It’s finally 2023, and along with four live-action upcoming DC movies on the slate, this year will also bring more direct-to-video animated features from this corner of the superhero media market. The first up is Legion of Super-Heroes, the latest entry in the Tomorrowverse continuity, following Superman: Man of Tomorrow, Justice Society: World War II, Batman: The Long Halloween and last year’s Green Lantern: Beware My Power, which starred Aldis Hodge as John Stewart. The Winchesters’ Meg Donnelly stars as Supergirl in Legion of Super-Heroes, and CinemaBlend has the first exclusive from the movie, which sees the Girl of Steel going up against Solomon Grundy.
This zombie supervillain, known in his former life as Cyrus Gold, has caused trouble in DC Comics lore for nearly 80 years, and it looks like he’ll be the opening threat that Supergirl has to deal with in Legion of Super-Heroes. However, along with his natural super strength, this version of Solomon Grundy is also packing some serious firepower, though given his level of intelligence, we can reasonably assume either someone gave him that massive energy gun or he stole it. Either way, Grundy is itching to pick a fight with Superman and is causing major property damage to draw out the Man of Steel.
Much to his dismay, Supergirl instead arrives at the scene first, and the fact that she introduces herself sets up that Meg Donnelly’s Kara Zor-El has only gotten started with crimefighting. Unfortunately, Kara spends a little too much time talking, as Grundy takes the opportunity to chuck a car at her and ultimately hit her with a blast from his gun. Kara bounces back though, avoiding another blast and knocking the hulking zombie off his feet with a projectile fire hydrant.
If you’ve seen the Legion of Super-Heroes trailer, you know that Superman eventually arrive to help his cousin out with Solomon Grundy, which sets up the main crux of this story: Supergirl needs training, and she’ll get it when she travels to the 31st century to attend Legion Academy. But Kara will get more than she bargained for in the future, because along with meeting Harry Shum Jr.’s Brainiac 5, a direct descendant of one of Superman’s greatest enemies, she and her new allies will also have to deal with the Dark Circle, a mysterious group seeking a powerful weapon held contained inside the Legion’s vault. This marks the Legion of Super-Heroes’ first animated movie appearance since 2019’s Justice League vs. The Fatal Five, and the superhero team has also been prominently featured in recent years through The CW’s Supergirl series and Young Justice, the latter of which appears to be done after four seasons.
In addition to Darren Criss reprising Superman, Legion of Super-Heroes will see the return of Jensen Ackles as Batman and Matt Bomer as The Flash. This feature’s voice cast also includes Cynthia Hamidi as Dawnstar, Gideon Adlon as Phantom Girl, Ely Henry as Bouncing Boy, Robbie Daymond as Timber Wolf & Brainiac 4, Yuri Lowenthal as Mon-El, Eric Lopez as Cosmic Boy & Chemical King, Darin De Paul as Brainiac & Solomon Grundy, Ben Diskin as Arms Fall Off Boy & Brainiac 2, Victoria Grace as Shadow Lass, Jennifer Hale as Alura, Daisy Lightfoot as Triplicate Girl, and Zeno Robinson as Invisible Kid & Brainiac 3. Justice Society: World War II’s Jeff Wamester directed off a script written by She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’s Josie Campbell.
Legion of Super-Heroes comes out Tuesday, February 7 on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and Digital. If you’d like to watch past animated DC movies, including the ones from the DC Animated Movie Universe timeline, make sure you’re subscribed to HBO Max.
