Note: this is a spoiler-free advance review of Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons, which premieres at New York Comic-Con on Oct. 7 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD on Oct. 18.
Thanks to the magic of comic book logic, sliding timelines, and those pesky Crises, Batman and Superman barely seem to have aged a day over the course of eight decades. But both characters have taken a major step forward in recent years, as they’ve both become fathers to aspiring superheroes. These days, Damian Wayne and Jon Kent have devoted fanbases all their own, and those fans will likely be pleased with how this junior Dynamic Duo is handled in Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons.
This latest entry in the DC Universe Movies line isn’t connected to recent releases like 2020’s Superman: Man of Tomorrow or 2021’s Batman: The Long Halloween duology. It’s instead a standalone story that has the distinction of being the first fully computer-animated film in this long-running series of direct-to-DVD projects. Battle of the Super Sons takes many storytelling cues from the work of Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, whose Superman and Super Sons comics set the standard for the Jon/Damian dynamic. That alone is a major point in the film’s favor.
Battle of the Super Sons acts as both an origin story for Jon and a showcase for the first team-up between Superboy (Shazam‘s Jack Dylan Grazer) and Robin (The Thundermans’ Jack Griffo). The first act focuses on Jon discovering his burgeoning powers and coming to terms with the truth about his father, material that should be familiar to fans of the comics or The CW’s Superman & Lois. From there, Jon reluctantly teams up with the much more experienced, slightly pathological Robin and the two face their first true test as superheroes.
The plot is entertaining, if more than a little predictable. Battle of the Super Sons unfolds pretty much exactly as one would expect, with only a few twists along the way to subvert the standard rookie teen hero formula. Like so many of these DC Universe Movies, it feels slightly hampered by the limited runtime. Battle of the Super Sons probably would have benefited from diving into the meat of the conflict sooner, rather than devoting so much time to Jon’s origin and the typical superhero teen cliches (including a painfully stilted school bully subplot).
Damian doesn’t enter the picture until roughly 25 minutes into this 80-minute film. There’s only time to hint at his troubled past and loosely establish his dysfunctional relationship with his father. The fact that Jeremy Adams’ screenplay is so efficient about laying out that background only further serves to make the early Jon scenes feel unnecessary. As the thoroughly enjoyable Catwoman: Hunted proved earlier this year, less setup and more forward momentum is usually the way to go with these animated movies.
Still, for however long it may take to bring the two heroes together, Battle of the Super Sons thrives on the strength of the Jon/Damian dynamic. The film really nails the two characters’ respective voices and their unusual friendship. Jon isn’t an angsty teen burdened by power and responsibility, but a wide-eyed kid who’s thrilled at the new world that’s been opened up before him. Damian is the hardened assassin who acts like a jerk to hide the fact that he really just needs a friend. These two have always brought out the best in each other in the comics, and that’s a quality Adams channels into his script. Kudos for the decision to focus on the classic Super Sons dynamic, rather than aging up Jon as the more recent Superman comics and the CW series have done.
Griffo excels at portraying Damian as a spoiled jerk while still conveying the humanity beneath.
It helps that both Grazer and Griffo bring so much life to their characters. Grazer basically stole the show in 2019’s Shazam! with his rendition of the socially awkward, superhero-obsessed Freddy Freeman. Jon is a very different character in many ways, but the warmth and humor are still there. Likewise, Griffo excels at portraying Damian as a spoiled jerk while still conveying the humanity beneath. The worst that could be said for both performances is that Grazer and Griffo sound too old for their characters (neither of whom seems to be older than 12 or 13). But to be fair, casting actual preteen voice actors creates its own set of problems.
The rest of the voice cast is generally strong as well, featuring a number of familiar faces from Critical Role and the video game scene. Laura Bailey’s Lois Lane is another standout. Bailey previously played the character in 2021’s disappointing Injustice adaptation, but she’s given far more to work with this time around. Troy Baker delivers a fine Batman performance, having already played the character in multiple games and animated projects. Only Travis Willingham’s Superman falls somewhat short. Willingham’s deep-voiced performance draws no distinction between Superman and Clark Kent, which tends to make the character feel stiff and overly formal when he’s supposed to be in dad mode.
The move to fully computer-generated animation is certainly a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it allows for smoother action and more dynamic angles, which pays off during the major action sequences. There’s a nice sense of scale to the final battle despite it revolving around only a small handful of characters. On the other hand, the animation is a bit lacking in personality. Like Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, this cel-shaded approach results in the film looking more like a long video game cutscene than anything else. Films like Superman: Man of Tomorrow have done a better job of threading the needle between traditional animation and modern CG. There, the heavy black lines give the characters more personality and a comic book-inspired sense of style.
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