Reign of the Supermen 4K/Blu Ray Review (Warner Bros)

Reign of the Supermen is a 2019 animated superhero film produced & directed by Sam Liu (Justice League vs the Fatal Five, The Death of Superman, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, & Batman: The Killing Joke). It was written by James Krieg (Justice League Action, Batman and Harley Quinn, Green Lantern: The Animated Series, & Batman: The Brave and the Bold) & Tim Sheridan (Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost, Justice League Action, Lego DC Super Hero Girls, & Spooksville Freak Files). It’s a direct sequel to the 2018 animated film The Death of Superman & based on the comic book of the same name continuing the storyline. It’s the 13th film in the DC Animated Movie Universe & the 33rd film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. It had a limited theatrical run with Fathom Events.

6 months following Superman’s (played by: Jerry O’Connell from Stand By Me, Sliders, Jerry Maguire, & Scream 2) death & sacrifice to defeat Doomsday. The world has been introduced to four new & different versions of the hero: Superboy (played by: Cameron Monaghan from Gotham, Shameless, Amityville: The Awakening, & The Giver), Steel (played by: Cress Williams from The Death of Superman, Black Lightning, Prison Break, & ER), Cyborg Superman (played by: Jerry O’Connell from The Death of Superman, Justice League Dark, Justice League vs. Teen Titans, & Justice League: Throne of Atlantis), & the Eradicator (played by: Charles Halford from The Death of Superman, Bad Times at the El Royale, Logan Lucky, & Constantine). Each one of them is different in their personalities & crime fighting style compared to the original Man of Steel. It has them all questioning which one is the real Superman. Lois Lane (played by: Rebecca Romijn from The Death of Superman, Rollerball, Femme Fatale, & S1m0ne) tries to distract herself from her recent tragedy & decides to investigate the situation. Lex Luthor (played by: Rainn Wilson from The Death of Superman, The Office, The Meg, & Super) holds a press conference introducing Superboy as the true Superman, sponsored and bankrolled by LexCorp.

The Eradicator confronts Lex Luthor, Superboy & Steel try to keep the peace between everyone but fail. Cyborg Superman comes in & fixes the problem which makes him look like the true Superman to the public. Superboy gets a security detail for the President of the United States, he runs into the Justice League which includes Batman (played by: Jason O’Mara from Batman: Bad Blood), Wonder Woman (played by: Rosario Dawson from Justice League Dark), The Flash (played by: Christopher Gorham from Justice League: War), Green Lantern (played by: Nathan Fillion from Green Lantern: Emerald Knights), Cyborg (played by: Shemar Moore from Justice League: Throne of Atlantis), & Martian Manhunter (played by: Nyambi Nyambi from The Death of Superman). Chaos goes down during it & once again Cyborg Superman looks like the real hero between them all. Is he really good? The evil Darkseid (played by: Tony Todd from the Candyman franchise, Final Destination franchise, Night of the Living Dead, The Flash, & Lego DC) starts to test these new superheros & see what they can really do with their powers. Is Superman really gone forever? Their true identities are discovered which includes Hank Henshaw (played by: Patrick Fabian from The Death of Superman, Better Call Saul, Bad Ass 1/2, & Joan of Arcadia) & they find a way to work together to save everyone against this unstoppable force!!!!

I love the direction that these new animated DC films are going lately. They are very dark & they don’t have to water down their material due to mainstream appeal. They are true to their source & provide so much more than their live action counterparts. Reign of the Supermen is a very impressive follow up to The Death of Superman. It brought back so many from the previous feature & other DC animated productions. It’s loaded with all kinds of vocal talent & it has lots of familiar names involved with this project. I geeked out when I seen that Tony Todd voiced the main villain in this. He had a great performance & it’s awesome to see the horror icon get a bigger opportunity like this. In my opinion, director Sam Liu is the master of superhero animation. His filmography features countless memorable & quality work from recent years when it comes to the sub genre. So when you see his name attached, you know it won’t disappoint & this one holds up with all the others. Top notch animation like always, when it comes to this Marvel can’t compete with them at all. It’s very fun & entertaining, it’s action packed. It has some nice twists & it keeps you on your toes, I can’t wait for the next installment, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Warner Bros! This 2160p (1.78:1) transfer with HDR10 looks stunning in 4K! Some of the animated features barely noticeable in upgrade when it comes to this newer format but I think the last few have really been improved. The colors on this UHD disc are much better than the standard blu ray. It has 3 different audio options which include English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, & Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 on the release. It sounds great especially on 4K disc, it captures all the action, chaos, music, & the dialogue is crystal clear. The blu ray has an additional German: Dolby Digital 5.1 track. It also has English SDH, French, & Spanish subtitles. The blu ray has additional subtitles which includes German SDH, Japanese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, & Swedish. Both picture & sound are high quality, as far as technical goes it definitely delivers.

Let’s discuss the special features provided by Warner Bros on this release! There’s no on the actual UHD disc, it’s all featured on the blu ray. “A Sneak Peak at DC Universe’s Next Animated Movie: Justice League vs. The Fatal Five” is a little over 9 minutes. It gives you an inside look into the next DC animated feature. The creative team chats about the project & all the additional characters introduced in it. It has some clips & behind the scenes footage from it. They talk about the concept & story for the upcoming feature. “Lex Luthor: The Greatest Nemesis” is a little over 16 minutes. It’s a in depth profile on the legendary villain. It has interviews with various members of the creative team from the recent animated films. They chat about the character’s history. They go over his relationship with Superman. They go into detail about his role in the last two films. They bring up why so many like him despite Lex being a bad guy. “From the DC Comics Vault” features two cartoon episodes from the DC universe. “Heavy Metal” from Superman: The Animated Series & it’s almost 21 minutes. It introduces the Steel / John Henry Irons character. “Panic in the Sky” from Justice League Unlimited which has all kinds of characters from this film & it’s a little over 23 minutes. It has various related DC Comics “Trailers”. It comes with a slipcover, a digital code, & a blu ray copy of the release. It’s available in several different formats & everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!