In less than a month we will get to feast our eyes on Bruce Timm’s Alternate look at the Justice League, but until then we are kept at bay by the Gods and Monsters Chronicles streaming on Machinima’s Youtube Channel. Nobody has done more for the DC universe outside comics than Bruce Timm. From beloved shows like Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and the Justice League series. Not to mention all the stand alone Animated movies. He has built what many call the DC animated universe, a universe all to itself. And with this upcoming movie and animated shorts he plans to change everything you know and are comfortable within the DC animated universe.
Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles “Twisted” Below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpu6yPAFHrs
The Gods and Monsters Chronicles will serve as a build up to the animated movie a short time away. And with three essential ‘heroes’ there will be three episodes. And the first one debuted this week. “Twisted”, and boy was it. Featuring the Batman, who isn’t Bruce Wayne instead it’s Kirk Langstrom a man who Genetically modified himself and wound up becoming a vampire. The animated short certainly sets a tone. As many Batman Stories start, stalking around an abandoned warehouse batman stumbles upon a grizzly scene. This is the first thing that reminds you that this isn’t your 90’s Batman, decapitated heads, people torn in half and a woman trapped inside a giant box. We are stepping into a much more violent and visceral world than the classic cartoons. And while the animated movies have gone to some dark places. What happens next is something Bruce Wayne would never do.
Harley Quinn is a genius first villain to show ‘this’ Batman deal with. Everybody’s favorite psychiatrist turned psychopath has captured people to create seemingly a big happy family. And Batman isn’t having any of it. She has her quippy lines that she usually shouts at Batman and even throws in the word “Bitch” but this type of crime is far darker than anything we’ve ever seen Harleen Quinzel do. But just like Bruce Wayne, Kirk Langstrom waits in the shadows for his chance to strike and when he does its shocking. He shows his Vampire teeth and bites into Harley, right after she makes a joke about him returning her to jail. It’s a shocking scene for many reasons. There is quite a bit of blood especially for an animated style in which blood is not accustom. And on top of that we are watching Batman kill a Beloved character right in front of our eyes.
Without clunky exposition, this Batman has just set the tone for what to expect from him in the Justice League: Gods and Monsters movie. He will save the occasional damsel in distress, (Drawn in classic Bruce Timm style) but he is also not taking any prisoners. Plenty of people wonder why Batman Doesn’t just kill the people that inhabit Arkham Asylum, it would save him so much time. While that question has an answer here is another one. This Batman is different in a few Drastic ways and is the Same in the essential ways. Which is what the next two shorts will presumably show. An immigrant raised Superman with a jaded look at the U.S and a Wonder Woman, who is from the realm of Ares. Stay Tuned for the next Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles short.
