Many fans love DC Comics‘ animated films for for their mature approach to the subject material, and many of their productions are praised as some of the best superhero stories being adapted on screen.
But one YouTuber known for making martial arts-centric fighting series has levied allegations of plagiarism toward DC and Warner Bros. Animation after he noticed some similar moves being used in Batman vs. Robin.
Videos by ComicBook.com
YouTube user Micah Brock AKA KwonKicker compiled a video with some compelling examples. One video of his web series Slug Street Scrappers was first released in 2012 and shows very similar fight sequences, edits, and camera changes that were used in Batman vs. Robin, which was released in 2015.
“You can’t really copyright a martial arts move or a sequence of martial arts moves, but this seems to be like a little bit more than just coincidence because it seems almost like they used the footage from Slug Street Scrappers… as reference for the film, and not just for the art but also the camera angles, the tempo, even the sound overlays, which is pretty crazy.
“You can’t do that by accident, it has to be intentional. I was never asked if they could use the footage as reference or given any sort of notification whatsoever.”
The clip then shows some examples, which you can watch in the video embed above.
Of course, given how these movies are made, a lot of different artists and animation companies tend to contribute to the finished product. So while it is hard to believe that a higher up at Warner Bros. would make such a brazen risk in an attempt to copy this web series choreography, that doesn’t mean the studio is off the hook. Warner Bros. probably made a sizable amount of money off of this series — enough to continue the franchise with more projects including Justice League vs. Teen Titans.
The coincidences are hard to downplay. But it remains to be seen if Warner Bros. will make it right, or if there’s a lawsuit in their future. We’ll keep an eye on this situation and provide updates if anything happens.
