DC Animated Movies - 5 DC Comics Events That Need Movie Versions

Following up on my Justice League: The New Frontier and Superman: Doomsday articles earlier in the week, I wanted to give a list of the DC Comics events or stories that need a movie adaption.

Paul Levitz, DC Publisher and President, has gone on record to say that Warner Bros Home Video is working on more direct to DVD home videos of popular events from DC's storied history of comics. Superman: Doomsday kicked off the line in September and Justice League: The New Frontier is up next in January 2008 with a New Teen Titans: Judas Contract scheduled for sometime in the future. While Levitz was tight lipped about any other possible stories, he said they are looking at fan favourites and classic stories. When questioned about a Dark Knight Returns movie, he responded by saying that was definitely one they were looking into, but remained reluctant to discuss any further potential movies. Later, rumours and reports have placed a Wonder Woman project in development that would be an animated original, loosely based on multiple comic stories.

With this little bit of information from Mr Levitz, I rifled through my collection to find 5 DC Comics stories that need an animated movie adaption. Click the link to find out if your favourite story made the list.

"Worlds lived, worlds died. Nothing will ever be the same."

Crisis on Infinite Earths

The grand daddy of them all, Crisis on Infinite Earths is the original big ticket comic event. It redefined the DC universe for years to come and, even today, influences many of DC's current events, such as Infinite Crisis, 52, Countdown and the upcoming Final Crisis. The big bad of the event, the Anti-Monitor, has even returned in the pages of Green Lantern as the Guardian of the Sinestro Corps.

While the story of Crisis on Infinite Earths was mainly conceived to rectify the numerous continuity errors, it is still an excellent story that stands the test of time and could easily be turned into a movie. Depending on how DC approached the adaption, they could simply have the Anti-Monitor seeking to destroy the Multiverse and they could focus primarily on 'our' Earth with the JLA we know and love. Add a few alternate reality versions of our heroes, specifically Earth-3's Alexander Luthor and Earth-2's older Superman, Kal-L, and the plot could be simplified enough for the movie going audience while still retaining the classic elements that made the story what it was.

"I will break you."

Batman: Knightfall

The Batman edition of the Death & Return of Superman, the Knightfall trilogy would probably suffer from the same shortcomings of the Superman: Doomsday movie - being too compressed and trying to fit too much story into 70 minutes of movie.

To do this story proper justice, they would need two movies. The first movie would feature the entire Knightfall story, with Bane breaking Batman's back and Azrael replacing Batman, followed by a second movie, featuring Knightquest and KnightsEnd. The first half of the second movie would feature Az-Bats becoming more and more brutal before finally killing someone and sullying the mantle of the Bat before Bruce returns to take him down as the climax of the movie. Unfortunately, I can see DC trying to stuff this all into one movie that barely resembles the original material.

"You don't get it, boy... this isn't a mudhole... it's an operating table. And I'm the surgeon."

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Levitz all but confirmed the adaption of one of the greatest comic stories ever told. Comic fans saw the potential a Dark Knight Returns animated movie could have when Batman: The Animated Series featured an episode with several children imagining what Batman was like and one of the them described the Dark Knight Returns version of Batman. Add the bigger budget and longer version a movie adaption would provide and DC could have fans foaming at the mouth with anticipation for this movie.

"I could give a damn, Sinestro. I really could. But I don't want any doubt in your mind. I want you to know that I defeated you...without any crutches."

Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight

The fall from grace of the greatest Green Lantern ever, Hal Jordan, would make an excellent addition to the DC animated movie line-up. The only concern is how they would adapt the story. Obviously, they can't use the Cyborg Superman / Mongul plot from the Death & Return of Superman, but they could easily find a way to destroy Coast City without it. Another problem comes with the ending. I would like it to just end with Hal becoming Parallax, but DC would probably want a more conclusive ending and they could possibly just have the fall of Hal in the first half and bring Kyle Rayner into the movie to fight him at the end as the new Green Lantern. With only roughly 70 minutes running time, I think they could create an action packed movie here, but it would need a very tight plot to make it work.

"They chose the man who would kill over the man who wouldn't ... and now they're dead."

Kingdom Come

Another classic story that would make a perfect movie is Alex Ross and Mark Waid's Kingdom Come. The story is perfect and easily adapted to the movie format with many high spots, like the return of Superman from his years of seclusion, the return of the Justice League and the final epic battle with a lone Superman on his knees as the rest of the heroes die to the nuclear explosion. The only thing holding this story back from the animated movie treatment would be the inability to do Alex Ross' painted masterpiece the justice it deserves.


Conclusion

These are just 5 stories I'd love to see in the movie format DC is using for its upcoming animated films. There are literally dozens of other films I would like to see, such as Batman: Year One, Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, JLA: Hyperclan and many more. Hell, I could name 10 or more Batman related stories I'd love to see get the movie treatment, let alone stories out of the entire DCU.

I chose a selection of what I feel are either character defining moments or easily translatable to film. I tried to stay away from just pure origin stories as well, despite how good many of DC's origins for their characters are, simply because they've been done so many times in comic form and other adaptions that I'd prefer a fresh experience on the movie screen.

I'm curious what other people would like to see DC tackle for their animated projects, so feel free to leave comments with your choices for the animated treatment.

Related Posts