Later this year, DC Animation will produce a rarity: an animated film with an original plot.
In other words, the movie won't be based on an existing storyline from DC's comic books.
The vast majority of what DC Animation produces comes from major story arcs in the comics.
Son of Batman was loosely based on "Batman and Son." The Flashpoint Paradox was based on the miniseries Flashpoint. And the two-part The Dark Knight Returns was based on... Well, you know.
At last year's Comic-Con, DC Animation announced the production of Justice League: Gods and Monsters, but revealed no details about the story — only that it was conceived by Bruce Timm, the man behind Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited.
Today, Nerds On the Rocks (NOTR) nabbed the exclusive reveal of Gods and Monsters' plot, characters and even some screengrabs.
Gods and Monsters tells the story of a brand-new alternate Earth or alternate history – we're not sure which – where the Justice League is framed for the murders of several well-known scientists. The big twist is that these are very different versions of DC's most famous heroes.
NOTR's report focuses on the "big three" – Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman – with most of the details seemingly gleaned from an early look at the film. So most of the information NOTR provides is incomplete.
The Superman of Justice League: Gods and Monsters is the son of Zod, so it's entirely possibly he may not even be Clark Kent. The report describes him as "a lot more violent," having witnessed the darker aspects of humanity first-hand. And in case the character's darker nature isn't entirely clear — they give him a goatee.
Bruce Wayne is not Batman in this world — Kirk Langstrom is. We know Langstrom as Man-Bat, the scientist who infects himself with a serum that turns him into a monstrous, man-sized bat creature. In the world of Gods and Monsters, Langstrom has cancer and injects himself with bat venom in an attempt to cure himself. Instead, he becomes a bat-like vampire creature, but unlike Man-Bat, he's still able to hold onto his sanity and decides to feed off of criminals to sate his bloodlust.
Wonder Woman is the one NOTR has less information on. Instead of an Amazonian warrior princess, this Wonder Woman is one of Jack Kirby's New Gods who comes to Earth after "something goes wrong" with her marriage to fellow New God, Orion.
The report mentions that Lex Luthor is in the movie as well, but he doesn't appear to be the villain. He's more of a Professor X type: a wheelchair-bound genius with seemingly philanthropic goals. The film features Darkseid as well.
We'll bring you additional information about Justice League: Gods and Monsters as we learn more.
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