Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths
| Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths | |
|---|---|
 Trilogy release poster | |
| Directed by | Jeff Wamester |
| Screenplay by | Jim Krieg |
| Based on | |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Bruce A. King |
| Music by | Kevin Riepl |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time |
|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 2024 American animated superhero film trilogy both based on the DC Comics superhero team the Justice League and it's crossover storyline Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986) written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez and a direct sequel to Justice League: Warworld. The films were directed by Jeff Wamester from a script by Jim Krieg. They are the 54th, 55th, and 56th films of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. They are the eighth, ninth, and tenth (and final) installments in the second phase of the DC Animated Movie Universe, as well as the 23rd, 24th, and 25th (and final) films overall.
In the film, after Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are rescued by Harbinger, the Justice League and their allies are summoned by a Monitor named Mar Novu, to combat an apocalyptic event instigated by the malevolent entity known as the Anti-Monitor, to prevent him from destroying the multiverse.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One was released on January 9, 2024. Part Two was released on April 23, and Part Three was released on July 16. While the first part was reviewed favorably, the latter installments received mixed reviews.
The films are both dedicated to comic artist George Pérez who died on May 6, 2022, and longtime Batman actor Kevin Conroy who died later that same year on November 10.
Plot
[edit]Part One
[edit]Barry Allen experiences "time trips" from key moments in his life.[a] One of these moments is a fight with the android Amazo, during which Superman (Earth-1) gets injured and is brought to Bruce Wayne for medical help.[b] In response, Barry suggests forming a team with Bruce, Clark, Green Arrow, fashion model Mari McCabe, and John Jones, who now lives on Earth as a private detective.[c] Amazo appears at the unveiling of the Justice League headquarters, as its primary function to improve human life has been altered by Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor to kill anyone who is not human. The League cannot defeat Amazo due to its ability to steal their abilities based on another member of Superman's rogues gallery, Parasite. The Flash visits Dr. Anthony Ivo, a scientist who has contracted progeria and is dying. While researching quantum energy absorption with Luthor, Ivo created Amazo in hopes of siphoning metahuman abilities and finding a way to extend human life. Ivo sacrifices himself to depower Amazo. Batman deduces that Luthor gave Ivo the disease to prompt his experiments. Hearing this, Amazo turns against Luthor, but chooses justice over vengeance after the Flash's intervention. With Luthor arrested, Amazo returns the stolen powers to their respective heroes before shutting down.
Meanwhile, Barry is sent by a mysterious man to Earth-3, a parallel Earth. There, Barry is captured by the Crime Syndicate – tyrannical doppelgängers of the Justice League – and is taken to their Hall of Crime. Using her Lasso of Submission, Superwoman interrogates Barry, who confirms the existence of the Multiverse. This inspires the Syndicate to plot a multiversal takeover, having grown bored with ruling their Earth. However, an antimatter wave then threatens Earth-3. The Syndicate attempts to halt it, but is consumed by the wave, which eventually destroys the world. Barry's doppelgänger Johnny Quick, sacrifices himself to allow Barry to tap fully into the Speed Force and escape Earth-3 before its destruction. The mysterious man witnesses the parallel Earths being destroyed as his punishment and says that Barry shares the same guilt.[d]
On the day of Barry and Iris West's wedding, Harbinger appears. She recruits Barry, Oliver, Mari, and John Stewart / Green Lantern to a space station called the Satellite. Harbinger has gathered various heroes and super-powered people from Earth-1 and several other Earths on behalf of Mar Novu, a member of an ancient Multiversal race called the Monitors. Flash reunites with the Earth-2 heroes, the Justice Society, including their Wonder Woman, Superman, and Hawkman. Batman meets Earth-2's Robin (Dick Grayson) and Huntress (Helena Wayne), the daughter of that world's Bruce Wayne and Catwoman. When the Legion of Super-Heroes member Dawnstar is brought aboard, Harbinger reveals herself to be Supergirl.
Novu explains that an antimatter wave, which has been destroying universes, threatens the multiverse. Barry's time-tripping inspires Novu and his council of "thinkers" (consisting of Wonder Woman, Earth-1's Doctor Light, Hawkgirl, and Mister Terrific, Earth-4's Blue Beetle and Question, and Earth-146's Aquaman) to create vibrational towers on the remaining Earths that will allow them to phase through the wave and survive. However, the wave spreads before the towers are completed.
Barry uses his powers to slow time for him and Iris, and they grow old together while completing Earth-1's tower with the help of Amazo. Upon completing the tower, the elderly Iris dies. The elderly Barry reverts to normal speed and activates the tower network by using a cosmic treadmill. The vibrational energy destroys his tower and Amazo, but causes the wave to pass through the various Earths and dissipate. The Spectre then appears and claims that Barry bears responsibility for the Crisis, but that it is up to the Speed Force to determine his fate. Barry is then sent back to the moment he first gains his powers, when he has an epiphany. He appears as a vision to Batman when the latter was trapped in the Warlord illusion of Warworld, telling him to return to before "the beginning".[e] Barry then vanishes as he dies. On the space station, Supergirl discovers that the Crisis has caused a temporal paradox when she sees the Legion of Super-Heroes, including Dawnstar and her boyfriend Brainiac 5, fade as the 31st century no longer exists, foreshadowing events that have yet to come.
Part Two
[edit]When Krypton was destroyed,[f] Kara Zor-El's escape pod hit Novu's Satellite. Reluctantly at first, Novu rescued and took her in, feeding and educating her. When it became clear that Kara had lost her memory, he decided not to tell her of her home world's fate. Eventually, Kara discovered her escape pod in the Satellite's hangar and learned of her planet's demise. Enraged at Novu for refusing to prevent Krypton's destruction and withholding the truth, she goaded him to reveal that her cousin Kal-El was alive on Earth, prompting her to find him. Novu continued to observe her, including her training with the Legion of Super-Heroes. When Kara, now Supergirl, returned to Earth in search of Superman and Batman, Novu approached her to help him prevent the antimatter wave from destroying reality. He then gifted her some of his power, transforming her into Harbinger and sending her to gather the heroes.
Years before on Earth-2, Psycho-Pirate interrogated a codebreaker, his Earth's Doctor Fate. To get Fate to talk, he explained his background. Believing that Psycho-Pirate had a role to play in the Crisis, Doctor Fate gave him the ability to travel between universes. After his plan to use the Atlanteans to attack the United States under the alias of Advisor failed,[g] he used his new ability to leave Earth-2 and escape capture by Earth-1's Flash. He traveled the multiverse, trying and failing to take over various Earths, before being recruited by Harbinger and brought to the Satellite with the heroes.
Time has passed since the antimatter wave hit Earth-1, and what was thought to be a single wave has turned out to be a series of antimatter waves. Many heroes are placed across the multiverse to operate, maintain, and protect the vibrational towers, while Novu's council tries to find a long-term solution. To keep the populations of the parallel Earths calm, they use the Satellite's technology to broadcast Psycho-Pirate's empathic control across the planets. Struggling with the mental strain of the task, Psycho-Pirate persuades Novu to give him some of his power to make it easier. Shortly afterward, Psycho-Pirate is abducted by an entity that is the polar opposite of Novu, the Anti-Monitor, the source of the anti-matter waves. It offers him a new, smaller world to control in exchange for his service.
After a weaker antimatter wave passes over the parallel Earths, shadow demons appear and attack all the towers simultaneously. Superman leads the Justice League to defend Earth-1, Batman defends Earth-2 with the help of a multiversal Bat-Family that now includes Robin (Damian Wayne), Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Batman Beyond, and Batwing, and Wonder Woman fights on Earth-46, an Earth ruled by Amazons. Though they discover that the shadow demons are vulnerable to strong light, their attempts to fight them are undermined by Psycho-Pirate, who uses his enhanced abilities to heighten the heroes' hatreds and rivalries, causing them to turn on each other before he teleports them to another Earth. Due to the shadow demons and Psycho-Pirate's interference, not all of the towers are online when the next antimatter wave hits, and many Earths are erased, including Earth-46. Amid the chaos, a furious Supergirl murders Novu when Psycho-Pirate's powers exacerbate her resentment toward him.
While defending Earth-1, John Stewart encounters the mysterious man who sent Barry Allen to Earth-3 and fights him. During their fight, the man remembers his identity as the sorcerer John Constantine. As more shadow demons arrive, Stewart overloads his Green Lantern's battery, using it as a light bomb to destroy the shadow demons attacking Earth-1's tower. In response, the shadow demons coalesce into a single giant figure, revealing that the shadow demons were the Anti-Monitor's minions and are of one mind, which proves resistant to the heroes' light attacks. Powerless, they watch in horror as the Anti-Monitor prepares to destroy Earth-1.
Part Three
[edit]When Novu died, he released the cosmic energy within him into the Satellite. This gave the heroes enough power to transport the surviving Earths and their Suns into a dimension between the universes called "the Bleed", preventing Earth-1's annihilation. Eight months later, Hawkgirl and Earth-2's Superman recover Wonder Woman's body in space, having survived Earth-46's destruction due to her immortality. While they are safe from the Anti-Monitor, the Bleed has different laws of physics; natural disasters occur daily; and beings from parallel Earths' past, present, and future have begun appearing all at once, straining their collective resources.
After being exposed to Scarecrow's fear gas while fighting Earth-10's Nazi soldiers, Batman remembers an old man telling him to go back to before "the beginning", who he now realizes was a dying Flash. Doctor Fate confirms Batman's theory that the solution to the Crisis lies before the multiverse was created. Stewart tells the others about Constantine, who claimed to be from then. Batman, Fate, Stewart, and Wonder Woman leave the Satellite to find Constantine. Using Fate's magic to restore Constantine's memories, they discover that Constantine's Earth was ravaged by Darkseid.[h] To restore his Earth, Constantine instructed his Earth's Flash to travel back in time and kill Darkseid when he was vulnerable as an infant.
Earth-10's Lex Luthor arrives on the Satellite, revealing that the Anti-Monitor has found the Bleed and forced its way inside. After it destroys Earth-146 and Earth-2, Question and Earth-1's Lois Lane deduce that Luthor revealed the Bleed's location to the Anti-Monitor in exchange for Earth-10's survival. Luthor and his team of villains have correctly concluded that life in the Bleed is unsustainable, so they captured Psycho-Pirate and tortured him into contacting the Anti-Monitor. Luthor's true goal, however, was to bring the Anti-Monitor to the Bleed so that they could study its weaknesses, kill it, and return to the regular universe safely. After sacrificing Earth-AD to the Anti-Monitor to see its abilities in action, Luthor suggests that Earth-1's Superman could absorb the solar energy of all the Earths' Suns and channel it into a blast strong enough to destroy the Anti-Monitor. Despite knowing that this act would kill him, Superman agrees only for Supergirl to take his place while guilt-ridden over killing Novu. Returning to the universe, they are aided by a new Green Lantern Corps and Martian Manhunter[i] commanding the Warworld, who uses Psycho-Pirate to unite all the universes through hope. This energy blast weakens the Anti-Monitor long enough for Supergirl's sacrifice to obliterate it.
As the heroes and villains gather on Warworld, Batman explains Constantine's role in the Crisis and that Darkseid was a fixed point in the universe, and the temporal paradox resulting from his death, instead of altering a timeline, shattered the universe into two halves, creating a reality with Darkseid and one without him. The multiverse has been dividing infinitely on similar decision points ever since. Because reality cannot cope with many universes, the Anti-Monitor was created as its immune response, killing off universes to prevent its total collapse. A race of powerful beings that the Anti-Monitor belonged to approaches the Satellite and begins destroying Earth-508, Earth-12, Earth-2003, and Earth-10, forcing everyone to see the futility of their efforts and the need to correct Constantine's mistakes.
Constantine suggests fusing the multiverse into a single "Monoverse" that reality could cope with, and Batgirl suggests using Superman's enemy Brainiac's Miracle Machine, which Supergirl had hidden in a pocket dimension before she died. After Nightshade teleports the Miracle Machine to Warworld, Wonder Woman sacrifices herself to provide immortal energy to recharge the machine and create the Monoverse, where the survivors will merge with their counterparts of that universe once they enter with no memories of their lives before the Crisis. Watched on by the Spectre, the assembled heroes and villains walk into the Monoverse except for Question, who rejects the "false reality" on principle, and Psycho-Pirate, whose mind was damaged to power Warworld, has left to die. Though Constantine braces himself for the Spectre's punishment for ending the multiverse, the latter offers him "hope" instead of "justice". As the Spectre leaves, Constantine considers following everyone, only to instead decline and accompany the Spectre to an unknown fate as the multiverse is ultimately destroyed.
In the Monoverse at Themyscira, a young Diana (this universe's future Wonder Woman) plays on a clifftop. Her mother Hippolyta urges her to step away for safety, implying that the girl would not be burdened by immortality like Earth-2's Wonder Woman.
Voice cast
[edit]Cameos
[edit]Appearing in all three parts without dialogue are:
- Atom, Batwing, Black Lightning, Blackhawk, Blue Devil, the Challengers of the Unknown, Creeper, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Guy Gardner, Hawk and Dove, Katana, Mento, the Metal Men, Metamorpho, Negative Woman, Nighthawk, Red Star, Red Tornado, Speedy, Star Sapphire, Swamp Thing, Tempest, Starfire, Tomahawk, and Zatanna from Earth-1.
- Members of the Justice Society of America (Doctor Mid-Nite, Starfire, Hourman, Jade, Obsidian, Starman, and Wildcat) from Earth-2.
- Peacemaker from Earth-4.
- Captain Marvel Jr., Mary Marvel, and Uncle Marvel from Earth-S.
- Uncle Sam, Doll Man, Ray, and Black Condor from Earth-X.
- Thunderer from Earth-7.
- Aqualad of Earth-146.
Production
[edit].jpg/120px-Kevin_Conroy_(51389840210).jpg)
An animated film trilogy based on the storyline Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986) by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez was revealed to be in development since July 2023. The film concludes the DC Animated Movie Universe, which began in 2013.[2] The voice cast and the trailer were revealed that December.[1]
Casting
[edit]Part Three posthumously features Kevin Conroy as the DC Animated Universe version of Batman who debuted in Batman: The Animated Series, having completed his voice work before he died in 2022.[3] Will Friedle reprised the role as Terry McGinnis from Batman Beyond in Part Two.[4] Mark Hamill reprised his role as the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series after previously announcing his retirement from voicing the character following Conroy's death.[5]
Jason Spisak also reprised his role as Razer from Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice, while Jennifer Hale voices Aya, replacing Grey DeLisle.[5]
Release
[edit]Released in three parts in 2024, Part One was released on digital in the U.S. and Canada on January 9, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on January 23.[1] Part Two and Part Three were made available for online streaming on April 23 and July 16, respectively. All 3 films on Ultra HD Blu-ray had native 4K resolution. Both were dedicated to Kevin Conroy and George Perez.
Reception
[edit]Reviews
[edit]| Film | Reviews | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One | 78% | [6] |
| Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two | 14% | [7] |
| Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three | 20% | [8] |
Critical response
[edit]Rafael Motamayor, writing for Inverse, praised the film, saying that "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One finally gets the DC crossover event right", and called it "a worthy adaptation focusing on heart and character".[9] Mae Abdulbaki, in a review for Screen Rant, also gave the film a positive review, praising its faithfulness to the source material.[10]
Hayden Mears of IGN rated the film a 7 out of 10, with the verdict: "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One knows what it is and strives to do right by its source material. There's no depth, no moral murk, no optional profundity for the insight-hungry. Just good, clean, marginally sensical fun. The action and performances are nothing to shake a Batarang at, but it never loses sight of its stakes and (mostly) prioritizes character over plot".[11] Jennifer Borget of Common Sense Media gave it three out of five stars, praising its story but criticized the scenes of constant jumping between alternate Earths in the film, and felt that the action scenes were borrowed from other superhero tales.[12]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Previously depicted on Earth during the events of Justice League: Warworld (2023).
- ^ As depicted in the post-credits scene of Batman: The Long Halloween (2021).
- ^ Hal Jordan later joins the Justice League sometime before the events of Green Lantern: Beware My Power (2022).
- ^ As depicted in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020) and the short film Constantine: The House of Mystery (2022).
- ^ As depicted during the events of Justice League: Warworld.
- ^ As depicted in Legion of Super-Heroes (2023).
- ^ As depicted in Justice Society: World War II (2021).
- ^ As depicted in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.
- ^ Martian Manhunter was revealed to have survived the explosion of Warworld in Justice League: Warworld.
- ^ Credited in Part One as "Homeless Man".
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Vejvoda, Jim (December 5, 2023). "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One: Exclusive Clip and Voice Cast Reveal". IGN. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
- ^ Hargrave, Sam (July 22, 2023). "DC Announces 2 More Superhero Movies Releasing In 2024". The Direct. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
- ^ Stedman, Alex (January 30, 2024). "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Isn't Kevin Conroy's Final Batman Performance". IGN. Archived from the original on January 31, 2024. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
- ^ Burlingame, Russ (February 21, 2024). "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two Home Video Details Released". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ a b Stedman, Alex (February 29, 2024). "Exclusive: Kevin Conroy's Batman and Mark Hamill's Joker Will Appear Together One Last Time in Upcoming Animated Film". IGN. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part One". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
- ^ "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
- ^ "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Three". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
- ^ "DC Just Quietly Released the Best Superhero Crossover Movie of the Year". Inverse. January 9, 2024. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
- ^ Abdulbaki, Mae (January 10, 2024). "Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths – Part One Review – DC Animated Movie Is Superhero Royalty". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
- ^ Mears, Hayden (January 9, 2024). "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One Review". IGN. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
- ^ "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One Movie Review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
External links
[edit]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- 2024 films
- 2024 American animated direct-to-video films
- 2020s direct-to-video animated superhero films
- 2024 English-language films
- 2020s animated superhero films
- Animated apocalyptic films
- American animated action films
- American adult animated films
- Animated films about extraterrestrial life
- Animated films about time travel
- Animated films based on DC Comics
- Animated films set on fictional planets
- Animated Justice League films
- DC Universe Animated Original Movies
- Animated films about parallel universes
- Films released in separate parts
- Joker (character) in other media
- Poison Ivy (character) in other media
- Warner Bros. Animation films
- English-language action films
- 2020s films about time travel
- American time travel films