Justice League, Season 2, Episodes 1-2: Twilight of the Gods
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| Not what you were expecting to wipe out two planets filled with alien gods |
Case in point, we're picking up on several unresolved threads in Superman: the Animated Series. I am not as well-versed in Superman: the Animated Series as I am with Batman... I've only watched the first season and a little bit of the second season, so I don't know the full scale of just what Darkseid did to Superman... only that it involved mind control and using Superman as a puppet. (Incidentally, I'm also mostly flying in blind into this season season, only managing to watch the last several episodes of the second season as a kid).Superman: TAS last season by putting a close to Lex Luthor the businessman, while opening a new chapter for him as a full-time supervillain.
We've tied up some of the outstanding plotlines from
Now we explore two of Superman's greatest enemies: Darkseid and Brainiac. And, yes, Luthor might be the more personal nemesis, but out of all of Superman's many, many world-destroying enemies, few have been as iconic or as threatening as Darkseid and Brainiac.
I think part of why they opened season two with this episode is to address a huge problem that Superman had in the first season of Justice League -- he's kinda weak. From a poor showing being batted around by Draaga in "War World", to being one-shotted by Aresia in "Fury", being incapacitated by Deadshot's electric trap in "the Enemy Below", being absolutely manhandled by Metamorpho in "Metamorphosis", to barely being able to take down fleets of ancient Nazi jet fighters in "Savage Time"... it's not been a great season for Superman. And yes, some of these can be chalked up to Draaga being super-powered, Solomon Grundy and Aresia using magic, et cetera, but Superman is subjected to the Worf Effect so often in the first season that even the creators apologized for it. Yes, we need to build up the audience's expectations so Wonder Woman, J'onn J'onzz, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl can look like badasses for taking down the thing that stunned the Man of Steel, but that has the nasty side effect of making Superman feel weak.
And he shouldn't be. I mean, he's freaking Superman. So they retooled him a little in the second season, changing his model back to his younger, more heroic build in Superman: The Animated Series as opposed to the slightly older and weary-looking model they used in the first season.
And then they bring him straight into the big New Gods conflict. We see a pretty excellent sense of the raised stakes and the weird politics between New Genesis and Apokolips. We've got minor Superman: TAS villain Steppenwolf, one of Darkseid's more competent generals (and soon to be main villain of the upcoming Justice League live-action movie, sans weird elf hat) getting basically executed by the New Genesis people, who launch Steppenwolf's ship back onto Apokolips and burying Darkseid in an explosion. We get Orion, one of my favourite characters in the New Gods lore, call up his biological father and basically call him a piece of shit, and saying that New Genesis, while the good guys of the bunch, don't play nice if provoked.
And, wow, you don't really have to understand the backstory of the New Gods -- I've been reading the DC comics for nearly two decades and I still haven't understood the whole story -- just that evil tyrant-god-king Dakrseid is on one side, and the dudes on New Genesis is on the other side. And they're supremely powerful aliens. As Darkseid and his lieutenants, prepare for retaliation, they are suddenly accosted by a greater threat. Brainiac and his ship, ready to assimilate Apokolips. Thus begins a pretty curious three-way battle as Superman is caught between the forces of two enemies, while still trying to figure out the New Genesis/Apokolips conflict.
Oh, and in one of the earlier scenes of the two-parter, Darkseid executes his majordomo Desaad, one of the most recurring Apokolips characters in Superman: the Animated Series, for muttering "it's a fool's errand". Desaad's death is unexpected (and honestly a bit hilarious in a morbid sense of way) but it kind of shows just how little patience Darkseid has at this point -- the only person left hanging around him is his sycophantic brainless brute of a son, Kalibak... who Darkseid views as more of a nuisance anyway.
Can I just say that I really like the poor Kalibak? He's a brute, barely smarter than an animal, and has all the classic features of a thug... dumb, sadistic and brutish... but all he wants is just approval from daddy Darkseid. Who is, y'know, an alien tyrant god-king of evil, who appreciates his treacherous son Orion more for being an actual competent war god than the loyal Kalibak. Darkseid and Orion's relationship is explored a bit here as Orion, chomping at the bit and wanting to just fight fight fight fight Darkseid and topple his evil biological father, gets to do battle against his old man here. But we'll save discussing that for later.
The main conflict is Darkseid showing up on the Watchtower via a Boom Tube to recruit Superman's aid against Brainiac's invasion, and quite understandably Superman rushes in with punches to beat the fuck out of Darkseid. I love it when the big Boy Scout succumbs to his human emotions and shows that he's not above us all. Yeah, Superman is Superman, the symbol of hope and whatever and he'll do the right thing in the end, but that's because he knows how to make the right choice, no matter how hard it is. Sometimes when he's angry and unfocused, he needs a reminder -- in this case, a very sarcastic Batman -- but he will do it anyway. And that's what makes him a hero.
Now if it was me, I would let Brainiac and Darkseid duke it out, and then beat up the winner of that conflict, but that's why I'm not Superman.
I did love bringing up the little conflict of ideals between Superman and Batman. Superman isn't objective, for once being the distrustful, paranoid one of the two. And, yes, Superman is absolutely pissed off and taking this personally, not judging Darkseid objectively... but can you blame the dude? He was enslaved and mind-controlled, and Superman's lines while he was first re-introduced to Darkseid tells us enough. Both by the quick sneaky introdump and the obvious pain, anguish and rage in the voice acting. Superman's voice actor may have changed form Superman: TAS to Justice League, but holy shit, the voice acting in this episode is incredible -- I honestly cannot believe this was the same team that made the last season. Batman, arguably more accustomed with dealing with maniacs and people with untrustworthy agendas, knows how dangerous it is to not be objective, reminding Superman with some cutting words to man up and be Superman. "We know that he used you. Humiliated you. Brainwashed you. Wound you up like a tin soldier; turned you loose against the Earth. Cry me a river."
Batman has more experience with tragedy, and after having been mind-controlled by Brainiac before (and that's not counting the many times that Poison Ivy, Scarecorw or Mad Hatter had gone into his head in Batman: TAS) he knows that he has to deal with it and move on to the next crisis.
With Flash and Lantern absent for the two-parter, the rest of the League follow Superman to Apokolips. Superman, J'onn and Hawkgirl help Darkseid's forces of weird dragon-head cannon tank things fight against Brainiac and his super-resilient force field, while Darkseid just stands on a cliff muttering about the poor help. Man, Darkseid might look kind of useless, but naturally it was all just part of Darkseid's own gambit.
Batman and Wonder Woman, on the other hand, head off to New Genesis to get help from the Highfather, or at least Superman's ally, Orion. They do battle against a giant space monster before being saved by Forager, who is a 'bug' that is like the second-class citizens not living in the city in the sky. I really wished that instead of spending so much screentime on the monster fight we actually learn a bit more about the culture of the Bugs and the Forever People living in New Genesis, but as it is, that's easily the weakest portion of the episode. I don't care about New Genesis when all we ever see are Orion, Lightray, Highfather and three kids. Lightray is a douche that quite literally slaps Wonder Woman's ass (his hand is off-screen, but very, very audible) and Highfather is a generic hermit that sounds like he knows what he's doing, but is kind of just waffling about.
On Apokolips, Brainiac retreats to a giant asteroid shaped after his own head -- which is a brilliant reveal as the ship lands in a crater, and then the camera pulls out to reveal that the crater is a set of three that forms Brainiac's emblem, before pulling out to show his likeness on the asteroid. Superman, J'onn and Hawkgirl to battle against a single Brainiac body and crush him, before Brainiac reveals that, hey, he's a 9th level intelligence that doesn't take shit from no one, and then sics an army of Brainiac drones at our superheroes. It begins a bit of an escalation where we see just how much stronger the enemies are, and honestly just how awesome not only Superman, but also J'onn and Hawkgirl are for holding their own against so many Brainiacs. While J'onn is a beast with his phasing and shapeshifting abilities (and weaponising one Brainiac to fight the others), and Hawkgirl is an absolute beast with her Nth Metal mace, Superman himself takes down the most Brainiacs with well-animated punches that carry a huge weight. The sound effect behind them is also satisfyingly awesome as well.
Of course, Darkseid reveals that it was all an elaborate ruse to trap Superman inside Brainiac and then drain the Kryptonian DNA... but then Darkseid double-crosses Brainiac and installs his own program into Brainiac's systems, planning to use a combination of Superman's DNA and Brainiac's gigantic computer body to have enough power to unleash the anti-life equation.
While all this fancy New God stuff is going on, we've got some real development with Hawkgirl -- we finally learn her backstory as she tells it, that she's a space cop that got caught in a weird sci-fi teleportation beam and sent halfway across the universe to Earth. Thanagar is too far even in a setting with the Green Lantern Corps, and she has no way of returning. It's a bit hard to swallow (and the reason becomes apparent later down the season) but despite moments of moping over her missing world, when J'onn tries to bond with Hawkgirl over it, and attempting to help Hawkgirl find information about Thanagar while inside Brainiac's worldship... she refuses. It's a bit of a nice plot point for later on, but she's committed to the cause, and we peel back a couple of layers and learn that, hey, she's not a barbarian space-viking lady all the time. Regardless it's a pretty nice scene where J'onn points out that he, Superman, Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman are all the last of their race or outcasts. As a nice little bonus, J'onn does not mention Batman at all, and coupled with Hawkgirl's slightly-insensitive comment about orphans way back in season one, it's clear that the Dark Knight has not seen fit to divulge his identity to a team he's worked with for a long time...
Which actually makes his concern for Superman all the more touching.
Batman, Wonder Woman and Orion show up on Brainiac's asteroid and while doing battle with the armies of Brainiacs, frees Superman and, well, the big dude is absolutely pissed off. After being taken for a fool, facing two of his greatest enemies and being tortured, Superman doesn't give a shit anymore. He's out for blood. And after Darkseid takes out his son Orion with a bear hug while telling him how proud he is of his son, Superman orders everyone out and prepares to take on Darkseid one on one, with the awesome line: "this time, I won't stop until you're just a greasy smear on my fist", fully ready to stay around to ensure Darkseid is at ground zero when Brainiac's asteroid ship explodes. We've got an intense fight scene which at one point includes Superman burning a hole through Darkseid's foot while the New God is stomping on his face. Superman and Darkseid's punches feel powerful and the animation and Superman: TAS theme music that accompanies it really delivers a very exciting battle.
Of course, before Superman delivers the killing blow, Batman, the only mortal among all the players in this episode, runs back to help rescue Superman and Boom Tube him back to New Genesis. Superman might be protesting somewhat, but he relents anyway. Darkseid's last words are "heh, loser", despite the fact that he was humbled and beaten up nearly to a pulp by Superman, and about to explode.
Compared to Superman telling Brainiac to literally go to hell (the hell's interrupted, obviously), that sounds absurdly immature.
I find it both hilarious yet morbid that Superman gives no shit about Orion while all this is going. All the talk about going down with the explosion, while Orion is laying there unconscious. And when Batman shows up to boom Superman out of the way, he doesn't bat-grapple Orion either, it was by sheer coincidence that he was sucked into the Boom Tube as well. Man, why are you guys so mean to Orion?
Highfather and his people are of course all saved and there's some weird humble moment where they acknowledge Forager's off-screen help... which just felt oddly paced. Far more important is Superman walking up to Batman and telling him off "you know something, Bruce? You're not always right." There were many ways that the conflict could've gone down, especially with Superman's emotions, and it's an excellent finale. What if Batman's machinations to save Superman ended up unleashing Darkseid on the world again? And after all the talk to stop Brainiac before he arrives on Earth, Superman did walk into a trap orchestrated by Darkseid. It's a nice moment where the good guys won... but the victory is both optimistic and pyrrhic at the same time.
Oh, and the scripting in this episode? Absolutely amazing. From J'onn deadpanning that he's having fun while shooting the Brainiacs (I honestly don't know if he's supposed to be sarcastic or seriously having fun in that scene), to Superman's barely-restrained anger, to Hawkgirl's unexpected melancholy, to Darkseid's calm evil overlord ranting, to Orion just being FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT, to Diana trying to flirt with Bruce... Batman still gets all the lines. Not really being able to do anything in the whole New God conflict beyond rescue Superman and throw the odd explosive batarang or two, Batman is resigned to just delivering the most hilarious deadpan lines. "I'm going to need a longer grapple." "Apparently Darkseid and Highfather exchanged sons as some kind of peace treaty... yeah, sounds wacky to me, too." "Next time I let Superman take charge, hit me real hard!"
Overall, though, definitely an epic episode. Brainiac or Darkseid alone would've been epic, but showcasing a power struggle between the two, all the while Superman is struggling with his own inner self-control to battle against two of his most personal and hated villains is extremely thrilling to watch. The fact that the stakes are definitely upped in this episode by apparently killing off both of them is a nice little touch as well.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- Brainiac, Darkseid, Orion, Desaad, Kalibak and Steppenwolf all debuted in Superman: the Animated Series. Multiple references to Superman's clashes with Brainiac and Darkseid are also referenced. The gods of New Genesis sort of had a cameo in Superman: TAS, but none other than Orion has had any lines until now. And even now only Highfather and Lightray talk, the others just show up for a single scene at the end. I don't care enough about the Forever People to find out who they are, but Mr. Miracle, New-Genesis-born superhero, is among them. Explaining the New Gods' backstory will take up like a whole new article, so I'm not even going to try.
- Batman travels through the Boom Tube and expresses dislike about it, which is a call-back (call-forward?) to Old Bruce's opinions on the Boom Tube in Batman Beyond.
- Desaad being exploded by Darkseid's omega beams is a reference to how, in the comics, Darkseid often killed Desaad in a similar manner only to resurrect him later on. Except Desaad never, ever appears in the TAS-verse ever again, and Darkseid is dead at the end of the episode too, so, bye bye creepy majordomo.
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