Movie Review: Reign of the Supermen

DC Animated Original Movies: Reign of the Supermen [2019]

A bit of a shorter review this time, because I don't really have a whole ton to say.

For a sequel to the Death of Superman, which was a pretty well-done update on a classic comic book, Reign of the Supermen ends up being kind of a weird adaptation in all but name, functioning more as a next installment the New-52-verse movie series, which is... pretty annoying.

I did like the first half of the movie a lot, though, where we quickly go through the four different Supermen and how their personalities are. Steel is a good man who's genuinely inspired by Superman's heroic deeds, and is an actual hero. Superboy thinks he's a hero, but he's also a jackass teenager who is also working for Lex Luthor. Cyborg Superman, Hank Henshaw, straight-up claims that he's Superman, but the movie also kind of makes it clear that he's the most suspicious of the four. Eradicator's kind of a robot.

The movie also doesn't try to make it a real secret that the real Superman is alive and comatose in the Fortress of Solitude, being watched over Eradicator like a hawk, and it's... I guess it's to make Superman's return at the end of the movie a lot less of a deus ex machina, but I genuinely feel like it does sap a whole lot of tension from the Four Supermen storyline, because this just feels like an exercise in waiting for the real Superman to stand up.

I do like the little dynamic between Superboy, Lois Lane and Luthor, though, which is easily the highlight of the movie. Superboy realizing that he's just one in a series of Luthor's attempts to one-up Superman, Luthor's messiah complex, and Lois Lane being able to push both their buttons... it's all quite well-done, really.

Not as well-done is the Henshaw invasion plot, where he basically gives random people the ability to basically become Supermen themselves with robot suits, except these robot suits are actually part of Henshaw's deal with an invading alien warlord, Darkseid, who wants vengeance. I guess he's standing in for Mongul in the comics? Darkseid also claims to be responsible for chucking Doomsday to Earth, which is... I'm actually not averse to this plot compression. It's neat, if only the rest of the movie isn't as messy. During the mid-movie fight, the Justice League is apparently killed in action (but they're just teleported to a random monster dimension), leaving the Four Supermen the only hope of the world.

And the final arc of the movie is honestly just messy as everyone just struggles to get screentime. I'm not a huge fan, really, especially after we've seen Superboy and Steel sort of develop, only for them to just be cast aside in favour of the real Superman. Being touted as the Bigger Bad, Darkseid is also unceremoniously removed from the equation when Henshaw decides to cut him out of the loop, and the way this is handled is honestly kind of bizarre.

Lois Lane, I feel, ends up being the undisputed star of this movie, the one who keeps trying to keep Superman's torch alive even throughout the 'dark times' that the world in the movie goes through, and the flashbacks to that cheesy romantic note that she and Clark exchanged in Death of Superman is genuinely well-done. Lois even has a major role in helping the real Superman defeat Henshaw, which is neat.

Ultimately, though, I feel like the movie itself is confused about the tone it's having. There's too many characters and too many plotlines -- the 'who's the new Superman?' plot, Superboy's backstory, Henshaw and Darkseid's allegiance, Eradicator resurrecting Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor... and a lot of the conclusions to these just get handwaved or kind of awkwardly side-stepped. I wouldn't call the movie terrible, but after the really spectacular Death of Superman, I wouldn't lie -- this movie's kind of a disappointment. At least the action scenes are pretty dang cool, though. 

Roll Call: 

• Heroes: Superboy, Steel, The Eradicator, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Cyborg, Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman
• Villains: G. Gordon Godfrey, Snakey Doyle, Cyborg Superman, Lex Luthor, Dabney Donovan, Mercy Graves, Metallo, Parademons, Darkseid, The Cyborg Corps
• Others: Cat Grant, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Chloe Sullivan, Ron Troupe, Steve Lombard, Lois Lane, Martha Kent, Jonathan Kent, Bibbo Bibbowski, Kelex, President Joan Dale