"Reign of the Supermen" Blu-ray Review

by Neil Cole

"Reign of the Supermen" is based on the 1993 comic book story arc in which four supermen - Last Son of Krypton (aka the Eradicator), Superboy, Steel and Cyborg Superman - emerge following the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday. The story arc was featured from June - October in Action Comics, Superman, Adventures of Superman and Superman: The Man of Steel.

The animated version of the story arc is easily one of the longest DC Universe Animated Original Movies clocking in with a run-time of 87 minutes which is good in that it allows the animators extra time to squeeze in quite a few elements from the comic book story line that would have not been possible had the film been any shorter.

"Reign of the Supermen" picks up six months following Superman's sacrifice to defeat Doomsday and the introduction of the same four new, different versions of the Man of Steel from the comic book story line; Superboy, Steel, Cyborg Superman, and the Eradicator. Each one of them is different in their personalities and crime-fighting style compared to the original Man of Steel; leaving the world questioning which one, if any, is the true Superman come back to life.

The cast features the voice talents of Cameron Monaghan as Superboy, Cress Williams as Steel (aka John Henry Irons), Jerry O'Connell as both Cyborg Superman (aka Hank Henshaw) and Superman, Charles Halford as both The Eradicator and Bibbo Bibbowski, Rainn Wilson as Lex Luthor, and Rebecca Romijn as Lois Lane. Veteran voice cast members are also featured including Jason O'Mara as Batman, Rosario Dawson as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, Shemar Moore as Cyborg, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Christopher Gorham as The Flash, Nyambi Nyambi as Martian Manhunter, and Tony Todd as Darkseid,

The film does an okay job of sticking to the source material from the comics such as Superboy being a clone made up of DNA from both Superman and Lex Luthor, the tragic backstory of Hank Henshaw and how he has become Cyborg Superman, and Lois' grieving over her true love. However, the film falters when it makes drastic changes to the source material such as replacing the key player of Mongul - who helped to cause the death of more than seven million people - with that of Darkseid and completely ignoring the Eradicator's pivital role in Superman's return to full strength following his resurrection.

Similar elements worked best with last year's "The Death of Superman" story line and "Reign of the Supermen" is certainly on par with the overall joy factor of it's predecessor. The voicing acting is top notch once again and the animation during key fight sequences is some of the best to be featured in a DC animated movie in quite some time. That being said, the animation is unfortunately executed poorly during key sequences in the film including Superman's resurrection where scenes featuring the Man of Steel are choppy. Also, during the film's final battle sequence, there are some very weird looking close-up shots of both Cyborg Superman and the Man of Steel where the characters are rendered completely out of proportion.

All-in-all, there is plenty of fast-paced, dynamic action to keep viewers entertained from beginning to end and a surprising after-credits scene sets up yet another exciting future DC animated film. This is yet another entry in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie series you will definitely want to add to your home theater library.

"Reign of the Supermen" is currently available digitally and will be available on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray Combo Pack January 29th, 2019 as well as streaming on the DC Universe app.




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