Event storylines in comics are not unusual. It’s a way to take on something that doesn’t quite fit in the everyday narratives, while also providing a means of both bringing characters together and altering their trajectory. In the world of DC Comics, one of the biggest is the 1985-1986 storyline, Crisis on Infinite Earths, created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciled by George Pérez, which brought together versions of heroes from across the various multiverses in an attempt to save as many of their worlds as possible. In January 2024, Warner Bros. Animation kicked off their own version of Crisis with Part One, a story that not only brings together heroes from all the edges of WB Animation history, but ties together the prior seven films, dubbed a part of the TomorrowVerse (after 2020’s Superman: Man of Tomorrow), revealing that these films have secretly been building up to this very story. Now, with Part Two available on home video, even more ties are revealed as the danger grows ever more perilous.
If you missed Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part I, you can get the full spoiler-free rundown here.
Following Barry Allen/The Flash’s sacrifice to help power the multiversal towers that protect each world from the oncoming wave of anti-matter sweeping the multiverse, the newly-formed unit of heroes and villains specially equipped to deal with such matters continue to monitor and respond to each new wave coming from unknown origins. That more waves are coming starts to disquiet the more scientific-minded members, but there’s little time to investigate this anomaly as shadow creatures suddenly begin a simultaneous assault on each tower in an attempt to bring them down and reduce the multiverse to nothing.
Ahead of the release for Part Two, the trailer and clip released leaned on the Bat-Family, specifically teasing the return of Will Friedle’s Terry McGinnis (Batman Beyond). The truth is, folks, that the Bat-Family is a much smaller portion of the overall film than suggested. Instead, much like Part One focused on Barry Allen and demonstrated how he was the thread tying all the prior films together, Part Two shifts to offer greater perspective on characters Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Meg Donnelly), Monitor (Jonathan Adams), and Charles Halstead/Psycho Pirate (Geoffrey Arend). In doing so, the audience is clued in to even more ties than ever before, that things which may have felt skipped over or ignored in films like Legions of Super-Heroes (2023) were intentionally left blank in order to be explored here, their significance far more meaningful in learning it now than if it had been included within the chronological release period. This allows for some really interesting surprises and character arcs to be set up and/or explored, giving weight to the second act turn narrative-versed audiences know is coming.
The downside to this is two-fold. The first is that the momentum created at the end of Part One isn’t fully carried into the start of Two. The stage is certainly set for Batman (Jensen Ackles) and Wonder Woman (Stana Katic) to play significant roles in the narrative, with Batman specifically used to remind what the towers are used for and why protecting them matters, but then the long periods spent filling in the narrative gaps of Super-Heroes and Justice Society: World War II (2021) require stalling the momentum in order to gear it all back up again. The information learned is interesting and exciting, but only once the connective tissue between what we’re learning and what we’ve seen comes into focus. Otherwise, one begins to wonder why exactly we’re given the Bat-Family to enjoy if we’re not going to spend as much time with them. (Easter eggs are fun, to be sure, but they should also have purpose.) Perhaps Part Three will clarify the need to introduce them here, making the use of them far more valid than within the narrative need to have someone grate against this version of Batman who embraces a solitary existence, supported by an Allan memory in Part One wherein he and Bruce Wayne discuss Dick Grayson and whether Bruce should put him in an orphanage. The second is that there’s so much world-building to take in that one tends to forget the immediate need to understand the anti-matter waves. The question is raised by Mr. Terrific (Ato Essandoh), but otherwise ignored with the arrival of the shadow creatures, the harbinger of the realization left hanging for another adventure. For those who know where this story is going, this isn’t a problem, especially as revelations in returning-screenwriter James Krieg’s (Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One) adaptation are teased a bit before this tale concludes, but for those who don’t know the original story, the strange shifting in priorities away from the waves rather than pursuing a tandem solution is odd. Add in a side-story that, itself, really only makes sense if you’ve seen the Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth! short included with Justice Society, and you have yourself a situation where audience engagement wanes far more than expected in the follow-up to such a strong opening.
In terms of bonus materials, there’s about 20 minutes’ worth of materials spread between two featurettes and one sneak for Part Three, release date still unknown. The first featurette, “Voices in Crisis,” focuses primarily on Donnelly (Legion of Super-Heroes), Aldis Hodge (Green Lantern: Beware My Power), and Adams (Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One), with crosscut footage of them in the booth and in the finished film on display. We learn a little bit about their approaches to their respective characters — Adams trying to differentiate Monitor from his other work in DC and Marvel animated productions, Donnelly working to ensure her NY accent doesn’t slip in, and Hodge making his Green Lantern oath as sincere as possible — as well as a few slip-ups, too. Running just over eight minutes, “Voices in Crisis” enables the audience to drill into three of the significant characters of Part Two without spoiling too much of the fun. Considering the significance of Psycho Pirate to this film, it’s odd that Arend (Justice Society: World War II) isn’t included here. For the second featurette, “The Bat-Family of the Multiverse,” members of DC Comics and WB Animation speak on the choice to include character likes Damien Wayne, Terry McGinnis, and Bat-Wing — members of the modern Bat-Family — alongside original Crisis characters Huntress, Dick Grayson, and Barbara Gordon, as well as address which versions of these heroes they selected and why. Given that this is an adaptation, it makes sense to add in a little something for audience members who grew up on the Bruce Timm-touched animated stories (Batman Beyond; Batman: The Animated Series; Superman: The Animated Series; Justice League Unlimited) while seeking to maintain the integrity of the source material. Learning from the production side of things offers a differing viewpoint than hearing from the cast, enabling this segment to be more informative than entertaining (which is by no means a slight). Unlike Part One which promised a peek at Part Two and didn’t deliver, there is, in fact, a brief out-of-context scene from Part Three included on both the physical and digital editions. It won’t be spoiled here, but it’s worth noting that no release date for Three is mentioned anywhere with this release. We know it’s coming in 2024, and with Part One released in January and Part Two released in April, a little prognostication suggests July as a release date, providing plenty of time for a potential three-film collection to release in time for the end of the year. The Long Halloween eventually got one for its two films, so why not do it again here.
Without getting into spoiler territory, Part Two is exciting for what it promises to come given where the film leaves off, not just in terms of stakes, but in the characters that may now take center stage, including a fan favorite who’s made the leap from live action to animation so many times that he practically *is* the character. Does this film excite as much as the first? Not particularly, but the second film in a planned trilogy often bears the weight of continuing to educate audiences and set up materials before the massive conclusion, and Part Three is bound to have one, considering the scope of the original tale. If nothing else, Part Two’s coloring of other TomorrowVerse stories demonstrates just how far out and thoughtful the creative team is regarding this project — something truly marvelous and wonderful to behold.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two Special Features:
- Voices in Crisis (8:19)
- The Bat-Family of the Multiverse (8:25)
- Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three Sneak Peek (1:19)
Available on limited edition 4K UHD steelbook, standard 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and digital April 23rd, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Warner Bros. Pictures Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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