So glad that DC has one thing going on good for them sans all the dirty politics. It’s their comic world and the DCAU. The Animated Universe weaves another gorgeous tale, a sequel to the 2017 movie. Whilst you might have your qualms for the prequel, Apokolips War simply beats it to a pulp. It is outright insane, right from the very beginning.

What works for Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is how it does justice to all its characters. It keeps the import of primal characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman intact, something they had messed with in the prequel. That brings to mind a bad memory. What Joss Whedon had done to Batman in Justice League was simply unforgivable.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War image

The Direction and Story of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (Spoilers)

Directors Matt Peters and Christina Sotta here, surprisingly do a good job by keeping the integrity of the DCAU heroes intact. The story Mairghread Scott wrote is unlike anything you have ever seen. It leverages Darkseid to the maximum giving him what every fanboy wished him to have for a villain -outrageous power!

Who would have thought Darkseid could come up with something like Paradoom – a mutated abomination of Parademon with Doomsday. That’s just next level shit!

Superman as a leader is a bad idea. Is it proven time and again with countless bad decisions he has taken when he thinks from his fist. Let the guy with the brains handle it. Unfortunately, Batman doesn’t have much say to it.

So they go to attack Apokolips hoping to beat them at his home ground. The only problem is that Darkseid is one step ahead. He was already prepared for the intrusion. He kills them one by one using his Paradooms. Only a few are able to escape, one of them is our protagonist who didn’t lift a finger in the war – John Constantine.

The World without Superheroes

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War leverages such great aftermath if you really think about it. When you see Superman in a constant battle with himself, crushed underneath the weight of his decision that cost everything, you realize the gravitas of the situation. It is so poignant per se if you pause the movie just to brood.

The new world is a hideous backwash. Surprisingly some of the important characters survive, and that makes the movie less desolate. Since the trinity is alive, you know there is hope. Batman has become Darkseid’s minion. Superman sent back humiliated with liquid kryptonite injected inside his body. Wonder Woman is nowhere to be found.

Apokolips War Superman injected kryptonite

As huge devices called Reapers try to mine earth’s core, Sups finds a depressed Raven who is trying hard to keep her father Trigon in a magical prison.

Together they end up asking help from Constantine and The Demon (Etrigan) who then go to Damian to a League of Assassins outpost. All of them then meet Lois Lane whose plan is to infiltrate LexCorp and use boom tube to teleport to Apokolips.

The presence of Suicide Squad is like a side dish, entertains you till the last. Their job is a mere distraction, and that is not just in the movie but in reality too. To take away the sobriety of the movie for a second to amuse you with their countless nuisances.

You have to give it to Constantine for getting the job done leveraging Swamp Thing to attack one of the Reapers.

The Splitting Up

There is a revelation that Luthor was in fact a sleeper who had been secretly helping Lois all this time. The teams then split up, as the powerful ones (Clark, Raven, Etrigan, Constantine, and Damian), go to Apokolips using the boom tube. While the rest of the people like Lois, Luthor, and the Suicide Squad fight off the paradooms on earth.

A battle ensues on reaching Apokolips between Clark’s team and the ensnared Justice League led by Wonder Woman and Starfire. They are now Cybernetic Furies. Ertigan dies fighting while Constantine frees Wonder Woman using her very own lass of truth.

It is a sorry sight to see Flash being made to run eternally by Darkseid to fuel Apokolips. Cyborg is in a sorry state too. He is turned into a source wall that cannot be simply unplugged.

Constantine uses the techno spell on him to release him from Darkseid’s control. Having destroyed Oa, Darkseid and Batman return to Apokolips. It is a great exchange before Darkseid orders Batman to kill Damian.

You dare call me that? Your mother drugged me to conceive you. Goaded into raising you and broke me mentally. But once my eyes were opened by Lord Darkseid, I see you were never my son. Only a burden.

It is only before Batman is about to kill Damian that he faces an epiphany. He realizes he is about to become who he feared the most – the man on the other side of the gun who had taken away a child’s innocence. This sentient feels break away Darkseid’s control over him. Mad over disobedience, Darkseid attacks Batman, but Damian comes in between, and dies trying to save his father.

The Ending

Raven’s depression makes Trigon’s chains weaker causing him to break free. Refusing Constantine’s offer to choose his body as host, Trigon gets inside Superman and kills Constantine. In the after-life Constantine meets Zatanna, who reveals she had used a spell on him causing him to escape Apokolips as suggested and envisaged by Batman.

Overpowered by Paradooms, Lois and her team run the self destruct sequence. Her last words cause Superman to break through Trigon’s control.

Constantine is resuscitated by Zatanna while Raven brings Damian back. Cyborg reveals his plan to let teleport all the Paradooms from earth to Apokolips and then trap the planet into a black hole. Constantine and Raven use their magic to give Trigon a body to fight Darkseid, as they all escape.

When it all seems like a happy ending, Batman reveals that the earth’s core had been damaged up to 31% causing a billion deaths in the long run. It is Constantine who suggests a recuperated Flash to create a new Flashpoint, since the first one had led them to the current set of events.

The movie ends with Flash making the run while Damian and Raven share their first and last kiss.

You can order Justice League Dark: Apokolips War from here:

The Final Verdict

The thing that makes Justice League Dark: Apokolips War so amazing is hands down how they manage to show every hero in such a small amount of time, maintaining a rock-solid coherence. It is like reviving the whole DC family again for a common cause.

The story does justice to everyone. Hiding a major truth in a small spell in prologue that literally cancels out Constantine’s constant battle with himself. All this time, he believed he was an absconder. Eventually, he is told that it was Batman’s plan all along.

The movie lets you have a glimpse into the world of the extremely powerful beings of DC too. For many like it’s like an informative shower.

Check out the trailer of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War:

If you are a fan of DC, you are already aware of #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement. Don’t worry it’s coming!