Justice League: Warworld: The Parts Should Be Equal to the Whole

Justice League: Warworld serves as the culmination for what has come thus far in the Tomorrowverse, a prequel to the next big chapter of the Tomorrowverse, and an alternate reality-esque story that strives to dive deep into the minds of the heroes. Told through highly stylized genre pieces, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman each get their time to shine before they come together for an action packed conclusion. Each of these individual stories tell unique tales, steeped deep within DC’s continuity, though their short lengths means that their worlds don’t get a ton of time to grow or develop. Because of this, the climax comes off a bit rushed.

The best way to talk about this film is to discuss each section separately because they feel so dramatically different. The first section seems to take inspiration from DC’s All Star Western series as well as the DC Elseworlds book, Justice Riders. A version of Wonder Woman arrives in a small, old-western town where she intervenes between a group of bandits and the townsfolk. Fans of westerns will find a lot to love here; though, fans of DC may not like some of the character choices. Jonah Hex is a big feature here, taking the role of the villain in an odd twist of fate. While it is great to see DC using this character, it’s a shame that he had to take the role of the villain, in such an obvious and scummy way. Unfortunately, there is not much nuance to his character, making him very unsympathetic. Wonder Woman herself takes most of her inspiration from the DC Elseworlds’ Justice Riders book, acting as heroic as ever, though she does lose her cool more than once. This section is definitely a fun one for fans of Wonder Woman and westerns, but not so much for DC continuity buffs.

The next section features a Batman story within the world of Warlord and Skartaris. This is easily the best section and the one that delves the most into the worldbuilding and nuances of the high fantasy epic. Unlike Jonah Hex, Warlord has not been as heavily featured in DC’s multimedia. Seeing him here is great and almost makes you forget that this is a Justice League movie. It also helps that Batman is without his cowl most of the time, entraining him in this world purely as the mercenary he has taken the role of instead of the character everyone knows. Overall, any deep dive into Skartaris is one worth checking out, and Justice League: Warworld does a great job with this one.

The third vignette featuring Superman takes place within a 1950’s detective tale, almost taking inspiration from The Twilight Zone and other science fiction mysteries from that era. Much like the previous two segments, this section excels in its depiction of the genre and time period. From the black and white aesthetic all the way down to the dialogue and score, this section truly feels like a 50’s drama. Oddly enough, this section feels a lot shorter than the previous two, although it does dovetail straight into the climax that brings these all together. It also is the only section not heavily inspired by a specific DC character or story like Jonah Hex or Warlord. 

After all of these vignettes come together it is revealed that the heroes are actually trapped on Mongul’s Warworld, where Martian Manhunter was tortured into containing the three heroes within fantasy worlds where their violence and fear would power the engine. This is also where the story kind of falls apart, coming across as a cookie-cutter DC tale instead of the fun vignettes that build everything up. The ending from here feels very rushed with the characters of Lobo and Mongul not feeling earned in their convictions.