Justice League: Warworld is a 2023 American animated superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name. Produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, it is the seventh film in the Tomorrowverse. The film is written by Jeremy Adams, Ernie Altbacker, and Josie Campbell and directed by Jeff Wamester and stars Stana Katic, Darren Criss and Jensen Ackles. In the film, the Justice League unites together to liberate the gladiator world of Warworld. A sequel, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, is set for release in 2024.

The film was released on home media and digital on July 25, 2023.

Plot
In the Wild West town of Last Stand, a female gunslinger wielding indestructible bracelets and a golden lasso enters a standoff between the townsfolk, led by Bat Lash, and an army of bandits led by Jonah Hex. Hex explains that the town's residents had barricaded themselves in the town bank after refusing to pay "interest". He asks for her help to bring order to the town, and she agrees to do so, becoming known as an "Angel" after saving Bat Lash from a wagon loaded with dynamite. Subsequently, she is recruited to distract Jonah Hex so that the townsfolk can go out and retrieve supplies. In doing so, she learns that Hex had hijacked a train to transport explosives, which she stops, killing Hex's men in the process. However, Hex survives and kills Bat Lash. In a fit of rage, the Angel nearly beats him to death. She stops and leaves the town after seeing Hex's bloodied face and the townsfolk watching.

In a world called Skartaris, the Warlord Travis Morgan takes a Mercenary, sent by his archenemy the wizard Deimos to kill him, as a slave to work in the mines, but the Mercenary offers to show Warlord and his army where Deimos's castle is in exchange for freedom and gold. While traveling, the army is attacked by several monsters, but they manage to fend them off. Additionally, the Mercenary demonstrates strange abilities and knowledge, which he does not know the source of. In the castle, the Mercenary finds a throne room full of treasure with a slave woman shackled to the throne. Deimos attempts to kill the Mercenary, but the Warlord rescues him. The two of them and the slave woman defeat Deimos. The Slave Woman finds a golden lasso during the fight and she and the Mercenary start remembering pieces of themselves and realize they have to find their way home. The two leave via a portal, with the Warlord refusing to come with them, stating that Skartaris is his home.

In a 1950s setting in the town of Grover's Mill, federal agents Clark Kent and King Faraday and local police investigate a crashed UFO with an alien inside. They go to a diner to meet with Officer Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince and the other witnesses. When Wayne and Kent meet, they feel as if they know each other, but they are unable to remember. It is revealed that several people in the diner are aliens, with the trio, Officer Wayne, Ms. Prince and Agent Kent, fighting them off and demonstrating advanced combat abilities that they were previously unaware of. In the spaceship, they find a green alien. They are then confronted by Faraday who accuses Prince and Wayne of being aliens and orders Kent to execute them. He refuses, so Faraday tries to shoot him, but the bullet bounces off him, and he subdues Faraday. The entire room transforms, and they realize that the world was entirely an illusion except for Faraday and them. They realize the green alien is a prisoner as well and decide to free him.

The Martian explains that he is J'onn J'ozz, also known as Martian Manhunter, and they are the superheroes Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. The four had previously been taken captive, with his psychic abilities being harnessed to enslave them and countless others on the planet Warworld. However, he had been simultaneously reaching out to them for help and attempting to help them recall their memories. Lobo appears, zaps them unconscious, and brings Martian Manhunter to his boss Mongul who has been searching for a powerful weapon created by the alien Largas as well as the key needed to activate it.

Seeking to take over Warworld for himself, Lobo betrays Mongul by helping Martian Manhunter escape. Lobo helps Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman fight Mongul and the White Martians. It is then revealed that Largas had hidden the two halves of the key between the two Martian species. Possessing both halves from having previously merged with a White Martian under his mind control, Martian Manhunter fuses with a White Martian and sacrifices his life to activate the self-destruct sequence to kill everyone on Warworld so no one can use the planetary weapon.

A mysterious woman rescues Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman just in time and teleports them back to the Watchtower seconds before it exploded. She states that Warworld's destruction is nothing compared to the fore-coming Crisis, which will annihilate the universe.

Voice cast

Production

Development
The film was announced by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, after the premiere of Green Lantern: Beware My Power.

By April 2023, the voice cast for the film was revealed. In May, the film was given an R-rating. The film takes inspiration from Action Comics titles Warworld Rising (2022), The Arena (2022), and Warworld Revolution (2022).

Writing
The film explores three different film genres, western, fantasy, and sci-fi from the 50s. This was done at the suggestion of executive producer Butch Lukic, who wanted to explore different genres after working for years on superhero animation, an idea director Jeff Wamester liked. The overrall story model was inspired by King Kong and how it had characters on multiple storylines before converging on the climax. For the Western sequences, Lukic drew inspiration from 60s and 70s Spaghetti Western films, particularly High Plains Drifter, while the fantasy sequences were inspired by films such as Conan the Barbarian.

Release          
The film was released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on July 25, 2023. The film was also screened at San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, four days ahead of its release despite also being leaked online.

Reception
Hayden Mears of IGN rated the film six out of 10, noting it feels like an event film, but lacks the emotional payoffs for a satisfying experience. Sam Stone of Comic Book Resources criticized the film's "anthology" type story, finding the main plot line following Batman and Warlord more interesting than Superman's and Wonder Woman's side stories.

Notes

References

External links 
 

Animated Justice League films
Tomorrowverse