| Justice League vs. Teen Titans | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Sam Liu |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | Bryan Q. Miller |
| Produced by | James Tucker |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Christopher D. Lozinski |
| Music by | Frederik Wiedmann |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Warner Home Video |
Release dates |
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Running time | 79 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Justice League vs. Teen Titans is a 2016 American animatedsuperhero film directed bySam Liu from a screenplay byAlan Burnett andBryan Q. Miller. It is the 26th film of theDC Universe Animated Original Movies and the seventh film in theDC Animated Movie Universe. The film features the voices ofTaissa Farmiga,Jon Bernthal,Stuart Allan andJason O'Mara.
The film had its world premiere atWonderCon on March 26, 2016, and was released throughdigital download on March 29, followed by home media release on April 12 byWarner Home Video.
Years ago, the demonTrigon conceives his daughterRaven with the humanArella. When Arella discovered his demonic nature, she ran away and was taken in by the mystical inhabitants of Azarath. As a young girl, Raven becomes curious about her father. She attempted to use her powers to learn more about him. Trigon finds her and kills Arella along with the people of Azarath. Raven barely manages to seal Trigon inside a magical crystal in what was left of Azarath. Sometime later, she met and joined theTeen Titans.
In the present-day on Earth, Trigon sends a demonic corruptor to Earth, which briefly possessesWeather Wizard, following a battle between theJustice League andLegion of Doom. Ignoring his fatherBatman's instructions beforehand,Damian Wayne helps defeat the entity, but left the League with no background information from it.
As a consequence for his reckless actions,Nightwing takes Damian to join the Titans. He meetsStarfire, their leader;Jaime Reyes, a teenager infused with technology that turns into a beetle-like exoskeleton;Garfield Logan, a metahuman with the ability to shapeshift into any animal; and Raven. At first, Damian does not get along with them, believing he can be a better leader. When he almost dies in an altercation with Jaime, Raven uses her power to heal him. They inadvertently bond through this experience - Raven sees flashes of Damian's life and he sees Trigon within her.
Meanwhile, Batman andCyborg investigate the earlier attack.Superman is later possessed by one of the entities and brutally damagesAtomic Skull, grabbing the attention ofDiana and Batman. Before calming him down withkryptonite, Batman learns the entity was after the "girl", but Superman escapes before the kryptonite can disable him. Batman requests Cyborg to help him in tracking the girl in question. Elsewhere, the demonic Superman raises a gate somewhere in the desert.
Starfire takes the Titans to a carnival in order for them to try and get along. Unbeknownst to the Titans, Raven is called by Trigon's entities, who attack Raven. She fights them off with aid from the Titans. After the attack, Raven explains her backstory to the Titans. When they return to the Tower, the Justice League attempts to take Raven with them.Flash, Diana, and Cyborg are possessed by the entities; Batman avoids possession by knocking himself out with a nerve toxin designed to take downBane. After the League beats the Titans senseless, Raven agrees to go with them to save their lives, but as they teleport away, Jaime knocks Cyborg out and frees him from possession. Raven takes the rest to Superman and summons Trigon to Earth. Cyborg awakens and uses hisApokoliptian technology to teleport them to Superman. Damian stabs Superman with Kryptonite, releasing him from his possession, who then heads to release the entity from Flash and Diana.
The League stays behind on Earth to battle Trigon while Cyborg joins the Titans in a venture to Hell to save Raven. Robin confronts and defeats a demon in the form of his deceased grandfatherRa's al Ghul.[N 1] Raven crafts a spell to re-imprison her father in the crystal, which she affixes to her forehead. Robin then persuades a reluctant Raven to stay on Earth with the Titans. In amid-credits scene, a mysterious costumed girl[N 2] riding a flying chunk of rock is seen heading towards the Titans Tower.
Justice League vs. Teen Titans was announced byDC Comics, along withBatman: Bad Blood, in July 2015 duringSan Diego Comic-Con.[1] The voice cast includesJon Bernthal,Taissa Farmiga,Jake T. Austin, andBrandon Soo Hoo, and returning cast membersRosario Dawson,Jerry O'Connell,Jason O'Mara, andChristopher Gorham.[2]Frederik Wiedmann composed the film's score.[3]
The first official image from the film was released, as well as an image ofJon Bernthal recording voiceover for the film.[2] A sneak preview of the film was released as a bonus feature onBatman: Bad Blood.[4] The sneak preview of the film was later released online along with the film's official trailer.[5][6][7][8]
Justice League vs. Teen Titans had its world premiere at the Los AngelesWonderCon on March 26, 2016.[9] The film was released viadigital download on March 29, andstraight-to-DVD andBlu-ray on April 12.[10] A gift set of the film was released with an exclusive Robin figurine.[11] It was released straight-to-DVD on May 30 in the United Kingdom.[12]
An adaptation ofThe Judas Contract was planned as the third DC Universe Animated Original Movie, to be released afterSuperman: Doomsday (2007) andJustice League: The New Frontier (2008).[13][14] The project was announced in 2006 but later put on hold.[13][14] This film was to be based on "The Judas Contract" story from 1984 featured inTales of the Teen Titans #42–44 andTeen Titans Annual #3 byMarv Wolfman andGeorge Pérez.[15] Warner Bros. Animation's writer/producerBruce Timm confirmed in April 2010 that there were no current plans to revive the project,[16] but in July 2016, Warner Bros. revived the project asTeen Titans: The Judas Contract and was repurposed as a sequel toJustice League vs. Teen Titans.[17][18] Farmiga, Austin, Wahlgren, Soo Hoo, Allan and Maher reprised their roles, andChristina Ricci andMiguel Ferrer were announced to have joined the cast asTerra andDeathstroke respectively.[19] The film was released on April 4, 2017, and is the final film role of Ferrer, who died on January 19.
Thereview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 80%, with an average score of 6.6/10, based on 5 reviews.[20] Brian Lowry ofVariety gave the film a mixed review, calling it inferior to other entries of the franchise.[21] Eric Diaz ofNerdist awarded the film a rating of 3.5/5: "The movie is mostly entertaining with some pretty fun action beats. It captures the essence of the Titans, shown mostly as they were portrayed in the animated show, but with a slightly more grown-up feel".[22]
Justice League vs. Teen Titans has earned $4,585,929 from domestic home video sales.[23]
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