Legion of Super-Heroes (film)

**Legion of Super-Heroes** is a 2013 superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name. The film was directed by James Gunn and stars Alden Ehrenreich, Brie Larson, Evan Peters, Pom Klementieff, James McAvoy, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Robbie Amell, and Renée Zellweger. It was released on July 3, 2013 and grossed $754.6 million against a $175 million budget. It ran 133 minutes and received critical acclaim, with praise for its visual style, art direction, screenplay, directing, score, and acting. *Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 2* was released on May 6, 2016, followed by *Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3* on May 3, 2019.

## Plot

In 2991, unseen figures place their infant son, with a blanket displaying his name "Rokk", in a futuristic machine. The father places a ring he is wearing on the machine, which then activates and Rokk disappears. The mother feels guilty, but his father insists they had to. In 1991, a newlywed couple find baby Rokk in San Francisco and take him to raise as their own. In 2013, Rokk, now twenty-two, is attending college, but he learns that he will not have enough credits to graduate for at least another year. In 3013, the universe is ruled by the United Planets, whose base is on Earth. The Green Lantern Corps is their policing unit, while Darkseid, who is on Apokolips, which exists outside of space and time, enforces the law. Trained sister-warriors Imra Ardeen and Lashina campaign to join Darkseid's Female Furies, an all-female warrior unit. United Planets President Shvaughn Erin is alerted of an intruder in the headquarters, who Imra and Lashina quickly catch. They meet Garth Ranzz, who claims that he and his people are starving on Winath, which was blazed over by the Blight, a powerful alien race, forcing the Winathians underground, where they are struggling to survive. Erin claims that she is doing everything in her power to stop the Blight, while Garth believes that Darkseid wants the Blight to continue wiping out civilizations.

Imra and Lashina leave on a transfer ship to take Garth to the prison on Oa. Brainiac 5, the United Planet's source of knowledge, goes with them. In their ship is a ring similar to the one that transported Rokk back in time. Imra tells him that the ring is simply a method of travelling faster, while Garth believes in the conspiracy theory that it can time travel. Lashina stops him from touching it, as only powerful beings can handle its power, but curiosity overcomes the naive Brainiac 5, who presses the ring, sending them back in time. In 2013, Rokk is on his way back home when he sees the future ship crash land in a field. Rokk meets the group, who discover where they are, and Garth celebrates being right. Imra insists they must return to the future, but the ship has been damaged in the fall. Rokk, despite being confused, informs them he is a mechanic and can fix the ship, but Lashina tells him that future technology will be foreign to him. Rokk believes he can figure it out and they decide to take the ship back to his house, where they meet his adoptive parents, John and Lillian Krinn. Rokk claims Imra, Garth, Lashina, and Brainiac are friends from college, which he gets away with, due to Brainiac being able to shapeshift into human form.

They begin repairing the ship, while in 3013, Erin and Green Lantern Rayner learn of the transfer ship disappearing. Rayner discovers particles left behind that show evidence of time travel. Erin reveals to Rayner that each ship carries a ring with the ability to travel between planets at ease, though they can also time travel, and were used in the 26th century by the "Legion". However, after a mishap with the Legion, the rings became only available to travel a thousand years into the past, while the Legion disbanded. A Blight spy is revealed to have overheard their conversation and takes one of the United Planets ships. In 2013, Lashina reveals to Rokk that Imra is the only surviving member of her race, which was massacred by Darkseid after attempting to defect from him. Darkseid took Imra in and raised her. The Blight begin appearing in San Francisco, which is seen by Tinya Wazzo, a mysterious girl who seems to be following Rokk and the others. However, when they attack her, she disappears.

Brainiac accidentally reveals that the United Planets have been corrupted by Darkseid, and Imra forces him to finish the story. He reveals that Darkseid has been manipulating events to better serve himself rather than the people. Before anyway can respond, Tinya begins appearing to them by teleporting all around them. Garth realizes she is from an alternate dimension that is out of phase from Earth, which is common in the future. Brainiac is able to stabalize Tinya, who warns them of the Blight's arrival. Lashina questions her and she reveals that she has the ability to phase out of realities, which includes travelling through time and warns them that the Blight will take over late into the 31st century even if they stop them in 2013. She has been waiting for them to come together so they can form the new Legion to take on the Blight. The Blight invades their neighborhood and the six begin fighting them off. In 3013, Erin informs Darkseid of their impending travel to 2013 to fare off the Blight. Darkseid instead prevents her from travelling there, as the Blight destroying Earth would help him more than it wouldn't. Rayner tries to convince Erin to betray Darkseid but she refuses, though he goes to 2013 with the Green Lanterns anyway. Rayner reveals what happened to Imra and Lashina, who both feel betrayed.

The Blight continue to overpower the Green Lanterns, though after the ship is fully repaired, they discover they can Tibta's ability to phase in and out of time and space and Imra's telepathy to send a frequency that will immediately kill all the Blight, though they will need the ring to activate the frequency. Brainiac, as the only one who can seemingly handle it, prepares to use the ring, but he is taken down by the Blight. Rokk uses the ring instead and manages to tame the power, before the Blight are taken down. Lashina, still loyal to Darkseid, takes a jump ship back to 3013, while Imra, Garth, and Brainiac prepare to return to 3013 to expose the United Planets with Rayner's help. Rokk, wondering about how he was able to use the ring, learns from Brainiac that he was born in 2991 and decides to go with them to investigate his heritage, as does Tinya, who labels them the Legion as they take off. In a mid-credits scene, Darkseid is informed of the Blight's failure to invade Earth and the United Planets collapsing. He decides to begin his plan early, which includes taking on the Justice League. In a post-credits scene, Rokk mistakes a conversation with Imra for flirting and attempts to kiss her, which ends with her threatening to kill him.

## Cast

* Alden Ehrenreich as Rokk Krinn
* Brie Larson as Imra Ardeen
* Evan Peters as Garth Ranzz
* James McAvoy as Brainiac 5
* Pom Klementieff as Tinya Wazzo
* Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lashina
* Robbie Amell as Kyle Rayner
* Renée Zellweger as Shvaughn Erin

## Reception

### **Box office**

**Legion of Super-Heroes** grossed $457.3 million (60.6%) in the United States and Canada and $297.4 million (39.4%) in other territories for a total of $754.6 million. Worldwide, it is the ninth highest-grossing 2013 film. It achieved a worldwide opening weekend of $156.7 million. *Deadline Hollywood* calculated the net profit of the film to be $298.9 million, making it the fourth most profitable release of 2013.

### **Critical reception**

*Legion of Super-Heroes* has received widespread critical acclaim, with Ehreinreich's performance receiving universal praise. Larson and Peters were also widely praised. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 95% based on reviews from 291 critics; the film's average rating was calculated as 8.62/10.