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Justice League vs. the Fatal Five
Justice League vs. the Fatal Five is a 2019 American direct-to-video animated superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment. Featuring the DC Comics team of the same name created by Gardner Fox the film is the thirty-fourth in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. It was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2018, and had its world premiere at WonderCon Anaheim 2019 on March 29, 2019, was released on Digital HD on March 30, 2019, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on April 16, 2019. The film features Elyes Gabel and Diane Guerrero alongside Kevin Conroy, Susan Eisenberg, and George Newbern reprising their roles as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman, respectively, from the DC animated universe.
In the 31st century, Mano, Tharok and Persuader of the Fatal Five attack the Legion of Super-Heroes' headquarters for their time sphere. Star Boy, Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 try to keep them back but fail. Just as the villains activate the sphere, Star Boy leaps at them and is taken along. Arriving in the 21st century above Earth, Star Boy triggers a boobytrap Brainiac 5 programmed, trapping the villains inside the sphere in a stasis field. Star Boy comes down in Gotham City while the sphere ends up in Metropolis. Star Boy discovers his supply of medicine, needed to stabilize his mind, was destroyed in his rough landing. As his medicine doesn't exist yet, Star Boy's increasingly erratic behavior gets him apprehended by Batman and sent to Arkham. The stasis-locked time machine is picked up by Superman and brought to the Justice League's headquarters for analysis.
Ten months later, Jessica Cruz is struggling with the trauma of her near-death by a murderer who killed her friends, making her afraid to leave her apartment. Adding to her anxiety is that a Green Lantern ring chose her and that Wonder Woman keeps trying to recruit her into the Justice League. In Gotham, Miss Martian is trying to prove herself to Batman for membership in the League, but her inexperience works against her good intentions. While trying to unlock the secret of the strange sphere, Mister Terrific brings down the stasis field, freeing its occupants. Superman and Mister Terrific fight them, but Superman is wounded by Persuader's axe and the villains escape.
The director is Sam Liu, who has directed prior DC animated films. The story was written by Eric Carrasco, partnered with Jim Krieg and Alan Burnett. The film features Kevin Conroy, Susan Eisenberg, and George Newbern reprising their roles as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman from Justice League and other DC productions. Originally, the film was set to use the Phil Bourassa art style and models from Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, with the voice cast already having done their recordings. However, to avoid confusion with the New 52-based DCAMU movies, the film used the animation models from Justice League and its follow-up, Justice League Unlimited.[8] The main title themes from The Adventures of Batman & Robin, Superman: The Animated Series, and Justice League Unlimited are included in the score by composers McCuiston, Ritmanis & Karter (all DCAU alumni) to represent their respective characters.
While its canonicity with the greater DCAU is open-ended, executive producer Bruce Timm considers the film to be canon.
Reviews to the film were generally favorable. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 6.58/10.
Eric Vilas-Boas, writing for /Film, praised the film's handling of characters with mental health challenges. Roman Julian, writing for MovieWeb, lauded the return of the classic DCAU animation, but criticized the film's "mediocre story".
