The first bonafide comic book superhero team is the Justice Society of America, and the Golden Age ensemble comes together in the upcoming animated film Justice Society: World War II. Written by Jeremy Adams and Meghan Fitzmartin, the movie has Barry Allen run through the Speed Force only to find himself teaming up with the JSA as they battle the Axis Powers across Europe while searching for a way to return to his own time.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Adams spoke about the joys of delving into the DC Universe's Golden Age, what characters and scenes he loves in the animated movie and shared his appreciation of The Flash ahead of taking the reins on the ongoing comic book series during the Infinite Frontier era.
CBR: You've had ensemble casts with Batman: Soul of the Dragon and Mortal Kombat: Scorpion's Revenge. With Justice Society: World War II, you get an even bigger canvas with the original super-team. How is it embracing the Golden Age of the DCU with this movie?
Jeremy Adams: It's a thrill! In a way, you don't get bogged down by "super-science" of the modern age, and it becomes a lot more about will, valor and standing up even if you might die. You can't Google anything, you've got to figure it out! [Laughs] In modern stories, especially horror movies, the first thing you've got to figure out is how to get rid of their cellphones, so there's a simplicity in the fact that it's in this time where technology is not so advanced, where you can just pinpoint something with a satellite. It's more mysticism and more detective work and more trying to run down clues. There's something really fun about that as an audience member watching it and as a writer... it's not just action, it's adventure. We're going on a quest and we've got to find this thing and got to save the world; I love stuff like that.
Was there any character that surprised you, as a writer, to break into their voice or just caught you off-guard?
Adams: The one that really caught me off-guard was Black Canary. This version of Steve Trevor was really effective. Meghan and I wanted to take it in a different direction with the all-knowing Butch [Lukic], our supervising producer, and he said, "No, you've got to remember about keeping those threads in line. Even though humanity doesn't have these powers, their power is they're still willing to put their fragile lives on the line to save the world," and that really spoke to me.
But when I saw the voice actors and saw what they did, Black Canary leaped off the screen to me. And there's a scene at the end where it's a mid-shot from the leg down where you see her drop her mask and she's hurting. And I was like, "I'm really into this character!" [Laughs] They take your work and enliven it in a way where it's like, "Did I even write that? That's really good!" That character really popped off for me.
You've got a deep bench with the Golden Age DCU. Was there any character you wanted to slip in that didn't quite make the cut?
Adams: I have an affection for Alan Scott but I think, at the end of the day, we only had X amount of money, X amount of time and really the space to talk about this many characters. With the ensemble pieces -- as you've pointed out, I've done a number of them -- the worst thing you can do is add more characters than you can actually service. I would love to do another movie that takes place in the Pacific that has Atom Smasher, Alan Scott and whoever else, that would be so much fun. That's not in the cards but, in case this does really well, maybe it will be.
You're about to take the reins on The Flash and, in this movie, you've got two in Barry Allen and Jay Garrick. What's the appeal of The Flash for you as a storyteller? What does the character mean to you?
Adams: It's interesting, I've been having this conversation with my editor. [Laughs] I'm much more in love with the Doctor Who kind of version of The Flash in terms of The Flash stories that go completely sideways, like, "Oh, we're in another universe! We're in the past or the future! The Speed Force does this and that!" I like the real zany, out of left field stuff because, in that way, I feel like he's not just a guy who can go fast but it adds another dimension to the character; he can go, not just fast, but anywhere in time and space. What does that mean? What does it mean to the timeline and so many other things?
I think when Geoff Johns did Flashpoint, it was such a key ingredient to look how really powerful this character possibly could be. And I love that, one of my favorite things about The Flash is you can really go anywhere with him.
One of the things I love about this movie is there is such a variety of powers; outside of the Flashes, there's not a lot of overlap. How was it getting to showcase each of these characters in action?
Adams: Luckily, I work with an amazing crew who I think did these great entrance moments for each of the characters. We had kicked it around and you want everybody to get a spotlight. You only have one chance to introduce a character and there's that great scene where Steve Trevor says to Barry, "You ain't seen nothing yet!" and we break into the quick synopsis of who these characters are and what they can do, and I think that's just such a cool action scene in general. I love entrances and exits, and I think Meghan does too, so it was really fun to work with her on that.
What are you most proud of about getting to introduce the Justice Society in this film?
Adams: I feel privileged and blessed... I think this is the first time the JSA is in animated form, and it's just another corner of the vast DC Universe that we get to shine a little bit of light on and hopefully lead people down the path to check out the comic book runs of these characters. These stories don't exist without the work of so many people throughout generations. We stand on the shoulders of giants, really, to be able to write stories based on characters and ideas that were brought to us by other generations of artists and creators.
Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Justice Society: World War II stars Stana Katic as Wonder Woman, Matt Bomer as The Flash, Elysia Rotaru as Black Canary, Chris Diamantopoulos as Steve Trevor, Omid Abtahi as Hawkman, Matthew Mercer as Hourman, Armen Taylor as Jay Garrick, Liam McIntyre as Aquaman, Ashleigh LaThrop as Iris West, Geoffrey Arend as Charles Halstead/Advisor, Keith Ferguson as Dr. Fate and Darin De Paul as Roosevelt. The film will be released digitally on April 27 and on 4K UHD and Blu-ray on May 11.