Over the years, we've seen Warner Bros. Animation's DC Animated Universe adapt many beloved stories while putting fresh spins on heaps of others. With DC Studios planning to incorporate future animated projects into the DCU, this particular franchise's future is uncertain, but at least the "Tomorrowverse" stands a chance of going out on a high.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths is coming in 2024 and while we'd heard the movie would be presented in two parts, there have also been rumours it could be split in three.
The movie was first announced during July's San Diego Comic-Con along with an animated take on Watchmen. Only that vague 2024 debut was mentioned at the time, but a new listing on Amazon France appears to confirm the movie will be available on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K starting January 24, 2024.
If so, we can likely expect a Digital debut a week or two beforehand.
Speculation continues running rampant that Crisis will bring together nearly every character we've ever seen in the DCAU, delivering the ultimate crossover before the focus is shifted to DC Studios' upcoming endeavours (the only confirmed animated project currently on the way from them is Max TV series Creature Commandos).
All those voice actors could prove to be too expensive for what's essentially a direct-to-DVD title, and we'd bet on the same cast members voicing multiple versions of the same characters. Until official details are shared, we can't say for sure either way.
The story is one that's been adapted on only a handful of occasions, including by The CW's Arrowverse. Before the formation of DC Studios, Warner Bros. had been planning a live-action Crisis movie with The Flash meant to set the stage for that. Unfortunately, that all changed and the movie's ending was reshot (for the third time by our count).
We have the movie's logo but, as we write this, no sort of official first look has been shared by Warner Bros. Animation and DC.
Crisis on Infinite Earths was a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in the mid-1989s. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, ran for 12 issues and stemmed from the former's desire to abandon the DC Multiverse.
Believing the concept had become overly complicated, the writer set out to create a single, unified DC Universe.
At the start of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Anti-Monitor (the Monitor's evil counterpart) is unleashed on the DC Multiverse and begins to destroy the various Earths that it comprises. The Monitor tries to recruit heroes from around the Multiverse but is murdered, while Brainiac collaborates with the villains to conquer the remaining Earths.
However, both the heroes and villains are eventually united by the Spectre, and the series concludes with Kal-L, Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor Jr. defeating the Anti-Monitor with the creation of a single Earth in place of the Multiverse then following. Crisis on Infinite Earths is noted for its high death count; hundreds of characters died, including DC icons Kara Zor-El/Supergirl and Barry Allen/The Flash.
As a result, the DCU was, for a long time, broken down into the "pre" and "post" Crisis eras.