DC has proved time and time again that its animated films are just as good (and probably better) than its live action ones, and the upcoming Justice League Dark animated film looks to continue that trend.
A preview of the film is running in front of special screenings of Batman: The Killing Joke, but fans who aren't in attendance don't have to worry. The entire 8-minute video has found its way online, and it gives fans a great look at what to expect. Magical and supernatural heroes like Constantine, Swamp Thing, Dead Man, Zatanna and more all unite to tackle the unseen threats that only they can understand.
Oh, and Batman is around too. As the creative team behind the project explains, Batman is the average human who is a stand-in for the audience. He doesn't want to believe in magic, but he will have to confront his doubts over the course of the film.
Supernatural investigator John Constantine is the leading man of the film. He's an expert on the occult, even if his loner tendencies make him an unlikely candidate to lead the dysfunctional team. As mentioned above, the ghost superhero Dead Man will be joining the team, as does powerful sorceress Zatanna, the massive Swamp Thing and the Demon Etrigan, who has ties to the main villains of the story. Black Orchid will also be featured in the film, though her origin is different from that of the comics. In the Justice League Dark movie, Black Orchid is a physical manifestation of the House of Mystery.
"It's a Justice League movie, but it's not ...They don't look like your typical superheroes," producer James Tucker says. "They're outcasts. No one is happy when they show up. If anything, with Justice League Dark, everyone's frightened when they show up. They misunderstand them, so having monstrous people do heroic things is always kind of cool."
Fans of the short-lived Constantine television show will definitely want to check out the movie, for a number of reasons. Not only is Constantine the lead character, but he is voiced by Matt Ryan, who played the hero on the TV series.
"I really wanted to dive into this project to play Constantine in a different context, around some of the iconic characters of the DC dark world," Ryan says.
Justice League Dark is slated to arrive on Blu-ray, DVD and video-on-demand this fall.
