July 28, 2015 the next Direct To Video DC Comics animated film debuts. This one is from Bruce Timm himself, producer of many of the best animated projects for Warner Bros and DC Comics from “Batman: The Animated Series” through today. Ahead of that animated film, Timm and Machinima are releasing three short episodes under the title “Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles.” The first episode, “Twisted” is a Batman/Harley Quinn story, and it showcases the very different alternate universe of “Gods and Monsters.” It’s dark, and as the title tells us, twisted. Twisted enough that I won’t be sharing it with my sons. But hey, you’re not my sons. So here’s the six minute episode:
So that’s it. Along with Batman’s apparent vampirism, we have a Superman who’s the son of General Zod instead of Jor-El, and a Wonder Woman who’s a New God from Apokolips or New Genesis, instead of Themyscira. There will be two other mini episodes exploring this alternate universe before the DTV release in July, and a “second season” of episodes is already in production.
Do you want to see more of this universe? Do we trust Bruce Timm’s instincts enough to follow him on this journey? Is “Twisted” too dark a direction for this Justice League to pursue?
In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the trailer for the whole movie: a bit lighter than the episode above. Then again, what isn’t?
“Evil has a new playground?” that’s the tagline? Ugh.