Last week we had the pleasure of being among the first to see the film at its premiere in Los Angeles at The Paley Center for Media. On hand to celebrate the release of the movie were producer Bruce W. Timm (Batman: The Animated Series), director Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman) and Casting director Andrea Romano (Justice League Unlimited) as well as the actors who portray Superman and Wonder Woman in the film, Tim Daly (Superman: The Animated Series) and Susan Eisenberg (Justice League) respectively.
Daly reprises his role from the Superman: The Animated Series series and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, as does his co-star Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League) who has been the voice of Batman in animation for over twenty years. In fact, Eisenberg (Wonder Woman) and TV legend Edward Asner (Granny Goodness) also reprise their roles from Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Joining the cast are Andre Braugher (Salt) as Darkseid and Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as Supergirl. After the screening, which was met to great applause from the theater full of fans, the cast and crew spoke about the exciting new movie.
Director Lauren Montgomery discussed why the title of the movie is different from that of the source material it is adapted from. "Most people know that the title of the book was "Superman/Batman: Supergirl," which you would assume that the movie would be named that. But since our wonderful Wonder Woman DVD didn't sell so well they decided that girl movies don't sell so well so we need to trick everyone into buying it by calling it Superman/Batman: Apocalypse," Montgomery joked. "We had to fight just to get her on the cover, which they put her skanky version so those boys would buy it."
Daly, who is a successful actor in his own right and stars on the ABC series Private Practice, talked about the responsibility that comes with being associated with The Man Of Steel. "I've actually had to take myself aside and have a conversation about it. I've admitted that when I first stumbled into the role of Superman I didn't realize what a responsibility it is. I thought it was just a kids cartoon and it didn't really occur to me how important it is to people and the tradition that I was upholding," said Daly.
"About a week ago I was on the lot where they shoot my show Private Practice and they also shoot The Closer there and this guy who is a regular on that show came up to me and did fifteen minutes of detailed descriptions of episodes of Superman: The Animated Series and stuff that I don't even remember. He was clearly so committed to the Superman ethos that I have a great respect for him. I have learned how much respect I need to have not just for my fans but everyone that appreciates it." Daly also commented on something that he noticed about his character for the first time while watching the film. "Did anyone see what's going on with him in this one? He has two curls in his hair. His moose has let up."
Producer Bruce W. Timm talked about the new slate of films one by one beginning with All-Star Superman. "It's my favorite Superman comic ever," said Timm. "I'm a huge Grant Morrison fan. I love what they did with the character. They brought an amazing freshness to the character. He really honored some of the silver age wackiness of Superman but they played it straight but with a little bit of a modern twist. It's a great combination of old and new. It's really iconic and feels to me like the definitive Superman movie to me when I watch it. It's like a 100% Superman and its awesome. I think it's one of the best movies we've ever made. It's done. It's in the can and its just waiting."
Timm continued by explaining exactly just what Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is going to be. "It's similar to Batman: Gotham Knight DVD which we did a few years ago in the sense that it is an anthology movie," he said. "Its five or six different stories but each one of them focuses on a different member of the Green Lantern Corps. and there is an overall story that ties them together. It's Abin Sur, Sinestro, Kilowog in the days when he was getting Green Lantern training and others."
Timm finished talking about the upcoming films by discussing the fan-favorite Batman: Year One. "Again, it's one of my favorite Batman comics of all-time. I've loved that book for twenty odd years. It's really, really faithful. The thing about Batman: Year One as a whole is really a deconstructive Batman. It's stripping away all the gadgets and the larger than life stuff,"