The year of the superhero battles continue but in the animation realm as two huge DC teams clash.
Following in the footsteps of the grander epic battle between Batman and Superman, this weekend allowed fans a look into another epic clash. The animated version of Justice League vs. Teen Titans was first screened Saturday at WonderCon in Los Angeles to about 7,100 people thus becoming the conventions biggest event for the night. The night’s panel consisted of producer James Tucker, director Sam Liu, screenwriter Bryan Q. Miller, character designer Phil Bourassa, and many more. The night continued with panel moderator Tiffany Smith asking about the direction of particular scenes and the nature of the characters. The reason being that this straight to home movie has officially inducted some of the heroes to the DC Original Movies Universe.
The story, albeit its name follows Damian Wayne, voiced by Stuart Allen, also known as Robin being kicked out of the Justice League. After a nearly failed mission, Batman and Nightwing push Damian to go train with the Titans in hopes of learning teamwork, but ends up diving into a new mess. The Teen Titans are comprised of the usual team, but now includes Blue Beetle as well. In fact this is the first time DC’s movie universe is seeing the likes of characters Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Blue Beetle. Drawing inspiration from the original Teen Titans show that aired in 2003, the team faces the danger of Raven, voiced by Taissa Farmiga, and her relationship with her demon father Trigon, voiced by Jon Bernthal. The villain possesses the minds of the Justice League members to wreak havoc and aid in his escape from his inter-dimensional prison. The battle that ensues gives the movie its name since the Titans must fight against the Justice League heroes in order to prevent Trigon’s plans for domination.
The voice cast includes veteran talent along with introducing new voices to the DC realm. Many of the new actors touched upon the experience of debuting in DC, Jake T. Austin who voices Blue Beetle shared, “There are moments you can laugh at, moments that are serious and suspenseful — I think this one has a great balance of everything”. Austin touches upon the multi-dimensional aspect of the film, which is dark, true to DC’s reputation but balances it with the humor that is natural to the Teen Titans franchise.
The digital release of the movie premiered today, and the Blu-ray will be available to the public April 12th. Join the battle against evil and fellow superhero comrades, as the young Titans take on the Justice League.
