"Reign of the Supermen" Animated Release Talkback (Spoilers)

"Reign of the Supermen" - Rate and Discuss this DC Universe Movie!


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James Harvey

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After the death comes the reign! Find out who will rise to replace Superman in this major animated feature from Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment! Discuss the animated feature, the bonus content - all of it - right here!


Reign of the Supermen
Studio:
Warner Bros. Animation
Release Date: January 15, 2019 - Digital; January 29, 2019 - Blu-ray/DVD/DC Universe Streaming Service

Synopsis: Reign of the Supermen finds Earth’s citizens - and the Man of Steel’s heroic contemporaries - dealing with a world without Superman. But the aftermath of Superman’s death, and the subsequent disappearance of his body, leads to a new mystery - is Superman still alive? The question is further complicated when four new super-powered individuals - Steel, Cyborg Superman, Superboy and the Eradicator - emerge to proclaim themselves as the ultimate hero. In the end, only one will be able to proclaim himself the world’s true Superman.

Reign of the Supermen all-star cast is led by Jerry O’Connell (Carter, Bravo’s Play by Play, Stand by Me), Rebecca Romijn (X-Men, The Librarians) and Rainn Wilson (The Office, The Meg) as the voices of Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, respectively. The potent trio is joined by the DC Universe Movies’ returning voices of the Justice League! Newly featured cast members include Cress Williams (Black Lightning) as Steel, Cameron Monaghan (Gotham) as Superboy, Patrick Fabian (Better Call Saul) as Hank Henshaw, and Tony Todd (Candyman) as Darkseid. In addition, the cast includes Charles Halford (Constantine) as Bibbo Bibbowski and The Eradicator, Rocky Carroll (NCIS) as Perry White, Toks Olagundoye (Castle) as Cat Grant, Max Mittleman (Justice League Action) as Jimmy Olsen, Paul Eiding (Ben 10: Omniverse) as Jonathan Kent, Jennifer Hale (Green Lantern: The Animated Series) as Martha Kent, Trevor Devall (Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay) as Dabney Donovan and Erica Luttrell (Salvation) as Mercy.

Producer Sam Liu (Gotham by Gaslight, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract) also directs Reign of the Supermen from a script by Jim Krieg (Batman: Gotham by Gaslight) and Tim Sheridan (Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost). Amy McKenna (The Death of Superman) is producer, and Alan Burnett (Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay) is co-producer. Executive Producers are Sam Register and James Tucker (Justice League Dark).

Reign of the Supermen Bonus Content:
Note: Bonus content may vary between Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD editions.
-Lex Luthor: The Greatest Nemesis (Featurette) – Evil Genius. Archenemy of Superman. Misunderstood hero? This documentary will look at one of the most renowned villains in literature and debate his ethics and motivations throughout his publication history and as the calculated anti-hero of Reign of the Supermen. We’ll also explore how Lex Luthor is emblematic of technology without limit, often demonstrating what effect unbridled power, resources, and influence can have on humanity. We’ll discuss the affinity for storytellers to associate Lex Luthor and with the field of science as they challenge our morals and integrity with real world issues such as cloning and what can happen if science fiction became science reality.
-A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie, Justice League vs. The Fatal Five – An entertaining, insightful exciting look at the next animated film in the popular DC Universe Movies collection.
-From the DC Vault: Superman: The Animated Series, “Heavy Metal”
-From the DC Vault: Justice League Unlimited, “Panic in the Sky”

Discuss the Reign of the Supermen animated release here!

Please note this talkback is for both the Reign of the Supermen animated feature and all aspects of the assorted home media releases. Discussion for both are now housed in one single talkback discussion thread. Spoilers are also allowed, so those who have yet to see the movie may want to avoid this thread until they have.

Related Threads:
-The Death of Superman Animated Release Talkback (Spoilers)
-Reign of the Supermen Subsite (Spoilers)
-Superman: The Return of Superman Classic Comic Talkback (Spoilers)
-Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay Animated Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Teen Titans: The Judas Contract Animated Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Justice League Dark Animated Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Justice League vs Teen Titans Animated Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Batman: Bad Blood Animated Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Batman vs Robin Animated Features Talkback (Spoilers)
-Justice League: Throne of Atlantis Animated Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Son of Batman Animated Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Justice League: War Animated Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Superman: The Animated Series "Heavy Metal" Talkback (Spoilers)
-Justice League Unlimited "Panic in the Sky" Talkback (Spoilers)

Note: Remember, we appreciate and encourage discussion, but please keep your posts civil, relevant and insightful. Please do not post any improper or inflammatory material, as we will issue warnings if we believe it necessary. And remember to keep the discussion ON-TOPIC!
 

Dorko

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"Death of" and "Reign of" are two of the strongest flicks in this series to date. I love the Justice League acting as a supporting cast for Superman, since as the leader of the team and the overall public face of superheroism it makes sense he'd spend a lot of time with them. I loved tying Cyborg Superman in to Darkseid, rather than Mongul, as it makes him even more of a threat (and provides a handy explanation for his access to Kryptonian DNA and tech in a universe without the Birthing Matrix - a god did it).

My only major gripe is the lack of feeling this was a "universe", y'know? When the Justice League apparently dies, no other heroes show up. Shazam, Zatanna, John Stewart, and Aquaman are all at least reserve members of the JL, but they are nowhere to be seen - it would have been nice to at least see a silent press confrence-type footage (maybe with Batwoman or Batwing thrown in as a nod to the extended Bat-Family) while G. Gordon Godfrey writes them off as also-rans and praises Cyborg Superman's new cyborg corps plan. Same goes for the Titans: if Hawkman can be a core member of the Justice League without a single line of dialogue, we could have at least gotten a cameo of the Titans (maybe with a slightly older looking Kid Flash in tow) at President Dale's memorial for the fallen heroes.

It's a relatively minor quibble, I know, but its animation (meaning absolutely anyone can cameo as long they don't speak) and you're supposedly running a universe here.
 

Troy Troodon

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Just a minor nitpick, but I pretty much resented the political quos they added, referrencing the tagline of a certain orange guy, and making the president based on a female candidate who isn't even a very good one.
 

uzair khan

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Just a minor nitpick, but I pretty much resented the political quos they added, referrencing the tagline of a certain orange guy, and making the president based on a female candidate who isn't even a very good one.
Agreed I hated they did that. If you are going to make it close to reality just put the real president there. Like in devilman crybaby they had him in the scene. Not some happy alternate world. Or just make some one fictional the president. I do enjoy seeing his slogan every where since it is not his slogan but Ronald Reagan's. I am very liberal and accepting we lost is part of moving forward. Kind of off topic. lets get to the fun stuff

Now topic on hand.
Great freaking movie not as good as part 1 but still a stellar movie. We can finally say we had a different main character in this movie. It wasn't Batman or the justice league. It was a freaking Lois Lane movie and that was refreshing. I LOVED the dcau watch tower look. If this was the end of this universe I would be happy too perfect book end to theses movies imo. But it is not the end and I am very happy with the quality of the last few movies they have been producing. Hopefully fatal five will be fun and whatever lex justice league movie they do next.

Was those robot army human suppose to be knock off manhunters? since the hank connection.
bizzaro name drop fun.
So in this universe Darkseid literally created all of Superman villains? doomsday cyborg superman who is next? Was this like this in the nu52 I never really got into it that deep.
 
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Troy Troodon

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Agreed I hated they did that. If you are going to make it close to reality just put the real president there.

Or, you know... don't! I'd rather a fictional president anyday, but that's enough of politics from me. ^^;
 

Bobbywoodhogan

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I saw Reign of the Supermen on Monday night as part of a double feature with the Death of Superman on the big screen. Its definitely not as good as The Death of Superman but it's a very satisfying conclusion to that story. Infact I'd say for me personally the two movies combined are the best version of the Death and a return of Superman arc.

If I had any complaints about Reign I think it lagged a little in parts and was rushed in others.

For positives I think the four "Supermen" we're mostly handled well, with Superboy stealing the show. Lois Lane was the heart of the story and her arc throughout was the emotional complement the film needed.

The moment Superman returned was really well done, and that final fight with Cyborg Superman was great with some epic Superman moments.

I knew Superman's costume would be revamped to match closer to the classic costume definitely taking inspiration from Superman Rebirth. I was very pleased with that.

That end credits tease was epic and I really can't wait to see that followed up in the next in continuity JL movie.

Overall 4/5 (Death was a 5)
 

TommySoul

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I have put a lot of thought into how you adapt this story into a movie sense the comics came out. It was never going to be easy. Doomsday is a nobody’s who appears out of nowhere. Cyborg Superman’s motivation s and origin was always flimsy. The destruction of Coast City was way too extreme.

Before this the best adaptation was the BBC radio drama by Dirk Maggs. But I think works better as a stand-alone story, while that was more faithful to the source.

Darkseid instead of Mongul is so perfect you wonder if the writers of the comics ever considered that! Plus Doomsday being from Apokoplis keeps both half’s of the story connectied. But might be a better idea too. I have gotten tired of everything originating from Krypton and has even got worse since that origin was revealed for Doomsday in the comics.

I thought the explanation of the Eradicator was perfection. Clearly the “Eradicator artifact” that created the comics was inspired by the Crystal in the Donner films. So making him that crystal made sense. Plus there seemed to be inspiration, or coincidence of same source of Smallville. Where “Jor-El Artifical Intelligence” was much closer to The Eradicator than the actual Jor El. He was equally brutal in his tactics. I do not think the look of the Crystal Fortress has ever been recreated this well sense those two orignal films.

Another touch I loved was Lex being under House Arrest. I do not think anyone has ever done that before. Usually he is either getting away with his crimes too easily or fully in prison or a fugitive. Him having to sneak out is a perfect fusion of many sources. A tribute of the Lex Luthor Jr clone. But also Gene Hackman’s version who wore wigs and disguises in public.

I have not watched all the movies from this continuity. From what I know it’s seems a lot of Superman’s history is unexplored. It’s possible that suit at the end was an earlier one he used to wear. Notice John Henry Irons wore a Superman t shirt that matched those lighter colors not the dark Nu 52 suit he fought Doomsday in.

As much as I enjoyed this I am curious what scenes are added to the combo edit. There are some character moments which seemed to be missing.
 

DarkAngel

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I was disappointed. I expected change, but a lot of it seemed unnecessary. It didn’t flow well to me. I really, really wish they’d left Darkseid out and just had Cyborg as the main villain.

I had some issues with “Death”, but I thought it was much better than this.
 

-batmat-

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I'm surprised with most comments here. I thought this was MUCH better than The Death Of Superman. That one was just endless sappy love stuff and then DBZ style fight until the end.

This one had a cool mystery with the 4 Supermen, I didn't know the story from the comics so I thought it was very well presented and got me hooked. Cyborg Superman/Hank was a really cool villain, though his motivation was a bit too much. Reminded me of the villain in Gods and Monsters.

The Eradicator was badass, Superboy was a bit annoying at first but came around in the end. Steel was good. I kinda laughed at his "Iron Man-taking the suit off scene". Speaking of suits, I love the suit Superman got in the end. I really didn't like the one he has on "Death" with the suit covering his entire neck.

I do agree that Darkseid should have been left out. Felt too much of a tease with him showing up and then doing nothing, and obviously setting up for a sequel.

This and probably JL Dark are my 2 favorites of the new 52 continuity, which honestly Im not a big fan of.

Strong 3.5/5
 

Spider-Man

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I really liked this one and thought it was a really good sequel to DOS. I don't mind the changes they made to make the story work in this DCU Movie continuity and I thought it actually makes more sense than trying to fit in the Mongul/GL/Coast City stuff. The animation was really good too. Not as good as DOS but the best these DTVs have looked recently. And where the film ends I am actually looking forward to the next continuity movie more than I expected.
 

EmaHalJordan

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How strange, all the comments that came to me is "Ema you will love this movie, it is better than Death of Superman and even has better animation".
Monday opens in Argentina so I will have to wait 2 days to draw my own conclusions!
 

Loverofcomix

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Great movie. Am I the only one who finds Lex Luthor a bit over the top? It's like they want to keep reminding us what a scumbag Luthor is by making him as cartoony as possible. Geez, Snidely Whiplash would tell Lex to tone it down with his evilness.

I love Darkseid's new voice here. No offense to Steven Blum, but Todd's version of Darkseid acts like an intelligent dictator rather than the big dumb brute we see in Justice League War.

Maybe this is unintentional, but is Cyborg Superman suppose to be an evil counterpart to Steel? You have two Superman fanboys in the movie who look like robots. One fan is fighting crime, while the other hates Supes for not saving him and his friends. Steel's love for Superman in both movies is harmless and touching, but Hank's love for the big guy in "Death of Superman" comes off a bit uncomfortable and creepy.

Btw, what happened to Ocean Master? Didn't Lex recuit him for something?
 
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DarkAngel

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I'm surprised with most comments here. I thought this was MUCH better than The Death Of Superman. That one was just endless sappy love stuff and then DBZ style fight until the end.
I don't disagree with your assessment of "Death", I just found it more coherent overall than "Reign." Yeah, I was frustrated that they hadn't already developed the Clark/Lois romance such that they had to take so much time away from the Doomsday fight. I had enjoyed "Superman: Doomsday" for what it was, but had really wanted to see one movie devoted to the death storyline with a nice progression to the fight.

While I appreciated that we saw Superman bloodied and with his costume in tatters, I also didn't feel the weight/impact I wanted to. I really wanted to see Supes engage Doomsday outside of Metropolis, trying to stop/slow his progress towards the city, and the long, gradual toll on him from the fight. I was disappointed.

But I thought "Reign" was worse. On top of already having 4 new Supermen to introduce, we didn't need significant time for the JL or to have Darkseid unnecessarily shoved in when Cyborg would have made a perfectly good villain on his own. Making Doomsday and Cyborg part of an elaborate (and stupid) plan for him to invade...it felt rushed and somewhat out of character. We've had past invasions where his boom tubes open and his forces arrive. Why the hell would he need to turn the populace into cybernetic puppets just to open up a portal? Especially since all it took to stymie him was closing it again. And Cyborg can rip stuff out from his head and chest and then just continue like nothing? I found that whole angle nonsense and, again, completely unnecessary given the size of the "Reign" storyline on its own. That crap should have been cut to allow better development and more spacing for the other existing content.

I thought it actually makes more sense than trying to fit in the Mongul/GL/Coast City stuff.
I wanted to see the GL/Coast City storyline, but its own movie(s). Set up here with the destruction of Coast, but then developed in a separate movie. Even if they wanted to do something Darkseid related instead, just create a hook and leave it for the next movie, rather than cramming in a stupid plot into this one and shortchanging better elements from "Reign."
 

Spider-Man

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I wanted to see the GL/Coast City storyline, but its own movie(s). Set up here with the destruction of Coast, but then developed in a separate movie. Even if they wanted to do something Darkseid related instead, just create a hook and leave it for the next movie, rather than cramming in a stupid plot into this one and shortchanging better elements from "Reign."
If Green Lantern ever gets his time in the sun again I would love to see the Emerald Twilight arc adapted and Kyle Rayner introduced. I think they could find a way to make it work without bringing down Hal's character.

I wonder with the end credit scene in this movie if that is a lead in to The Darkseid War which it self led into Rebirth which could act as a bit of a soft reboot for the DCU continuity movies. I'd like to see that.
 

James Harvey

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For those interested, The World's Finest has published its review of Reign of the Supermen. Click here to check it out!

For members here who have seen the movie, let's keep the conversation going! Did you enjoy the movie? How does it compare to the source material? Please share your thoughts!
 

Yojimbo

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That's neat they made Joan Dale aka Miss America in the comics, the new President.

Is this not available in DVD ONLY????

All they have in stores are DVD/Bluray 2 pack.
You can rent the DVD from outlets like Redbox I believe. Gaslight or Death might have been the last to see the DVD only version for sale in the US region.
 
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