What’s DC Up To?0

I’m going to keep it brief this week with a short discussion of what DC comics are doing in the movie world. As everybody knows Marvel comics have been diving deep into the world of movies lately. With the Iron Man movies and The Incredible Hulk plus the upcoming Thor and Captain America which will all lead to the culmination of all the heroes together in The Avengers. Add to that the Spiderman and X-men reboots, it definitely looks like Marvel is going to be well represented over the next few years. So what is DC doing? Um, The Green Lantern should be good.

Okay it’s not that grim but still not a lot. There is going to be another Batman following on from The Dark Knight (best comic movie ever) and we’re bound to see a new Superman somewhere down the line. But for the moment there isn’t much going on. At least nowhere near Marvel’s output, as they spread open their legs to Hollywood.

While they may not be doing lots of big stuff out in the open, over the last few years DC has been doing some quality stuff on the down low. I’m mainly referring to the ongoing release of straight to DVD animated movies. I know what you are thinking “Straight to DVD, eeww” but believe me when I say they are quality. In fact I can comfortably say that the ratio of good to bad movies is far better for these animated DVD releases then the Marvel’s super expensive summer blockbuster films.  They are very well animated and they always get great voice talent. There are about eight titles all up and you’ll be happy to know they’re not all about Batman and Superman (just most of them). Both the Green Lantern and Wonder Woman each have really good origin movies. Then there’s to be about four more coming out in the next eighteen months, which should be great.

The latest in these movies is Batman: Under the Red Hood, which was released in Australian stores this week. So far it’s probably the best of these movies showing just how dark and adult a “cartoon” can be. Sure it’s not quite The Dark Knight but it shows just how rich the Batman (DC) universe is. It’s definitely worth picking up if you’re any kind of comic hero fan.

I recently went back and watched Superman: Doomsday, which is considered the first of this new animated movie series released in 2007. In the story Superman, DC’s poster boy and the saviour of earth is BEATEN TO DEATH. That’s right kiddies, the story of how Superman dies. The majority of the story is about how the world, along with his friends and enemies mourns Superman’s passing. There is some great action but the surprising thing is how much heart it has. My point is that these maybe animated but they are serious films and well made ones at that.

Before I go I just wanted to show you this AWESOME cinematic for the new DC Universe Online game that is coming out soon. I haven’t actually seen much of the game but this cinematic makes me think that it would be possible to make a Justice League theatrical movie. Screw live action, do it high quality CG like this. It would blow people away. Give it to PIXAR if you need to. So turn it up to HD, turn down the lights and enjoy the Justice League in action in, DC Online.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJYLylxc2iE]