Justice League: Warworld is a 2023 animated film in the Tomorrowverse continuity of DC Animated Universe films.
In the old west, a lone woman (Stana Katic) wanders into a town under siege by mercenaries led by Jonah Hex. In a brutal world of warlords and monsters, a warrior (Jensen Ackles) is forced to lead his enemies to the man who hired him to begin with. In mid-20th century America, a rookie FBI agent (Darren Criss) is assigned to a strange case involving UFOs. What is connecting these seemingly disparate tales?
The film released on July 25, 2023.
Previews: Trailer
Justice League: Warworld includes examples of the following:
- Adaptational Jerkass: Zigzagged with Batman. During the second segment of the film he is noticeably less noble and more selfish than his usual characterisation. He works as a mercenary for the segment's Big Bad Deimos and at one point even betrays Travis Morgan and leaves him to face a giant monster alone. However he is suffering from Laser-Guided Amnesia at the time and it is implied that this is a result of Warworld amplifying the more negative aspects of his personality.
- Adaptational Origin Connection: Katherine "Cinnamon" Manser is another of DC's cowboy-comic characters - a bounty hunter avenging her parents murder by outlaws - but never featured in stories with Jonah Hex or Bat Lash. Hex is the murderer of her parents here.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Jonah Hex is introduced leading a gang of mercenaries against a peaceful town.
- J'onn J'onzz decides to blow up Warworld after deciding that none of its inhabitants are worth saving. He warns the Trinity to leave but their presence is apparently not a dealbreaker to him carrying out his plan.
- Adaptational Wimp: Mongul in the comics has already fallen tremendously from grace but he still started out being much more powerful than Superman and in his first comic book story, knocked out Martian Manhunter with little effort. note In this movie, Mongul gets dispatched with little effort by Martian Manhunter and doesn't even get the chance to fight Superman, though he does get a slight consolation prize in being able to beat up Lobo.
- Ass Shove: Hex mentions that, after being captured during the American Civil War, he had to hide his antique pocket watch somewhere… uncomfortable.
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil: After years of being prisoner on Warworld and being forced to experience all of the population's darkest impulses, J'onn J'onzz has decided that none of them deserve to live and thus doesn't try to help them escape after activating Warworld's self-destruct.
- Big Bad: As usual, Mongul is supreme leader of Warworld.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Subverted. After knocking out the three heroes, not only does Lobo not kill them, but he even leaves them unrestrained. However, it's later revealed that he did this on purpose because he hoped they would get rid of Mongul for him.
- Chained Heat: In the second segment, Warlord agrees to follow Bruce to Deimos's castle, but keeps the mercenary warrior chained to him with a neck collar in case of escape or betrayal.
- Cheated Death, Died Anyway: In the second segment, Bruce saves Machiste from falling off a cliff. In the very next scene, Machiste dies trying to enter Deimos's castle.
- Combat Pragmatist: When three of his men challenge his leadership, Jonah sets up his pocket watch and tells them to draw when the music stops. Then he guns all three down while they're waiting for this to happen. Turns out the watch is broken so the music doesn't stop until Jonah turns it off.
- Crisis Crossover: The first time the Tomorrowverse shows a team-up between Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, though the latter is explicitly from a different reality than the other two — implied but not outright stated to be the one the Flash went to in Justice Society: World War II.
- Cut the Juice: In the second segment, Bruce finds the cables that power the defenses of Deimos's castle, and tears them off to be able to enter without danger.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The third segment of the film is portrayed in black and white. At first this appears to be just a Retraux look to fit the 1950's era but it's happening In-Universe as well, to prevent Clark Kent accessing his full power.
- Do You Trust Me?: In the first segment, Diana asks this to Bat Lash, who replies without hesitation that he does.
- Easily Forgiven: In the second segment, Warlord doesn't seem too upset at Bruce for abandoning him to the mercy of a ferocious minotaur-like monster.
- Face–Heel Turn: Martian Manhunter turns against his friends and own sense of morality in favor of bombing the Warworld base with everyone on it because he can't entrust it with other species. To be fair, he did warn the Trinity to leave, but their presence no longer concerns him when he still goes through with his plan.
- Fusion Dance: In the climax, J'onn J'onzz merges with a White Martian in order to create the key to activate Warworld’s self-destruct sequence.
- Go-Go Enslavement: In the second segment, Diana and Mariah are both captured by Deimos and wear revealing outfits. While Mariah was already wearing it before, it's unclear if Diana did as well.
- Gutted Like a Fish: In the second segment, Warlord kills a dinosaur-like monster by cutting its belly open with his sword. Bruce, who was chained to him, finds himself covered in guts.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Martian Manhunter fuses with a White Martian to create the key to destroying Warworld, planning to kill himself in the process.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In the second segment, Warlord defeats Deimos by shooting him a bullet from his own gun.
- If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Before handing over his payment, Deimos asks Bruce to execute Mariah and Diana. Despite having betrayed Warlord earlier, Bruce balks at the idea (it's implied he subconsciously remembers his friendship with Diana). Deimos isn't bothered, as now he can kill Bruce for refusing and save the gold he was going to be paid.
- In the Back: At the end of the first segment, Bat Lash is shot from behind by Jonah Hex while talking to Diana, despite him stopping one of his men from doing this trope earlier.
- I've Never Seen Anything Like This Before: After seeing Diana beat up his men, Jonah Hex tells her that he has never seen anyone fight like that before.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Bruce, Clark, and Diana each had their memories wiped before they were placed in the Warworld.
- "Leave Your Quest" Test: At the end of her segment, Bat Lash asks Diana to stay with them. Before she can answer, he's gunned down from behind. Someone asks Diana if she would have taken the offer if Bat Lash hadn't been killed, but she refuses to answer.
- Lizard Folk: The alien responsible for torturing J'onn J'onzz looks like a humanoid lizard.
- Magic from Technology: Most of Deimos's "magic" turn out to be technological in nature, such as the traps in his castle or his gun. That said, he does have real magical powers as well, such as turning into a giant snake.
- The Men in Black: Clark is a rookie agent assigned to Majestic 12, eager to defend Truth, Justice and the American Way from alien invaders. The latter, he realises, means not killing an alien just because you're scared and it looks different from you.
- The Multiverse: Mongul has taken Warworld from reality to reality in search of the power needed to fuel it. This version of Wonder Woman is explicitly from a different universe than the main Tommorrowverse.
- Mythology Gag: Wonder Woman being in DC's Old West comics setting, dealing with its characters (Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, etc), and dressed in period garb all reference the "Weird Western Tales" episode of Justice League Unlimited. An emphasis on her wearing her own colorful boots here instead of period-appropriate boots also references a humorous scene from the episode.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: After Jonah Hex shoots Bat Lash, a distraught Diana beats him to a pulp in a pretty brutal fashion.
- Off with His Head!: Warlord manages to decapitate the minotaur-like monster with its own axe.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: This version of Warworld is powered by the feelings of fear and hate in its inhabitants. That's why Mongul used J'onn J'onzz to create mental illusions of time periods and worlds where Warworld's prisoners could live out their worst nightmares and produce more negative emotions to power it.
- Pushed at the Monster: Discussed. As he abandons Warlord to the mercy of a minotaur-like monster, Bruce tells him "You know the rule. When running from a beast, be faster than the man you're with".
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent:
- In the second segment, most of the monsters that Warlord's army encounters on their journey are reptilian in appearance.
- The Evil Sorcerer Deimos can transform into a giant snake as well.
- Also, Mongul's Torture Technician is a reptilian-looking alien.
- The Reveal: J’onn J’onzz was forced by Mongul to create the illusions of various time periods and worlds of Warworld to extract fear and hate from the prisoners to power the planet.
- Scaled Up: In the climax of the second segment, Deimos takes the form of a monstrous giant snake to fight the heroes. It doesn't help.
- Scar Survey: During their first meeting, Diana asks Jonah Hex what happened to his face. He simply answers that he trusted the wrong people.
- Sequel Hook: The Trinity are collected by a mysterious being calling herself the Harbinger who wanted them to help stop an upcoming crisis.
- Shock Stick: The reptilian alien tortures J'onn J'onzz with some kind of metal rod that emits electricity. He later tries to use it against Superman during their fight.
- Shoot the Fuel Tank: Justified. When chased by White Martians in the third segment, Agent Kent shoots a fuel tanker with a flare gun to blow them up, after Bruce first uses their car to smash open the tanker's exhaust valve, spilling petrol across the road.
- Shout-Out:
- Bruce’s segment borrows heavily from Conan the Barbarian. Bruce himself seems to have taken on Conan’s long-haired barbarian aesthetic and mercenary personality. Then there’s the fact that Diemos, the segments main villain, transforms into a snake just as Thulsa Doom did.
- Clark's segment is a whole plot reference to The Twilight Zone (1959) episode "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?", with Kent performing the role of an agent trying to identify an alien spy among Snapper Carr's diner full of colorful characters.
- Jonah Hex timing the pistol-draw duel with his pocket watch borrows from For a Few Dollars More.
- The Starscream:
- After a humiliating defeat by Diana, three of Jonah Hex's henchmen try to challenge his authority. Hex makes short work of them.
- Lobo is acting as the enforcer for Mongul, but double-crosses him by freeing the heroes instead of killing them in the hopes of taking Warworld for himself. It turns out that J'onn J'onzz telepathically implanted that idea into his mind in order to create an opportunity to destroy Warworld, though given that it's Lobo he was bound to turn on Mongul of his own volition sooner or later.
- Stealth Sequel: Warworld continues from Superman and Batman's abduction by unseen forces at the ending of Legion of Super-Heroes (2023). Wonder Woman is implied to be from the Justice Society: World War II universe, with her abduction a Noodle Incident for now.
- Still Wearing the Old Colors: Even though he has no memory of who he is, Bruce starts his segment wearing his Batman hood while fighting as a sword-wielding mercenary with no shirt, to cue the audience as to his real identity. Likewise Diana is wearing her Wonder Woman boots. Eventually they find their old supersuits in storage and suit up for the final battle.
- Stock Ness Monster: When crossing a lake to reach Deimos' castle, Warlord's raft is attacked by a huge plesiosaur-like monster.
- Stripped to the Bone: This is what happens to Machiste when he tries to enter Deimos's castle.
- Stripperiffic: In the second segment, Mariah and Diana both wear pretty revealing outfits.
- We Can Rule Together: At the beginning of the first segment, Jonah Hex tries to convince Diana to work for him.
- We Will Meet Again: After his defeat, Deimos swears to Warlord that he'll have his revenge before fleeing.
- We Need a Distraction: When they discuss stealing supplies from Jonah Hex's storehouse, Bat Lash points out that they're going to need a distraction. Diana tells him that she can be quite distracting.
- What the Hell Are You?: Hex's response when Diana stops him firing a Gatling gun by throwing a wagon wheel that smashes the gun while still having enough force to go flying a long way out of town before coming to rest.
