4K Review: “Legion of Super-Heroes” Supergirl in the 31st century widens the path of the Tomorrowverse

The latest entry in the DC Animated Universe is Legion of Super-Heroes and the events in this story are meant to lead into the next feature, Justice League: Warworld (coming in July 2023).

Kara witnesses the destruction of Krypton, just as her mother sends her to Earth to join her infant cousin Kal. Because of late she was launched, her ship’s trajectory is off, causing her to land on Earth decades later, and finds a grown up Kal/Clark/Superman.

Her inability to safely integrate into 21st century Earth leads Superman to send her forward to the 31st century where she can train with other super-powered beings at the Legion Academy. Kara meets others in the Academy, training in the hopes of being selected for a single open spot in the Legion of Super-Heroes.

After a contentious first encounter with Brainiac 5 (whom she’d mistaken for a previous, evil Brainiac), she settles into training with the others, including Mon-El, Invisible Kid, Triplicate Girl, and Dawnstar. Supergirl and Brainiac 5 suspect something else is going on, and uncover a shadow conspiracy designed to steal dangerous technology from the Legion’s vault.

Once the Dark Circle is unveiled as the same force behind villainous actions in the 21st century, the involvement of a previous Brainiac causes the others to imprison him, but he’s the only one who can prevent the theft and his previous self from achieving his objectives.

Kara realizes they need his help, so after breaking Brainiac 5 out, he helps Kara deactivate the reality bending machine by sending it into an alternate reality (this is just me speaking, but I’m thinking it’s going to create some additional future havoc), and the new Legion Academy students battle Mon-El and the Dark Circle members in that future timeline.

Kara later choosing to stay in the 31st century with her new friends/family to work with the new Legion there follows the path set by the previous Tomorrowverse stories, mingling the future and past Earths for the adventures of our DC Comics heroes.

The post-credits scene with Batman and Superman back in the 21st century features a space-borne beam attack of unknown origin that appears to obliterate them…

This Legion of Super-Heroes story is sort of a reimagining of the Justice League Unlimited episode that introduced the original Legion of Super Heroes and was the basis for that spinoff animated series. In that series, Supergirl never joined the Legion, but if this is going to be the first of a series of new Legion of Super-Heroes feature films, some of the same elements are in place from that earlier series.

The bonus features on this release are:
The Legion Behind the Legion: a first look at the actors voicing our heroes in this story, as well as peek into the thoughts of writer Josie Campbell and producer Jim Krieg

Down to Earth: The Story of Supergirl: an overview of the original of the Tomorrowverse’s Supergirl and how she finds her place on an Earth different from the one her mother intended to send her to, and the expanded membership of the existing Legion.

Meet the Legionnaires: There are dozens and dozens of Legion members, many of whom are featured in Legion of Super-Heroes. Who made the cut, and why? The filmmakers introduce us to each member in this film, give us some background on who they are, and why they’re important to the movie.

Brainiac Attack: The Intellect Behind the Super-Villain: highlights the differences in Brainiac 5 from his predecessor, how he worked to be better than the versions that came before him, and also the development of the friendship and relationship with Kara.

The vault shorts included in this release are 2 episodes from Superman: The Animated Series, “Little Girl Lost, Parts 1 & 2”. These episodes feature Kara and how Superman brought her to Earth from Argo City, and how she finds her place on Earth as she helps him battle Darkseid and his minions.

There’s also previews of the features Justice League vs the Fatal Five, and Superman: Man of Tomorrow. They provide good histories about the Legion of Super-Heroes from the comics and their involvement with villains from the Fatal Five, and the retelling of the Superman story in terms of the start of the Tomorrowverse.

The current DC “Tomorrowverse” features (so far) are:

Superman: Man of Tomorrow
Justice Society: World War II
Batman: The Long Halloween
Green Lantern: Beware My Power
Legion of Super-Heroes

The next feature in the series will be Justice League: Warworld, which appears to follow up after the startling event that appears to eliminate Batman and Superman.

These films (and the new ones for the foreseeable future) represent the soft reboot of the DC Animated series, and so far the stories have been enjoyable. For me, the history revealed in the special features on most of these releases have been more entertaining, including some of the long lost shorts.

Legion of Super-Heroes is available from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and Digital on February 11, 2023.

Warner Bros. provided the 4K Combo set used for this review.

Welcome to the 31st century and the Legion Academy, where a new generation hones their powers with hopes of joining the Legion of Super-Heroes. Devastated by tragedy, Supergirl struggles to adjust to her new life on Earth. Taking her cousin Superman’s advice, Supergirl leaves their space-time to attend the Academy. There, she quickly makes new friends, as well as a new enemy with old ties: Brainiac 5. But a nefarious plot lurks in the shadows – the mysterious group known as the Dark Circle seeks a powerful weapon held in the Academy’s vault. Find out if the budding heroes can rise to the challenge in this all-new DC Universe Movie!

Kara/Supergirl has a rough run – witnessing the destruction of her home planet, battling an armed Solomon Grundy, and generally struggling to fit into life on Earth. But that’s just the start of her adventure in LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, the latest DC Universe Movie, coming to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital starting February 7, 2023 from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

The film features Meg Donnelly (American Housewife) and Harry Shum Jr. (Crazy Rich Asians) atop a star-studded cast as the voices of Supergirl/Kara and Brainiac 5, respectively. Darren Criss (Glee, The Assassination of Gianni Versace), Matt Bomer (Doom Patrol, White Collar) and Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, The Boys) reprise their roles in this ongoing Justice League continuity as Superman, The Flash and Batman, respectively.