Marvel’s Disneyverse has a continuity problem; there’s just too damn much of it! Everything needs to be connected to everything else. Even the Disney+ series What If…?—based on a Marvel Comics series that proudly takes wild narrative swings in various alternate timelines—concluded its first season with a big crossover event, bringing together its many disparate realities to serve the mighty multiverse.
Warner Bros. DC animated features, however, aren’t afraid to stick close to their Elseworlds roots. Within just the last few weeks, two great animated adaptations have made their way to home video, and neither expects its viewers to have an encyclopedic knowledge of DC Comics history. (Although well-read fans are sure to find some fun Easter eggs.)
Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham
Released on Blu-ray, 4K, and Digital on March 28, Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham represents the 51st film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies franchise. Based on an early 2000s three-issue miniseries written by Mike Mignola and Richard Pace, the story takes its name from H.P. Lovecraft’s 1920 short story “The Doom That Came to Sarnath,” though, in truth, the plot is much closer to that of seminal Lovecraft novella At the Mountains of Madness—giant mutant penguins and all.
Title nitpicking side, Doom does a wonderful job of introducing cosmic horror to the streets of old Gotham, complete with otherworldly elder gods, foul magics, and visceral body horror. Better yet, it approaches Lovecraft’s problematic views on race and gender head-on by including a more diverse cast of characters than one might expect from the Batfam.
Our story begins as a globetrotting Bruce Wayne approaches Antarctica in search of a missing scientific expedition led by one Professor Oswald Cobblepot. Even with the help of his young wards Dick Grayson, Sanjay Tawde (this universe’s answer to Jason Todd), and Kai Li Cain (a solid Cassandra Cain analog voiced by Tati Gabrielle), Wayne finds little more than disturbing remnants of the research team’s grisly demise and a lone, crazed survivor (David Dastmalchian as a gloriously unhinged Grendon—this tale’s take on Victor Fries).
Returning to Gotham some 20 years after his initial departure, Bruce is thrown headfirst into a mystery that includes everything from a Prohibition-era Oliver Queen to a soothsaying Barbara Gordon to a particularly well-placed Etrigan the Demon to help cement its supernatural slant. All of this, of course, is just set dressing for the otherworldly curse that is sure to befall the city, unsurprisingly hastened by Talia and Ra’s al Ghul’s doomsday cult.
While the casting in The Doom That Came to Gotham is nothing to sneeze at (Jeffrey Combs is Kirk Langstrom, for Old Gods’ sake!), where it truly succeeds is in making Gotham City a character in itself. The fortunes and tragedies of the Wayne and Queen families are beautifully woven into the fabric of this Depression-era urban sprawl, and the way the film brings in known quantities (Poison Ivy, Two-Face, the Man-Bat) in new and exciting ways perfectly serves the simmering plot.
Creepy, violent, and (at least until its third act twist) perfectly hopeless, Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham does a fine job of pleasing both Batman fans and readers of weird fiction alike, and it does so with fantastic visuals, crystal-clear sound, and style to spare. While all the extra content is nice—a featurette entitled “Batman: Shadows of Gotham” and two bonus Batman: The Animated Series episodes to go along with the obligatory audio commentary—it’s the feature film itself that’s the true crowd-pleaser here.
All-Star Superman
While it received the 4K Blu-ray treatment shortly after its Gotham City brethren (re-releasing in this format on April 18), All-Star Superman is actually a much older film. Based on the 12-issue series penned by Grant Morrison, this adaptation was written by the incomparable Dwayne McDuffie and was originally released shortly after his untimely passing in 2011.
The plot of the movie itself deals with a premature death, that of Superman himself. When Lex Luthor sabotages a P.R.O.J.E.C.T. exploration mission to the Sun, only Superman can save Dr. Leo Quintum and his crew. Unfortunately, in the process, he absorbs a massive amount of solar radiation that first increases his already considerable powers but will ultimately prove fatal to the Man of Steel.
Though this at last leads to Luthor being convicted for his crimes, we quickly learn that irradiating Superman—not merely kneecapping P.R.O.J.E.C.T.—was the supervillain’s original aim, and a public execution is a small price to pay for finally besting his nemesis. Keeping his impending demise a secret from all save Lois Lane, Supes sets about doing all he can for the citizens of Earth (and its few remaining Kryptonian refugees) in his last remaining days.
This includes gifting temporary superpowers to Lois for her birthday, locating a suitable new world for the Bottled City of Kandor, and, of course, defeating any baddies foolhardy enough to step to a newly souped-up Superman… Like Lex who (obviously) has one more trick up his sleeve before his death sentence.
Though it ends on a rather melancholy note—it’s a world without Superman, though Lois and Dr. Quintum may well know something the rest of us don’t—it also does so rather poignantly. Specifically, it manages to put a finger on both why Superman is so dedicated to the principles of truth and justice and why he remains the most enduring of our modern heroic figures.
With four bonus featurettes, audio commentary from Grant Morrison and executive producer Bruce Timm, and an All-Star Superman digital comic, this disc, too, provides a lot of icing on an already enjoyable cake.
So, whether you like your superheroes sullen and brooding or brimming with optimism for a better tomorrow, these releases are sure to please. Just don’t expect to see these versions of our titular heroes reflected in the next big-screen DC movie!
Review materials provided by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. This post contains affiliate links.
