Superman vs. The Elite

Superman vs. The Elite is an animated superhero film based on the comic book story "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?" in Action Comics #775 (March 2001). Adapted by Joe Kelly who also wrote the comic book story and directed by Michael Chang. The film featured the return of George Newbern as Superman and David Kaufman as Jimmy Olsen reprising their roles from the DC animated universe.[1] Released on June 12, 2012,[2] it is the 14th film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

Superman vs. The Elite
Blu-ray cover
Directed byMichael Chang
Produced bySam Register
Bruce Timm
Alan Burnett
Written byJoe Kelly
Based onSuperman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
StarringGeorge Newbern
Pauley Perrette
Robin Atkin Downes
Catero Colbert
Melissa Disney
Andrew Kishino
Music byRobert J. Kral
Edited byChristopher D. Lozinski
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Home Video
Release date
  • June 12, 2012 (2012-06-12)
Running time
76 Minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Lois and Clark witness the deaths of numerous citizens in the streets at the hands of the Atomic Skull who, through his actions, hoped to lure Superman into a confrontation. After a brief but violent struggle, however, Superman defeats Atomic Skull by throwing him into a lake, "extinguishing" him. Superman subsequently delivers a speech at the United Nations which emphasises both the folly of lawless violence, and the greater good that is found within everyone. Superman's speech is interrupted, however, by the leaders of Bialyia and Pokolistan, who, blaming each other for the violation of a peace treaty, declare war on each other, forcing Superman to intervene. Arriving in Bialya, Superman witnesses the deployment of a Pokolistani bio-weapon which attacks and destroys most of the Bialyan military forces. As Superman attempts to remove the Bialyan soldiers from danger, the Elite arrive and aid Superman in destroying the bio-weapon.

The Elite consist of;

  • Manchester Black - A British telepath and telekinetic of immense mental power and acts as the Elite's leader.
  • Coldcast - A man who can emit tremendous amounts of energy
  • Menagerie - A woman who is symbiotically bonded with a number of demonic-looking beasts covering her body called symbeasts.
  • Hat - A magician whose magical abilities are centered upon his fedora.

Superman returns to Metropolis to report the news and further investigate the Elite. Superman and Lois fly to England to find out if they, and the world, can trust the Elite. It is revealed through Manchester Black that he gained his powers near puberty and used it for the first time to save his sister Vera from being hit by a train. The Elite and Superman arrive on the scene to save the civilians on a subway train which was trapped underwater due to a terrorist attack. After Superman and Manchester save the passengers, the terrorists that bombed the train are nearly killed by Manchester's attempt at interrogation. Superman begins to be concerned about the motives of his new-found friends.

Back in Metropolis, Lois informs Clark that there is no birth record or death certificate of Manchester's sister Vera. This makes Clark further question the Elite's origin and their motives. Manchester subsequently broadcasts a message to the planet, informing the world that the Elite intend to deal with villains lethally. After the broadcast, Superman travels to Bialya, where he is inadvertently hit by a Coldcast-generated neutrino pulse - an "EMP for organics" - that greatly weakens him and leaves him vulnerable to closing Pokolistani forces. On the verge of unconsciousness, Superman is saved by the timely intervention of the Elite, who ruthlessly attack the Pokololistanis and teleport Superman to their base of operations - a sentient macro-organism named Bunny. However, Superman's attempt to convince the Elite that killing is unnecessary falls upon deaf ears, and he is unceremoniously teleported back to Earth.

An overcharged Atomic Skull breaks out of prison, seeking revenge on Superman. Although he is challenged by The Elite, they have little success. Superman arrives, and begins to coordinate an attack with the Elite, hoping to drain the excess power away from Atomic Skull. However, after Atomic Skull's power is successfully drained by Coldcast, he is executed by Manchester at the behest of a young boy whose father was one of Atomic Skull's victims. Already aghast, Superman's outrage manifests physically when the Elite inform Superman that, in the interests of peace, they have also killed both the Pokolistani and Bialyan leaders: Superman punches Manchester in the face. The Elite, interpreting Superman's reaction as a declaration of war against the world's "favourite heroes", warn Superman that he will be their next target.

The next day, Superman waits in the middle of Metropolis and informs the Elite that he is willing to fight them, but away from the civilian populace. Bunny teleports both parties to the Moon, and begins to broadcast the fight to the watching world. While Superman is able to withstand and counter the attacks of Coldcast, Menagerie and Hat, he is brought to his knees by Manchester's telekinetic attack, which induces a seizure in Superman. Coldcast then unleashes a massive blast of electromagnetic energy on Superman, and to those watching the battle on Earth, it appears that Superman has been obliterated virtually without a trace. Moments later, the disconcerted voice of Superman begins to taunt the Elite, stating that he has finally been convinced that he needs to start killing villains - beginning with the Elite. Reappearing in a blur of movement, Superman begins to take out the Elite one by one; first he injects Menagerie with a poison that causes her sym-beasts to abandon her and leaves her apparently dead; The Hat, attempting to exploit Superman's known weakness to magic, is suffocated by a super-speed generated whirlwind and sucked into the funnel.

Against Coldcast's wishes, Manchester teleports them to Metropolis, hoping to use the innocent civilians as cover. Manchester gives the order to combine their powers to destroy Metropolis when Superman appears, though a speeding Superman knocks Coldcast into orbit. Reappearing before an increasingly desperate Manchester, Superman is once again attacked, but Manchester's assault fails to harm the Man of Steel, and he is subsequently lobotomized by Superman's heat vision and stripped of his powers. Believing his death to be seconds away, Manchester tells Superman that the world knows he is no better than they are and thus unable to be trusted. However, Superman reveals that Coldcast, Hat, and Menagerie had been transported to the Fortress of Solitude to be stripped of their power and sent to prison. Furthermore, in order to create the illusion that he had killed indiscriminately, his Super-Robots had been deployed to protect the civilians present.

In the end, the people of Earth realise that violence and killing were incompatible with the tenets of justice, and ultimately accept that Superman's methods are in the best interests for all of mankind.

Voice cast

Production

The film was first announced at Comic Con 2011, during the screening of Batman: Year One, as one of the films from the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line for 2012, by producer Bruce Timm.[4] Joe Kelly, writer of Action Comics #775, "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?," adapted his own work into the film. He was quoted as saying, "The story tackles themes that go way beyond a typical superhero story...politics, the price of power and America's place as a force in the world are all viewed through the lens of the DC Universe. Even if fans aren't paying close attention to these issues, they're all over the media. You can't escape them. So with the state of affairs being what it is, I can't think of a better time to see Superman confront these themes...I'm a big fan of taking real world issues and working them out through our "superhero" stories—but this one goes beyond strict allegory. Like the original comic story, the film is thought provoking without being preachy and really delivers a punch." He also said that, in terms of expanding the comic book issue into an animated film, and the differences between the two; that he "had Alan Burnett. Alan helped me cut to the heart of the story and personalize it for an audience who might not have known the original comic...the original story was about anti-heroes and comic fans and trends in the industry that were disturbing to me when it was written. For the story to work as a film, we needed to get beyond that while keeping the core of the story: that Superman serves a purpose and his moral code is relevant even in the modern world. This is where the expansion into "world politics" really helped."[5]

Theme music

Superman vs. the Elite utilizes the same musical main theme that was composed by Robert Kral for the previously released animated film Superman: Doomsday.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 80% score based on five reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10.[6]

Superman vs. the Elite earned $1,815,269 from domestic DVD sales and $1,394,884 from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total domestic earnings to $3,210,153.[7]

Home media

Superman vs. The Elite was released on DVD and Blu-ray with a combo pack. Features include: a sneak peek at Part 1 of the animated film version of The Dark Knight Returns, two featurettes "The Elite Unbound: No Rules, No Mercy" and "Superman and the Moral Debate", audio commentary, two episodes of Superman: The Animated Series, and Action Comics #775 as a digital comic.[8] The combo pack was released on June 12, 2012.[9]

It is the final film by Warner Premiere, as Warner Home Video shut the company down two months later. Though, titles still continued to be released under the Warner Premiere label until 2013.

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See also

References
  1. Harvey, Jim (29 May 2012). "George Newbern Talks Playing Superman, New Media From "Superman Versus The Elite"". World's Finest. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  2. JIM HARVEY (2012-04-23). "DC Entertainment Rebrands Warner Home Video's DC Universe Animated Original Movie Line". The World's Finest. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
  3. Harvey, Jim (5 June 2012). "Complete Cast And Crew Details For Upcoming Animated "Superman Versus The Elite"". World's Finest. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  4. Harvey, Jim (28 February 2012). "Cast And Crew, "Superman Versus The Elite" WonderCon World Premiere Updates". World's Finest. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  5. Goldberg, Lesley (March 14, 2012). "Joe Kelly Previews DC/Warner Home Video's 'Superman vs. The Elite'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  6. "Superman vs. The Elite". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  7. "Superman vs. The Elite - DVD Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  8. Harvey, Jim (28 June 2012). ""Superman Versus The Elite" Animated Feature Makes Fine Debut On Home Video Market". World's Finest. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  9. Burger, Dennis. "Superman vs. the Elite Flies onto Blu-ray June 12". Technologytell. www.technologytell.com. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
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