Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Ready To Give Us Five New “DC Showcase” Animated Shorts!

It has been announced Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, in partnership with DC, are currently in production on five new DC Showcase animated shorts. They will be released during the 2019-2020 window.

The all-new series of animated shorts are “inspired by characters and stories from DC’s robust portfolio.” They will be included on upcoming DC Universe Movies releases, with exception of an innovative Batman: Death in the Family long-form animated short, which will “anchor a compilation set for distribution in late 2020.”

The five shorts are entitled Sgt. Rock, Adam Strange, Death, The Phantom Stranger, and Batman: Death in the Family.

Each of them will open “with a new, live-action branding sequence that features a few Easter Eggs specially added for observant fans.”

Sgt. Rock has been executive produced and directed by Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) from a script by award-winning comics writers Louise Simonson & Walter Simonson and Tim Sheridan (Reign of the Supermen).

The original tale finds battle-weary Sgt. Rock thinking he has seen everything that World War II can dish out. But he is in for the surprise of his life when he is assigned to lead a company consisting of legendary monsters into battle against an unstoppable platoon of Nazi zombies. Karl Urban (Star Trek & Lord of the Rings film franchises) provides the voice of Sgt. Rock. Also voicing characters in Sgt. Rock are Keith Ferguson, William Salyers and Audrey Wasilewski.

As for Adam Strange, it is produced and directed by Butch Lukic (Batman Unlimited franchise), who also conceived the original story which has been written by J.M. DeMatteis (Constantine: City of Demons).

On a rugged asteroid mining colony, few of the toiling workers are aware that their town drunk was ever anything but an interplanetary derelict. But when the miners open a fissure into the home of a horde of deadly alien insects, his true identity is exposed. He is space adventurer Adam Strange, whose heroic backstory is played out in flashbacks as he struggles to save the very people who have scorned him for so long. Charlie Weber (How To Get Away with Murder) provides the voice of Adam Strange, alongside with Roger R. Cross, Kimberly Brooks, Ray Chase and Fred Tatasciore.

Inspired by Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman,” Death is produced and directed by Sam Liu (Justice League vs. The Fatal Five) and written by J.M. DeMatteis (Batman: Bad Blood).

In the story, Vincent, an artist with unresolved inner demons, meets a mysterious girl who helps him come to terms with his creative legacy … and eventual death. Leonardo Nam (Westworld) provides the voice of Vincent, and Jamie Chung (The Gifted, Big Hero 6) is the voice of Death. The cast includes Darin De Paul, Keith Szarabajka and Kari Wahlgren.

The Phantom Stranger has Bruce Timm (Batman: The Killing Joke) at the helm as executive producer as well as the director. The short has been written by Ernie Altbacker (Teen Titans: The Judas Contract).

Set in the 1970s, the short follows young adult Jess as she joins her friends at a party in a dilapidated mansion hosted by the mysterious Seth. When odd things begin to happen to Jess and her friends, the Phantom Stranger intervenes to save her from a dreary fate. Peter Serafinowicz (The Tick) gives voice to The Phantom Stranger, and Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville, Impastor) provides the voice of Seth. The Phantom Stranger also features the voices of Natalie Lander, Grey Griffin and Roger Craig Smith.

More information regarding Batman: Death In The Family will be made available in 2020.

All five new DC Showcase shorts credits include Jim Krieg as co-producer, Amy McKenna as a producer, and Sam Register as executive producer.

For those interested in some history, initially launched in 2010, DC Showcase was originally comprised of four animated shorts produced by Bruce Timm and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos.

They are The Spectre (released on 2/23/2010), Jonah Hex (7/27/2010), Green Arrow (9/28/2010) and Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam (11/9/2010).

An additional short, Catwoman (10/18/2011), was attached the following year to the release of Batman: Year One. It was directed by Lauren Montgomery and executive produced by Bruce Timm.

Feel free to share your thoughts with us.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary