''Justice League vs. the Fatal Five'' is a 2019 American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature action, advent ...

produced by

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 19 ...

and DC Entertainment. Featuring the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

team

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...

created by

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

, the film is the 34th of the

DC Universe Animated Original Movies The DC Universe Animated Original Movies (DCUAOM; also known as DC Universe Original Movies or DC Universe Movies or DC Animated Movies) are a series of American direct-to-video superhero animated films based on the DC Comics characters and sto ...

. The film features

Elyes Gabel Elyes Cherif Gabel (; born 8 May 1983) is an English actor. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Dr Gurpreet "Guppy" Sandhu in the BBC medical drama ''Casualty'' (2004–2007), computer genius Walter O'Brien in the CBS series ''Scorpion ...

and Diane Guerrero alongside

Kevin Conroy Kevin Conroy (November 30, 1955 – November 10, 2022) was an American actor. He appeared in a variety of stage performances, television series, and television films, but earned worldwide fame for his voice portrayal of the DC Comics superhero ...

, in his final film role,

Susan Eisenberg Susan Eisenberg is an American voice, film and television actress. She is best known for being the voice of Wonder Woman in many entertainment media, particularly animations such as the DC Animated Universe animated shows, ''Justice League'' an ...

, and

George Newbern George Young Newbern (born December 30, 1964) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Charlie in the ABC show ''Scandal'' and Bryan MacKenzie in '' Father of the Bride'' (1991) and its sequels ''Father of the Bride Part II'' and '' Fat ...

reprising their roles as Batman,

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

, and Superman, respectively, from ''Justice League'' and ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe ...

''. According to producer

Bruce Timm Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, and producer. He has contributed to building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) and the subseque ...

, the film is canon to the

DC Animated Universe The DC Animated Universe (DCAU; also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans referring to the creators and producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini respectively) is a shared universe consisting primarily of superhero-based animated televis ...

, taking place following the end of ''Justice League Unlimited''. The film was first announced at

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...

on July 20, 2018, and had its world premiere at

WonderCon WonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and film convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area (1987–2011), then—under the name WonderCon Anaheim—in Anaheim, California (2012–2015, 2017–present), and WonderCon Los Angele ...

Anaheim 2019 on March 29, 2019. It was released on Digital HD on March 30, 2019, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on April 16, 2019. It was Conroy's final film role before his death on November 10, 2022.

Plot

In the 31st century,

Mano Mano may refer to: People * Mano people, an ethnic group in Liberia * Mano (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Mano (Mozambican footballer) (born 1984), real name Celso Halilo de Abdul * Mano (Portuguese footballer) ...

Tharok The Fatal Five is a supervillain team of the 30th century in the DC Comics universe. They were created by Jim Shooter and first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #352 (1967) as enemies of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Fictional team history Original ...

and Persuader of the

Fatal Five The Fatal Five is a supervillain team of the 30th century in the DC Comics universe. They were created by Jim Shooter and first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #352 (1967) as enemies of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Fictional team history Original ...

attack the Legion of Super-Heroes' headquarters for their

time sphere Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to co ...

Star Boy Star singers also known as Epiphany singers, or Star boys' singing procession (England), are children and young people walking from house to house with a star on a rod and often wearing crowns and dressed in clothes to resemble the Three Magi ( ...

Saturn Girl Saturn Girl (Imra Ardeen) is a fictional superheroine appearing in American DC comic books. A talented telepath from the 30th century, Saturn Girl is a founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Imra's "Saturn Girl" title refers to her homewo ...

and

Brainiac 5 Brainiac 5 (Querl Dox) is a fictional superhero character who exists in the 30th and 31st centuries of the DC Universe. He is from the planet Colu and is a long-standing member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The first live-action version of the c ...

try to keep them back but fail. Just as the villains activate the sphere, Star Boy leaps at them and is taken along. Arriving in the 21st century above Earth, Star Boy triggers a boobytrap Brainiac 5 programmed, trapping the villains inside the sphere in a stasis field. Star Boy comes down in

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

while the sphere ends up in

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

. Star Boy discovers his supply of medicine, needed to stabilize his mind, was destroyed in his rough landing. As his medicine doesn't exist yet, Star Boy's increasingly erratic behavior gets him apprehended by Batman and sent to

Arkham Arkham () is a fictional city situated in Massachusetts. An integral part of the Lovecraft Country setting created by H. P. Lovecraft, Arkham is featured in many of his stories and those of other Cthulhu Mythos writers. Arkham House, a publi ...

. The stasis-locked time machine is picked up by Superman and brought to the

's headquarters for analysis. Ten months later, Jessica Cruz is struggling with the trauma of her near-death by a murderer who killed her friends, making her afraid to leave her apartment. Adding to her anxiety is that a

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

chose her and that

keeps trying to recruit her into the Justice League. In Gotham,

Miss Martian Miss Martian (real name: M'gann M'orzz; alias Megan Morse) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Sharon Leal portrayed the character in the Supergirl (season 2), second season of the Arrowverse series ''Supe ...

is trying to prove herself to Batman for membership in the League, but her inexperience works against her good intentions. While trying to unlock the secret of the strange sphere, Mister Terrific brings down the stasis field, freeing its occupants. Superman and Mister Terrific fight them, but Superman is wounded by Persuader's axe and the villains escape. Star Boy's memory is jogged by a news report of the fight, and he breaks out of Arkham. The Justice League members compare notes about these mysterious assailants and discover they are time travelers; and from one of Star Boy's ravings, Batman deduces that they are after Jessica. When the three villains attack Jessica, Star Boy comes to her rescue, followed by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Mister Terrific, and Miss Martian, who force them into flight after a hard struggle. In the aftermath, Star Boy and Jessica form a close friendship. To find out more about their guest from the future, Batman instructs Miss Martian to

telepathically Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...

link their and Jessica's minds with Star Boy's memories, thus learning about the Legion. They witness a battle between the Legion-— Chameleon,

Dawnstar Dawnstar is a superheroine appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries. She was created by Paul Levitz and Mike Grell, and first appeared in ''Superboy and ...

, Tyroc, Mon-El,

Shadow Lass Shadow Lass is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in books published by DC Comics. She first appeared as a statue in ''Adventure Comics'' #354 (March 1967), and was created by Jim Shooter and Curt Swan. She was called Shadow Woman, was ...

, and, later Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, and Star Boy-—and the Fatal Five, which ended with the capture of Mano's lover Emerald Empress and

Validus The Fatal Five is a supervillain team of the 30th century in the DC Comics universe. They were created by Jim Shooter and first appeared in '' Adventure Comics'' #352 (1967) as enemies of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Fictional team history Origi ...

; as there was no prison that could hold them in the 31st century, the Legion took them to Oa in the past. Upon their awakening, the League receives an ultimatum from Mano: surrender Jessica or all American cities will be destroyed by bombs created by Tharok. The first bombings start in Metropolis, forcing the Justice League to move out. Left behind with Star Boy in the

Watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

, Jessica is contacted by Tharok through her ring, forcing her to surrender herself to the Five and enable them entry to Oa's prison cells. Despite interference by Kilowog and Salaak, Emerald Empress and Validus are freed, and when Jessica fights back, Persuader cleaves her ring in two. Afterwards, Emerald Empress has her Emerald Eye of Ekron steal all the energy of the Central Power Battery, and the Five return to Earth to recover the time sphere. In the meantime, Star Boy discovers Jessica's absence and informs the League. The heroes proceed to the time machine's location, a secret US military base, where the Fatal Five force them into battle. Emerald Empress subdues the Justice League and then initiates her master plan to use the Lantern's power to destroy Earth's sun, wipe out humanity, and thus prevent the formation of the Legion in their time. On Oa, Jessica recovers her faith and determination, and by reciting her oath, she reassembles her power ring. Brought back to her apartment by the ring, Jessica flies to the base and prevents the Fatal Five from escaping back to their own era by bringing the whole base down upon them, killing the supervillains. Superman, Jessica and Star Boy race after the Eye, but are too late to prevent it from plunging into the sun. As the star cracks apart, Star Boy sacrifices himself by lowering himself into the sun's core and using his powers to reverse the fracturing. In the final scene as the Justice League members commemorate Star Boy's heroism, they are joined by the Legion who have come from the future to honor their fallen comrade. Batman also informs Miss Martian that she has been invited to join the Justice League, and she accepts the offer.

Voice cast

as Batman *

as Superman *

as Thomas Kallor / Star Boy * Diane Guerrero as Jessica Cruz / Green Lantern *

Daniela Bobadilla Daniela Bobadilla (born April 4, 1993) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for playing Sam Goodson in the FX series ''Anger Management''. She has also appeared in other film and television roles, such as '' Mr. Troop Mom'', the NBC drama '' ...

* Kevin Michael Richardson as Mr. Terrific, Kilowog (uncredited) *

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The New Batman Adventure ...

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker in '' Batman: The Animated Series'', and debuted in i ...

(uncredited), Poison Ivy (uncredited) *

Noel Fisher Noel Roeim Fisher (born March 13, 1984) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayal of Mickey Milkovich on the Showtime series '' Shameless'', as well as his portrayal of Cael Malloy on the FX series '' The Riches''. He played Ellison " ...

* Sumalee Montano as Emerald Empress *

Philip Anthony-Rodriguez Philip Anthony-Rodriguez is an American actor known for his roles on '' Jake 2.0'' as Kyle Duarte, the voice of disc jockey Maurice Chavez in the 2002 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'', and as Jetstream Sam in the 2013 video game '' M ...

Peter Jessop Peter Jessop is an American actor who is known for his video game voice acting. He is known for the voice of Sovereign in Mass Effect, the voice of Miraak, the primary antagonist of '' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn'' DLC, and the voi ...

Matthew Yang King Matthew Yang King is an American television, film, stage and voice actor. He is known for recurring role appearances on '' Riverdale'', '' Powers'', '' 24'', ''Strong Medicine'', and '' Numbers''. He created the webseries ''World of Steam'' and ha ...

as The Persuader *

Two-Face Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). As one of Batman's ...

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in '' ...

as Bloodsport, Salaak (uncredited)

Production

Justice League vs the Fatal Five cast by Gage Skidmore

The director is

Sam Liu Sam Liu is an American animation producer, director, storyboard artist and character designer. He is best known for directing animated superhero films at both Marvel Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. Sam attended the University of Califor ...

, who has directed prior DC animated films. The story was written by Eric Carrasco, partnered with Jim Krieg and Alan Burnett. The film features

, and

reprising their roles as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman from ''Justice League'' and other DC productions. Originally, the film was set to use the Phil Bourassa art style and models from '' Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths'', with the voice cast already having done their recordings. However, to avoid confusion with the

New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new series ...

-based DCAMU movies, the film used the animation models from ''

'' and its follow-up, ''

.'' The main title themes from '' The Adventures of Batman & Robin'', '' Superman: The Animated Series'', ''Justice League'' and ''Justice League Unlimited'' are included in the score by composers McCuistion, Ritmanis & Carter (all DCAU alumni) to represent their respective characters. While its

canonicity The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...

with the greater

DCAU The DC Animated Universe (DCAU; also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans referring to the creators and producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini respectively) is a shared universe consisting primarily of superhero-based animated televi ...

is open-ended, executive producer

considers the film to be canon.

Soundtrack

The complete score was released by Dynamic Soundtrack Records on January 15, 2021. It can be purchased via Apple Music and other outlets.

Critical reception

Reviews to the film were generally favorable. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . Eric Vilas-Boas, writing for '' /Film'', praised the film's handling of characters with mental health challenges. Roman Julian, writing for ''

MovieWeb MovieWeb is an entertainment news website and video brand. Overview MovieWeb reports on entertainment news through their long-running website and related social media and video platforms. The site also maintains a searchable database of films. H ...

'', lauded the return of the classic DCAU animation, but criticized the film's "mediocre story".

Sales

The film earned $2,154,235 from domestic Blu-ray sales.

References

External links

*
''Justice League vs The Fatal Five''
at The World's Finest {{DC Animated Universe 2019 animated films 2019 films American adult animated films 2010s English-language films 2010s American animated films 2010s direct-to-video animated superhero films 2019 direct-to-video films Films set in 2004 American superhero films Animated films about time travel Animated Justice League films Warner Bros. Animation animated films Warner Bros. direct-to-video animated films Films directed by Sam Liu Films with screenplays by Alan Burnett