Superman: Man of Tomorrow is an American animated direct-to-video superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment. It is the first film set in the second incarnation of the DC Animated Movie Universe and the thirty-ninth film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and was released on Digital on August 23, 2020 and on Blu-ray, DVD and set to be released on 4K Ultra HD on September 8, 2020.
Premise:
Voice Cast:
| Voice actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Darren Criss | Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman |
| Alexandra Daddario | Lois Lane |
| Zachary Quinto | Lex Luthor |
| Ike Amadi | J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter |
| Ryan Hurst | Lobo |
| Brett Dalton | Rudy Jones / Parasite |
| Neil Flynn | Jonathan Kent |
| Bellamy Young | Martha Kent |
| Cristina Milizia | Maya, Petey and Kaylie |
| Eugene Byrd | Ron Troupe |
| April Stewart | Mrs. Ross |
| Piotr Michael | Perry White |
The Verdict:
Right off the bat, I have to say that I adore this new art style for these direct-to-video DC Comics animated films. At this point, I was growing sick of them rehashing the same animation style from Young Justice for roughly a dozen films at that point. In that regard, I found it refreshing to see a new art style being used here to kickstart this new animated continuity.
As for the narrative, they played things a little too safe for my taste and didn't change much from the traditional Superman origin story. That's fine for the most part, but on paper it comes off really boring at times.
Hear me out though. While I enjoyed the battles against Lobo and Martian Manhunter early on, I couldn't help but feel like everything in between was dragging along at a snail's pace. I wanted to get engaged with Lois Lane's budding career as a reporter while Clark Kent was coming up as the mere intern at the Daily Planet, but the film would have this stuff playing out as it normally should. Then things would be going on and on until I ultimately found myself not even caring for the majority of the plot until the third and final act.
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| Man of Tomorrow's Lois Lane. |
It's a darn shame too as Ma and Pa Kent are very likable characters during Clark's tenure at home while he comes to grips of his Kryptonian origins. I wanted to like Lois Lane too, but she seemed to lose her hardened edge that she had when she debuts in the film to confront and expose Lex Luthor. She went from bad ass to borderline fangirling over Superman at one point. I get that she saw the guy naked after his battle with Lobo, but c'mon girl, get a grip. Call me biased to Dana Delany's Lois Lane from Superman: The Animated Series, but that Lois Lane, along with the one in the Justice League: WAR continuity (voiced by Rebecca Romijn), are tough acts to follow. Maybe she'll find her "voice" - even though I didn't have a problem with Alexandra Daddario's portrayal like most early reviews and reactions I saw online after the film streamed for free during DC Fandom - in time as this was her first canonical appearance in this new continuity. Lois Lane, much like Superman/Clark Kent, are younger and not as seasoned as their established counterparts. They still have time to grow into their iconic roles and personality traits that we know and love. I know that some people will find it being a knock against this film for portraying a less experienced Superman than we are used to, but after seeing the character broken down physically and mentally from the horrors done to him and the rest of the Justice League in Apokalips War, we deserved a more lighthearted narrative for the Man of Steel to remind us why we root for this character. Superman/Clark Kent, at his core, is just a good ol' Southern boy who wants to do good by his Ma and Pa. He wants to return the kindness and compassion that his parents instilled into him to those around the world, especially after coming to terms that he has the power to do so unlike anyone else.
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| If that was supposed to be Mercy Graves, then WTF is wrong with her goddamn face? |
Zachary Quinto's Lex Luthor didn't get to shine until the film's last act, where Superman is forced to ask him for help in dealing with the threat of Parasite after he absorbed most of his powers. Luthor reveals that he has enlisted Lobo as an informant of sorts, who provides the information that Kryptonians like Kal-El are vulnerable to kryptonite. Naturally, Luthor uses this information to weaponize the kryptonite ring that Lobo used on Superman in their first encounter into a powerful energy rifle. Luthor's few scenes in this film were good, but much like a lot of characters in this film, left a lot to be desired. There was only a split second where I doubted that maybe Luthor would have a change of heart in this continuity and actually be Superman's ally, but that went out of the window the second that Lobo revealed what Superman's weakness was - firmly establishing him as the rat that Lois Lane exposed him as in the early moments of the film. I mean, damn, this film didn't give us any lee way to think otherwise about Lex Luthor. Even Rise of the Supermen and Justice League: Apokalips War gave Lex Luthor some semblance of humanity and had him opt to do the greater good for the sake of saving the planet rather than his own skin.
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| I could almost literally hear Superman shouting, "BIIIIIRRRRDDDDMANNN!!" when he would fly up to soak up the rays from the sun. |
I couldn't help but laugh that this film acted like Superman instantly heals himself by standing in front of the sun's rays as if he's Birdman from the old Hanna-Barbara cartoons. Where the fuck did that come from? If that's a new age/modern take on his powers then that's news to me. I am familiar with the effect that solar radiation has onto his body and his unique Kryptonian cells and biology, but I didn't think the effect on his body was instantaneous like shown in this film.
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| Parasite sporting a design that I definitely wasn't used to seeing. |
I'm sure someone will chime in but was Parasite always able to absorb energy as well in the comics and other mediums? That threw me for a goddamn loop for the first portion of their battle. I ended up reading up on the villain after this viewing and found out that he's always had that ability in the comics, just that it wasn't never exploited in Superman: The Animated Series or the rest of the DC Animated Universe to my knowledge. He didn't use that ability or the ability to transform into a more monstrous state after absorbing a wealth of life-energy. I know the biggest critique against the Justice League: WAR era of DC Animated films was the extreme violence, but we can't shy away without mentioning how gruesome Parasite's victims looked after he was done feeding off of their life-energy. Not a single one of his victims survived. Instead, they were rendered as lifeless husks. That was on the same vein of nightmare fuel as The Joker's toxin/laughing gas victims in Batman: The Animated Series. (Laughs) I'm just sayin'.
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| I doubt this is the first nor last time that we will see Lobo in this continuity. |
I was surprised at the inclusion of Martian Manhunter and Lobo in this film, especially to say that this is the first film in this new movie universe. They aren't wasting any time whatsoever at establishing that everything is all connected and that's a GOOD thing. There's no reason to keep all of these heroes segregated to their own corners of the DC Universe when they are all moving pieces in it that can easily all operate at the same time. In that regard, I thought it was great idea to establish that Batman was already active and established while Superman was in the infancy of his heroism and exposing himself to humanity - in more ways than one. Lobo and Martian Manhunter's inclusion added to something I thought that the Supergirl TV series did well and portrayed the struggle of being an alien hiding on Earth well. Martian Manhunter dealt with the same thing Kal-El did but only saw the worst of humanity. He was fortunate to say hidden with his shape-shifting powers since he wasn't born with a similar appearance to humans like Kal-El. Lobo's arrival made humans perceive aliens as invaders seeking out nothing more to harm mankind, when there's good-natured aliens like Superman who wish to protect mankind against any and all threats to their well-being.
That contrasting opinion/public reception played into the film's climax, where Superman came face-to-face with the film's primary antagonist, Parasite - who was transformed into a Godzilla-sized monstrosity thanks to how much life-energy and raw energy as a whole that he has siphoned off his victims and throughout Metropolis. Despite all of the powers at Superman's disposal, brute strength couldn't defeat this foe. Instead, Superman allowed this creature to absorb his powers once more and appealed to his humanity, the man that he once was to see the error in his ways. Parasite absorbed Superman's sense of justice and righteousness along with the obligation he felt to do good for those around him. That was more than enough to force Parasite to sacrifice himself to save everyone from being wiped out from the potential overloading reactor by absorbing the raw energy into himself. The energy ended up being too much and reduced his body to dust to be scattered to the wind. I went into this thinking that Superman was going to have this back and forth slobber knocker with this foe after coming up with a means to prevent Parasite from stealing his powers, but instead, I found myself a little underwhelmed that this was a problem that wasn't solved by a Superman, but merely one resolved by a good man. I guess that's the lesson/moral of the story that this film is trying to teach its viewers. You don't need to be a Superman, you merely need to use the tools at your disposal to be a good man. That can save just as many lives, if not more.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
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| Everyone needs a helping hand every now and then. |
For those anxious to see how this "reboot" of the DC Animated Movie universe is going to begin, it's a no-brainer to check this out. For everyone else, I honestly can't suggest going out of your way to check this out, especially when it was available FREE legally as part of DC Fandom last weekend. This isn't a very exciting movie, especially after the high stakes and action-heavy narrative of Apokalips War that preceded it, but to be honest, that's to be expected for anything that would follow-up that film to start this animated movie universe over anew. This film does plant the seeds for things to come as Batman already exists in this continuity and has been active for quite some time. Then Lobo left Superman and Martian Manhunter both with the information that they aren't the last of their kind. That was merely something he stated to sweeten his bounties on their alien races, so that leaves the door open for more Kryptonians (Supergirl, General Zod, etc.) and more Martians (Miss Martian?) to join this continuity down the road. Superman finds himself left with a twisted ally in the form of Lobo with his own brand of humor.
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