Movie Info
Movie Name: Reign of the Supermen
Studio: Warner Bros. Animation
Genre(s): Animated/Comic Book/Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Release Date(s): January 13, 2019 (Limited)/January 15, 2019
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Oh Lois…your precocious nature is going to get you killed
Superman is dead at the hands of Doomsday, and there is a vacuum of power in the world that needs to be filled. When four men show up declaring themselves to be Superman, Lois Lane and the rest of the world question if the real Superman could be back. Now, Super“boy”, the Cyborg Superman, Steel, and the Eradicator are all claiming the title and an accident involving the Justice League leaves the world needing a Superman more than ever…but one of the Supermen might not be as innocent as he claims.
Directed by Sam Liu, Reign of the Superman is a DC Universe Movie and a follow-up to the 2018 Death of Superman movie. The film received a limited theatrical release and was released on physical discs and streaming shortly after.
The Death of Superman was a massive story in the 1990s. DC made a Superman: Doomsday movie in 2007 which pretty much told the same story (but more abbreviated), but Reign of the Supermen extends the story and adapts the story to the New 52 storyline.
Apokolips…Now!!!
Reign of the Supermen was a fun semi-mystery when it was being released. You didn’t necessarily know if the Eradicator or the Cyborg-Superman were Superman until later in the story in which the real (mullet) Superman appeared. Here, you know the ending if you are a fan of comic books, but it was a fun story to revisit due to the characters (particularly Superboy and Steel). It is also kind of nice that the story is worked in a way to try to justify how the story fits into the New 52 world.
DC always casts strong voice actors for their films. Jerry O’Connell voices Superman while Rebecca Romijn voices Lois Lane. Rosario Dawson provides Wonder Woman’s voice and Nathan Fillion is Hal Jordan. The Candyman Tony Todd plays Darkseid, and Rainn Wilson steps in as Lex Luthor.
Looks like a team-up!!!
DC movies have strong animation. It isn’t as strong as a theatrical film, but for the number of movies that DC puts out, it is still a lot better than many standard animated films. There are so many stories in the DC world that I’d love to see some stories like more Legion or Teen Titans receive the treatment (or even smaller properties).
Reign of the Supermen is a good entry to the DC film properties because the chances of it being presented on the big screen are especially slim due to the performance of Superman films in general. With no good continuing series like Superman: The Animated Series or Batman: The Animated Series taking over, DC Animated movies will have to keep up the quality. DC followed Reign of the Supermen with Justice League vs. the Fatal Five in 2019.
