The animated movies in the DC Animated Universe have often been consistently good. Some are better than others, namely the Batman films, and for Superman, some viewers may have to wonder why Tim Daly cannot reprise the role? For the people who grew up watching Superman: The Animated Series cartoon and Justice League (Unlimited), he was the seminal voice. But for every generation, this character gets reinvented anyways.
With Superman: Unbound, the characterizations are on par with what some people would expect before or after seeing the live action movie. The DVD release comes packaged with a good set of bonus material to get fans up to speed with what goes in Supes’ world. Without a doubt, Warner Bros Animation was hoping one product would ride the popularity wave of another, namely the release of Man of Steel. When a primer is needed to acquaint newcomers to who Superman is, both products do a good job to get newcomers acquainted to knowing who from Krypton survived.
While Supes’ home planet was destroyed quite literally from within, the city of Kandor was spared by being miniaturized by Brainiac, a cyborg not of Kryptonian origin. Unlike previous continuities which defined him as a product of Kryptonian science, this version is from another world. Just like Superman who protects Metropolis, Brainiac thinks he can do the same, but in more controlled if not sinister circumstances. But as Supes observes, he’s not in control of every single environmental variable–namely in what Mother Nature can toss at him.
Comic book films are very often a tough sell in a mass market that’s picky about what they like seeing. While Hollywood sees the medium as a readymade—a product that comic book readers are familiar with—to attract new converts requires a product that has to be easily accessible, if not understandable.
Spoiler alert