of the film itself.

Would anyone be bothered if Cyborg left the League for the Titans in the film? How likely do you think it is to happen? Never had a problem with Cyborg as an addition to the League like JL: Doom, but loathe when his origin is tied to the League. His long history with the Titans as a mainstay is thrown away, and it's even worse when he supplants Martian Manhunter, a mainstay in the Justice League from it's comic book start up until the New52 altered things.
Do you guys think this third Justice League film might take place before Batman vs. Robin but after Son of Batman given the oddly impersonal way established lovers Nightwing and Starfire interact?

 

[Yojimbo]

An official trailer will release "Soon. Oh so soon."

Hmm, looked at Batman vs Robin (the second release of 2015) after the voice cast announcement came the trailer and Blu-Ray/DVD info. So could be tomorrow even. But should be this week in general.

 

[Frontier]

Do you guys think this third Justice League film might take place before Batman vs. Robin but after Son of Batman given the oddly impersonal way established lovers Nightwing and Starfire interact?

I figure it does take place after all the Batman movies because Damian is actually letting Dick take him to the Titans, which he probably never would have gone along with pre-Bad Blood.

 

[Yojimbo]

My guess looks to be correct. Trailer this week.

The sales for Batman and Justice League titles these days have been half that of Wonder Woman's and Green Lantern's sales if Wikipedia can be trusted. (@Yojimbo, I know you're the guy usually in the know and have your own sources, any chance we could get some confirmation on that? It's appreciated if you can )

Hmm, keep in mind we're talking about a 5-6 year gap between Wonder Woman and First Flight and these newer titles. The DTV market has changed. I'm fairly sure these numbers are not comparable in the sense that for WW and GL, Blu-Ray sales and Digital sales weren't as dominating. If you'd believe it, I think it was still just DVDs and 2 Disc Special Edition DVDs. Blu-Ray wasn't prevalent in releases until All-Star Superman I think. Looking at what I have:

Wonder Woman 3/3/09 $7,523,502
Green Lantern: First Flight 7/28/09 $9,239,905

Justice League: War 2/4/14 $4,904,974
Son of Batman 5/6/14 $5,894,383
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis 1/27/15 $3,320,244
Batman vs. Robin 4/14/15 $3,223,551

I'm still a bit incensed that the film is called Justice League vs. Teen Titans and not the inverse if it's not really a Justice League film. Assault on Arkham being called a Batman film was a pretty bad in that respect too.

That's a business decision made by the home video department for there to be just Batman and Justice League titles. As a compromise, Tucker and co. use them to feature other characters that they want the movie to be about in the first place hence the subtitles. I'm sure if they could, Justice League vs. Teen Titans would be Teen Titans: Terror of Trigon or something.

I have the feeling that the context behind Lex fighting Supes might be someone asking Lex for help on fighting the possessed Superman. At least that's my guess

It could be part of the botched mission mentioned in the TV Insider article. And this opening scene might be continuing the thread of the teaser at the end of Throne of Atlantis or in other words, we'll have this instead of an end credits teaser maybe.

 

[RoyThomasConan]

I figure it does take place after all the Batman movies because Damian is actually letting Dick take him to the Titans, which he probably never would have gone along with pre-Bad Blood.

Didn't think of it like that immediately but it makes sense, the rushed development of this universe makes everything feel artificial.

Hmm, keep in mind we're talking about a 5-6 year gap between Wonder Woman and First Flight and these newer titles. The DTV market has changed. I'm fairly sure these numbers are not comparable in the sense that for WW and GL, Blu-Ray sales and Digital sales weren't as dominating. If you'd believe it, I think it was still just DVDs and 2 Disc Special Edition DVDs. Blu-Ray wasn't prevalent in releases until All-Star Superman I think. Looking at what I have:

Wonder Woman 3/3/09 $7,523,502
Green Lantern: First Flight 7/28/09 $9,239,905

Justice League: War 2/4/14 $4,904,974
Son of Batman 5/6/14 $5,894,383
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis 1/27/15 $3,320,244
Batman vs. Robin 4/14/15 $3,223,551

Thanks for the info! You're right about the blu-rays not popping up until about Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths I believe and then the older titles were released retroactively on the format. But I'm also pretty sure blu-Rays since then have been counted as overall "units" of sale alongside DVDs logically, and the sales have dipped pretty dramatically in the last couple of years. As for digital release, they've been around since Doomsday, my father always gets the iTunes releases. I always purchase a physical copy the first week to help support the line.

That's a business decision made by the home video department for there to be just Batman and Justice League titles. As a compromise, Tucker and co. use them to feature other characters that they want the movie to be about in the first place hence the subtitles. I'm sure if they could, Justice League vs. Teen Titans would be Teen Titans: Terror of Trigon or something.

I understand that it's a business practice and probably what keeps the line off it's last leg, it's just really disingenuous. And it could be handled better, instead of giving the title character or characters glorified cameo roles they could just give new heroes a well written guest spot as has been done in 20 minutes in both the Superman and Batman animated series 20 years ago. With over an hour, they should be able to manage screen time better.
But it's clear that public interest in the novelty of the line has seriously waned as time has passed, definitely not helped by the fact that the films don't get a ton of exposure by airing on Cartoon Network anymore as @Mostezli stated. Good to hear the trailer hits this week! But a shame that it seems they have to dump the three releases out so close now to keep the people noticing that they're happening.

 

[James Harvey]

The official trailer for Justice League vs Teen Titans is now live, exclusive to IGN for the time-being. Check it out below:

​

 

[Mostezli]

And...now, it's exactly the confrontation most if not all of us expected.

 

[Caramello]

I just realised Raven doesn't have her chakra in this, which is kind of weird.


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[Bestmand902]

Lex fighting posessed Superman

Calllllled iiiiiiit

 

[Troy Troodon]

What's wrong with Lex?!

 

[Lord Sidious]

That looks like Bizarro Lex.

And I don't mind having a Titans movie......but PLEASE not on the expense of a JL movie.

We have 2 Batman movies and 1 JL movie a year.

So instead of wasting the ONLY JL movie in a year, why not waste one of the Batman movies to sneak in a Titans movie??

 

[Caramello]

That looks like Bizarro Lex.

And I don't mind having a Titans movie......but PLEASE not on the expense of a JL movie.

We have 2 Batman movies and 1 JL movie a year.

So instead of wasting the ONLY JL movie in a year, why not waste one of the Batman movies to sneak in a Titans movie??

This is probably gonna be a Titans movie with appearances from the JL every now and again, if Assault on Arkham and Throne of Atlantis are anything to go by.


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[Frontier]

The official trailer for Justice League vs Teen Titans is now live, exclusive to IGN for the time-being. Check it out below:

​

Awesome trailer .

Is possessed Superman really fighting Luthor? Blum is the voice, and he was Lex in the Thrones of Atlantis teaser, but he looks really weird .

So the League is possessed by Trigon! After the sneak peak I was expecting the two teams would clash over what to do over Raven .

No matter the continuity, Beast Boy is still hilarious .

And I don't mind having a Titans movie......but PLEASE not on the expense of a JL movie.

We have 2 Batman movies and 1 JL movie a year.

So instead of wasting the ONLY JL movie in a year, why not waste one of the Batman movies to sneak in a Titans movie??

Well, the last Batman movie was more of a Batfamily movie with a focus on Dick, Batwing, Batwoman, etc., so it was also used as a vehicle to introduce other characters/concepts rather then a full-on Batman solo movie (even if all of them up to this point have been Batman and Robin movies to a certain extent) .

 

[Yojimbo]

Interesting, so that might be some of Trigon's other progeny from the comics that possess the League - the "Sons of Trigon"

Is possessed Superman really fighting Luthor?

I would have guessed that is Metallo or Neutron with Blum doubling as the voice. Neutron would be nice easter egg since he's both a Superman and Titans villain in the comics.

 

[RoyThomasConan]

Well at least it looks on model and smooth and fluid and.. pleasant, I guess is the word I'm looking for? Much better than that funky look the films have had lately in animation. Still got the goofy anime-esque character designs with their incongruent faces and ridiculous, inexplicable eyebrows but hey, baby steps. Thanks Sam Lui

I wonder where the rest of the League is?

 

[James Harvey]

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has provided official press details for the home video release of Justice League vs Teen Titans, hitting shelves on April 16th, 2016. The film will be available in Digital HD on March 29, 2016. Details are below.

DEMONIC FORCES PIT HEROES AGAINST HEROES IN
JUSTICE LEAGUE vs. TEEN TITANS
ON BLU-RAYTM, DVD & DIGITAL HD APRIL 12, 2016​

Teen Titans Join the Canon of Super Heroes within the DC Universe Original Movies;
Blu-ray™ Deluxe Edition, Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack Include Exclusive Robin Figurine

​

Burbank, CA (January 29, 2016) – The demonic forces of Trigon infiltrate the minds and bodies of the Justice League, turning the veteran super heroes against their youthful counterparts in the all-new DC Universe Original Movie, Justice League vs. Teen Titans. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, the film will be available from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on April 12, 2016 on Blu-Ray™ Deluxe Edition, Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack and DVD. Order due date is March 8, 2016.

Justice League vs. Teen Titans will be available on Blu-rayTM Deluxe Edition for $29.96 SRP, Blu-rayTM Combo Pack for $24.98 SRP, and DVD for $19.98 SRP. The Blu-rayTM Combo Pack includes a digital version of the movie on Digital HD with UltraViolet. The Blu-ray™ Deluxe Edition will include all components of the Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack, along with an exclusive Robin figurine in a numbered, limited edition gift set. Fans can also own Justice League vs. Teen Titans in Digital HD on March 29, 2016 via purchase from digital retailers.

Justice League vs. Teen Titans welcomes the Teen Titans to the ever-expanding canon of classic DC Comics characters within the DC Universe Original Movies. When Damian’s over-aggressive tendencies almost destroy a Justice League mission, he is sent to learn teamwork by training alongside the Teen Titans. However, adjusting Damian’s attitude turns out to be the least of the Teen Titans’ troubles as Raven’s satanic, world-conquering father Trigon begins an escape from his inter-dimensional prison. To complete his return, Trigon must have Raven’s assistance – and to accomplish his goal, he spreads his demonic forces across the globe, infiltrating the minds and bodies of the Justice League to do his bidding. To save the universe and prevent a literal hell on Earth, the Teen Titans must rescue – or defeat – the Justice League, and intern Trigon for all eternity.

The voice cast for Justice League vs. Teen Titans includes several actors reprising their recent Justice League roles – Jason O’Mara (Complications, Terra Nova) as Batman, Jerry O’Connell (Crossing Jordan, Stand By Me) as Superman, Rosario Dawson (Sin City, Rent) as Wonder Woman, Shemar Moore (Criminal Minds) as Cyborg and Christopher Gorham (Covert Affairs, Ugly Betty) as Flash. Sean Maher (Firefly/Serenity, Batman: Bad Blood) also returns as Nightwing, as does Stuart Allan (Batman vs. Robin) as Robin/Damian. Making their Teen Titans voiceover debuts are Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story, Wicked City) as Raven, Jake T. Austin (Wizards of Waverly Place, The Fosters) as Blue Beetle, Brandon Soo Hoo (Tropic Thunder, From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series) as Beast Boy and Kari Wahlgren (Phineas and Ferb, Legion of Superheroes) as Starfire. Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, Daredevil) takes the villainous center stage as Trigon.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, Justice League vs. Teen Titans is directed by Sam Liu from a screenplay by Bryan Q. Miller and Alan Burnett based on a story by Miller. James Tucker is Supervising Producer. Burnett is also co-Producer. Sam Register is Executive Producer.

“Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is thrilled to bring the Teen Titans into the fold of amazing characters within the DC Universe Original Movies,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, WBHE Vice President, TV Family, Animation Marketing. “This all-new film provides the Teen Titans with the perfect stage – alongside and against the Justice League – for a thrilling adventure that fans will truly enjoy.”

Justice League vs. Teen Titans – Enhanced Content

DVD
· An exclusive sneak peek at the next DC Universe Original Movie.

Blu-ray™ Combo Pack
· An exclusive sneak peek at the next DC Universe Original Movie.
· Featurette – “Growing Up Titan” – The Teen Titans have fascinated readers for over 50 years due in part to their stories of valor, as well as earning empathy with comic book readers during their own trials growing up into adulthood. This documentary spotlights the importance of young voices in the DC Comics mythology, giving generations of readers a team of heroes that mirror their own life experiences.
· Featurette – “Heroes and Villains - Raven” – She is the daughter of one of DC Comics’ greatest villains, the demon Trigon. Raven is a powerful telepath who uses her soul-self as a means for astral projection. She is integral to the Teen Titans. This documentary is her story.
· Featurette – “Heroes and Villains – Trigon – The most fearsome and evil opponent the Teen Titans have encountered is this inter-dimensional demon. Trigon uses his immortality to shape worlds and exact his control. This documentary introduces the character and how he raises the stakes for the Teen Titans.
· From the DC Comics Vault – Two Classic Episodes of DC Comics cartoons

About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment's home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees.

About DC Entertainment
DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment, and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world.

Justice League and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and ©DCComics. (s15)

About Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) is one of the leading producers of animation in the entertainment industry, producing and developing projects for multiple platforms, both domestically and internationally. WBA’s TV series include Be Cool Scooby-Doo!, Teen Titans Go!, The Tom and Jerry Show and Wabbit – A Looney Tunes Production for Cartoon Network, the upcoming Bunnicula for Boomerang, Mike Tyson Mysteries for Adult Swim and the forthcoming Green Eggs and Ham for Netflix. As the home of the iconic animated characters from the DC Comics, Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Looney Tunes libraries, WBA also produces highly successful animated films — including the DC Universe Original Movies — for DVD. One of the most-honored animation studios in history, WBA has won six Academy Awards®, 35 Emmy® Awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, an Environmental Media Award, a Parents’ Choice Award, the HUMANITAS Prize, two Prism Awards and 20 Annie Awards (honoring excellence in animation).[/center]

 

[Otaku-sempai]

The release dates are pretty close to what I was guessing; I thought that they might be a week later.