In Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One, death is coming. Worse than death: oblivion. Not just for our Earth, but for everyone, everywhere, in every universe! Against this ultimate destruction, the mysterious Monitor has gathered the greatest team of Super Heroes ever assembled.
But what can the combined might of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern and hundreds of Super Heroes from multiple Earths even do to save all of reality from an unstoppable antimatter Armageddon?
Earlier this week, we spoke with Crisis director Jeff Wamester and executive producers Butch Lukic and Jim Krieg about their work on the first instalment of this three-part epic. As well as sharing new insights into how they approach the movies from a creative standpoint, we hear from them on The Flash's role in the story and what it is they love about the comic book.
Butch and Jim also address the future of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's DC movies under DC Studios' watch and confirm plans for some big cameos in the upcoming sequels (including characters from other animated franchises).
Finally, they also share their thoughts on the possibility of Crisis star Meg Donnelly playing the DCU's live-action Kara Zor-El in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.
You can check out our full interview with Crisis on Infinite Earths' creative team below.
Jeff, you’ve made so many of these movies and told such huge stories within the constraints of 90 minutes; now, you’ve got a three-parter, so how did that change your approach?
Jeff: It didn’t because it was the same thing [Laughs]. These are contained. They’re connected in a larger three-act structure so…by virtue, it’s the same. Every move along [the way], we have to be careful about the long-term with how [these stories] connect to the ending.
Jim: What I like is that, from Josh’s point of view, between movies you as the director get to take this breath and go, ‘Okay,’ and in reality…
Jeff: I’ve gotta work, I’ve gotta work, I’ve gotta work [Laughs].
Butch: You know, even while Jeff is finishing the boards on part one, we’re already in part two working out what’s going to happen. Jeff has to move right into that. At that stage, at every point, you’re finishing part one and starting part two at the same time or even still working on the other movies before this.
Jim: It’s a tremendous amount of material. Jeff and I, during the pandemic, were the only ones in our part of the Warner Bros. building. It was like The Overlook Hotel in The Shining; I would sometimes go in and he’d be working on the boards from two movies ago and it’s great, but then I’m like, ‘Oh, I’d forgotten that.’
Butch: These two were in the studio alone because they were the only two that wanted to get away from their wives and kids [Laughs].
This is a great cast. You’ve got Jensen Ackles as Batman who is a fan-favourite to play that character in the DCU and Meg Donnelly who is auditioning for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. That must be great to see.
Jim: Oh, she’d be great. So would Jensen.
Jeff: She would be great. You know, when she was in Legion, she had that speech at the end with her mom and we were in the booth saying, ‘Oh my God. That was such a good performance!’
Jim: She had one movie to make you fall in love with Kara. You’ve got to care about Kara when you get to Crisis. That’s why Legion exists to introduce Kara and, also, when do you get to see the Legion?
Butch: If we had a couple more movies, we could have had Supergirl in before we get to Crisis, it would have been good. Ultimately, I think it’s all worked out. Centrally, she is part of Crisis on Infinite Earths and, in part two, she definitely gets a bigger role in the movie than in the first one.
Jim, you’ve been overseeing the Tomorrowverse from the start but did you consider bringing any characters from other DC animated franchises into this movie or was it too complicated?
Jim: Well, ask me that question again two movies from now!
Butch: We talked about that very early on. It was a thing we discussed even when we started the whole cycle of Tomorrowverse movies.
Jim: We talked about it from Man of Tomorrow. It was a challenge because the animation styles can be so drastically different and they clash a little bit. Hopefully…well, we’ll see what happens.
Butch: In the second movie, you’ll see one or two characters from other animated universes.
Jeff, as the director, you’re telling a great Flash story here as well as Crisis and this is a great showcase for Barry Allen. What did you enjoy about taking him on this journey?
Jeff: I think it was carrying through that story as we introduced Iris way back in the Wonder Woman movie and it was nice to see that arc finish here and how their relationship evolved in this particular universe.
With DC Studios’ formation, there’s some uncertainty about the future of these animated movies. Are you hoping they’ll continue as Elseworlds projects or do you not know yet?
Butch: At this stage, we don’t know, but even something like Justice Society: World War II could definitely be continued with other versions as far as stories. It’s all dependent on where they want to go. It all has to be Elseworlds. We can’t go into the James Gunn universe but our whole goal, even before James Gunn came in to be in charge, was to have a ten-movie structure and then be finished at this point. Beyond that, when it comes to sequels based on these films, that’s up to DC and Warner Bros.
Jim: You know, as we’ve been doing these interviews, Butch, I’ve had flashbacks. The Tuckerverse, I think, was twenty five movies. A tremendous amount. Butch and I had this idea that we would have a long time to build to Crisis which was the pitch. I remember you and I talking to Sam Register and saying, ‘Maybe we can have twenty films and then end in Crisis?’ I think he said, ‘How about three?’ [Laughs] We built it out and negotiated up. This is where we are.
Butch: I originally wanted to keep doing a slow build with movies like The Long Halloween and Man of Tomorrow. I wanted to take as long as possible and once we gave them our pitch, they said they wanted Crisis involved and they wanted it done in ten movies. That’s why we had to fast-track some of these stories and build it towards this.
I know you’re all such big fans, so what was it about Crisis which made you want to tell this story and end this era with such an epic story?
Butch: You should talk to the other two guys because I was hoping to try and get out of it [Laughs] but here we are and we’re doing the job. I love George Perez, God bless him, and Marv Wolfman. I’ve been fans of theirs since I was a kid and it’s been an honour to do this for them and the fans. That’s my take on it.
Jim: Speaking of George and Marv, we got the opportunity to talk to them when we were building up to Crisis and we pitched them our changes and our trims. They honestly could not have been more supportive or encouraging. They know their work stands. It still exists and it being reimagined and reinterpreted by other voices - they were all for it. It draws everybody back to the original work. It’s such a vast canvas and you can see every superhero in the DC Universe that you want to see and about 80% more, including ones you’ve never heard of!
Butch: Unfortunately, with a lot of those characters, we can’t really give them more in the storyline and they’re there as filler because we couldn’t expand their roles. Partly because, like we initially thought, it would be a five-part movie and the other reason is we can only do so many voices and that’s why some of the characters are silent. The budget wouldn’t allow us to give them a voice.
Jim: There’s a poster from another movie [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse] behind you…the budget was a little different. The amount of versions of that character in one location was like 160. I heard the filmmakers brag about that and thought, ‘Oh really? That’s great for you.’ [Laughs]
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One is now available on Digital and arrives on 4K UHD in limited edition SteelBook packaging and Blu-ray starting January 23.