JUSTICE LEAGUE X RWBY: SUPER HEROES & HUNTSMEN, PART ONE Feature Film Crossover Launches on Home Video This April
A couple of years ago, the worlds of the Justice League and RWBY crossed over in the Justice League x RWBY 7-issue comic series from Marguerite Bennett, Aneke, and Mirka Andolfo. It saw alternate versions of classic DC characters like Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince, and Clark Kent teaming up with Team RWBY. This year, the collaboration between Rooster Teeth and DC is growing with feature length animated films. The first one is Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen, Part One and it’s releasing on digital, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, and Blu-ray on April 25. In this version, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern, and Vixen find themselves transported to the world of Remnant and transformed into teenagers. A second part is set to release later this year.
Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One finds the Justice League facing off against a new horror: adolescence! Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern and Vixen are surprised to find that not only have they materialized on a strange world called Remnant, but they’ve also been transformed into teenagers. Meanwhile, the heroes of Remnant – Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang – find their world has been mysteriously altered. Can the combined forces of the Justice League and Team RWBY return Remnant to normal before a superpowered Grimm destroys everything they know?
It sounds interesting and like it might be fun. I know I’m a little hesitant because to me it sounds like a cool idea, but then I’m not sure it’s delivering on that coolness in the trailer. Talking with some friends, they’ve pointed out some areas of disappointment to them and the animation is a theme that’s popped up a couple of times. The film of course uses RWBY’s art style and probably many members from that team are involved. The art very much resembles that from recent RWBY volumes and is leagues better than where the series started for sure, but while writing this very article, I think I realized what the problem is with the art and animation. This is a feature-film and is labeled as a DC Animated Movie. Previous DC Animated Movie projects have killer animation, yet JL x RWBY seems to be working with the same budget as a standard episode. We have an expectation that the animation for a film will be better than a series. Many times, more money and time are put into a film to allow for this. JL x RWBY doesn’t appear to do this at all though and so it creates a feeling of cheapness, lack of investment, and lack of epicness. It should look better with better lighting, more details, smoother movement, etc.
JL x RWBY is directed by Kerry Shawcross (RWBY) and is written by Meghan Fitzmartin (Justice Society: World War II). The voice cast includes Lindsay Jones, Kara Eberle, Arryn Zech, and Barbara Dunkelman reprising their roles as Team RWBY, plus what appears to be the voice acting debuts for Natalie Alyn Lind (Gotham) as Wonder Woman, Chandler Riggs (The Walking Dead) as Superman, and Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) as Batman. Other cast members include Ozioma Akagha (Teen Titans Go!) as Vixen, Jen Brown (Red vs. Blue) as Pyrrha, Tiana Camacho (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) as Glynda, Aaron Dismuke (Fullmetal Alchemist) as Oscar, Jason Douglas (The Walking Dead) as Jacques, David Errigo Jr. (Ridley Jones) as The Flash/Barry Allen and Rolf, Samantha Ireland (Red vs. Blue) as Nora, Miles Luna (Camp Camp) as Jaune, Shannon McCormick (Get Backers) as Professor Ozpin, Neath Oum (RWBY: Chibi) as Lie Ren, Tara Platt (Aggretsuko) as Kali, Jeannie Tirado (Saints Row) as Green Lantern, and Tru Valentino (The Cuphead Show!) as Cyborg. You can see the list of bonus features below.
Justice Comes to Remnant (New Featurette) – When the Justice League find themselves on Remnant, they’ll have to deal with more than just their powers being altered. In this featurette, the filmmakers behind the film explore the world of Remnant, the Huntsmen that fight for it and how Earth’s mightiest heroes are forced to adapt.
You Look … Different (New Featurette) – Remnant, the world of RWBY, isn’t like Earth. The people are different. The powers are different. And the Justice League? Their entire appearance is different too. In this featurette, the creators of the film reveal the story behind the new look they’ve given to some old friends.
From the DC Vault – Justice League Unlimited – “Kid Stuff”
From the DC Vault – Justice League Action – “Plastic Man Saves the World”