As if there weren’t already plenty of reasons to get excited over this year’s slate of DC Universe Movies, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment just announced that the DC Showcase series of animated shorts will be continuing into 2021 and 2022 as well.
First out of the gate will be Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth!, an original story based on the post-apocalyptic character created in 1972 by Jack Kirby. Directed by Matt Peters (Justice League Dark: Apokolips War) from a script written by Paul Giacoppo (Young Justice, Star Wars: Resistance), Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth! will be included on the Blu-ray release of Justice Society: World War II this spring.
Kamandi will be followed by three more shorts: The Losers, Blue Beetle and Constantine. Like Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth!, The Losers and Blue Beetle will be attached to future DC Universe Movies. The lengthier Constantine, on the other hand, will anchor a collection of the shorts due sometime in 2022. (Expect more news on that closer to its release.) All four of the shorts are produced by Rick Morales (Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge).
DC Showcase offers slightly longer, more sophisticated standalone animated shorts that shine a spotlight on DC’s wide universe of characters as brought to life by some of the biggest names in DC animation. The first wave of shorts debuted back in 2010 and included The Spectre, Jonah Hex, Green Arrow, Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam and Catwoman. That seemed to mark the end of the series until it returned in 2019 with five new shorts: Sgt. Rock, Death, The Phantom Stranger, Adam Strange and the interactive Batman: Death in the Family.
DC Showcase have long been an opportunity for writers and animators to experiment and tell the sort of stories that they likely couldn’t do in a longer film. The results are frequently remarkable and occasionally unforgettable. (The Paul Dini-written Catwoman short may be the best on-screen version of the character we’ve gotten to date.)
But what do you think, DC fans? Are you familiar with the DC Showcase shorts? What are your favorites? And which of the new batch are you most excited to see? Let us know your thoughts right now in the DC Community!
