Doomsday for Superman

Monday, March 05, 2007
By: Ryan Ball

Super toon producer Bruce Timm (Justice League Unlimited, Batman: The Animated Series) and Warner Bros. Animation have been busy adapting the best-selling graphic novel of all time and fans will be able to get their hands on it this summer. Based on DC comic The Death of Superman, Superman Doomsday will be released by Warner Home Video on Sept. 18 with a PG-13 rating.

Superman Doomsday is the first in a new series of animated features to be released under the DC Universe banner. The movie will feature the voices of Adam Baldwin (Independence Day) as Superman, Anne Heche (Men in Trees) as Lois Lane and James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Lex Luthor. Written by Duane Capizzi (The Batman, The Batman vs. Dracula), the story has Superman taking on intergalactic serial killer Doomsday and making the ultimate sacrifice to save Metropolis and those he loves.

The DVD will come with collectable packaging and more than 70 minutes of bonus materials. A featurette titled The Clash of the Juggernauts will take a retrospective look at the mayhem that ensued when millions of fans were subjected to the death of the Man of Steel. Paul Levitz, other DC staff and comic book artists throughout the industry go on record about The Death of Superman as news clippings, reports and archival testimony from fans tell the rest of the story. The doc will also include a closer look at the dark Superman that emerges in the graphic novel The Return of Superman.

Another featurette titled The Artists’ Playground…From Art to Sound Design in Superman Doomsday will have Timm and his creative team of writers, animators and designers taking fans on an exciting journey of character evolution. This documentary will focus on early character concept drawings, final character art, various stages of modeling, storyboards, animatics, layering of colors, voice talent and final animation. The disc will also include a sneak peek at the next DC Universe original movie, Justice League: The New Frontier, as well as a game called Defeat Doomsday: Battle Challenge, a test of dexterity lets the users relive the epic battle with footage from the movie inter-cut with gameplay. The DVD will carry a suggested retail price of $19.98.

Reader Comments

• Marilyn T. : Quality Control Editor : GlobalOptions Group

  Tuesday, March 06, 2007

  I just find that I\'m having to look at animated DVD releases instead of theatrical releases more and more for the dramatic, faithful storytelling that characters like Superman, Batman, Batman Beyond, etc. deserve.
  
  Ever since the promising beginnings of comic book adaptation films such as Road to Perdition, the first two X-Men films, the first Blade, Spider-Man, Sin City, and Batman Begins, Hollywood has shown audiences that they\'re capabable of staying true to, if not to the exact storylines, at least the spirit of these characters.
  
  Although the calibur of comic-book-to-film adaptations has been a little dodgy, like many other loyal comic book fans, I\'ve yet to completely lose faith.

• Jeffrey Witt : none : none

  Tuesday, March 06, 2007

  Gentlemen: I have read The Death Of Superman, I heard About his death on radio & TV. America has lost a hero & an Icon. Long live Superman(Clark Kent)(1938-77),We miss you so!None