The first trailer for the Reign of the Supermen animated movie is now here – and you can watch it above!
Videos by ComicBook.com
This Reign of the Supermen movie serves as the sequel to the Death of Superman animated feature that was released last year. That film refitted the classic “Death of Superman” storyline from ’90s DC Comics into a story set in serialized continuity of the DC Universe animated films.
Of course, the second half of the “Death of Superman” comic book storyline was “Reign of the Supermen”, and this animated feature similarly will take the classic storyline from the source material and marry it to the DCU continuity. What that means for fans is that we’ll get to see the four would-be Supermen first emerge and try to live up to the mantle – only to have their attempts go sideways.
The lineup of would-boy Supermen includes:
- The Cyborg Superman
- The Dark Superman with the Visor and energy powers
- Superboy
- The metal suit Superman, “Steel”
Where this animated version seems different is in how the larger world-threatening plot plays out, as well as the inclusion of the full Justice League animated team showing up for a big finale, which will also include Lex Luthor. Of course, this being Warner Bros., we also get the obligatory shots of Batman in this Superman story.
Warning – SPOILERS may follow!
In the original “Reign of the Supermen” story, it’s revealed that all four Superman successors have secrets they’re hiding. Two of them turn out to be innocent, with John Henry Irons creating the Steel suit to do good, and Superboy being revealed as a Cadmus clone; however, the visored Superman is revealed to be “The Eradicator,” a Kryptonian weapon given form as a Superman copy. The Cyborg Superman is revealed to be the true villain of the story, as he’s a former astronaut named Hank Henshaw, who was mutated into a “technomorph,” able to manipulate or inhabit technology using his mind.
The Cyborg Superman ultimately launches a revenge plot against Superman and the world, wiping out Green Lantern’s home of Coast City, and bringing the intergalactic warlord Mongul to Earth. From what we see above, Reign of the Supermen will adapt that same type of conflict – only in this new continuity, it will be an all-out open season on invading Earth, now that Superman is gone.
Reign of the Supermen will be released on digital, Blu-ray and DVD in 2019.
