Machinima Developing 'Justice League' Animated Series for 2015 (VIDEO)
Machinima is one of the internet's most popular networks for younger males who are into everything from video games to superheroes. And now, the network has just acquired a major property: the online network will develop a three-part Justice League series from Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment.
Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles will premiere on Machinima in Spring 2015. The series will center around "a newly conceived reality in the DC universe where Justice League members Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are much darker versions of the superheroes that people know."
This will be the first collaboration since Warner Bros. invested $18 million in Machinima back in March. In addition, it will be the first venture for Warner Bros.' new digital content production division, spearheaded by Warner Bros. Animation/Warner Digital Series president Sam Register.
"Ever since we announced the Warner Bros. strategic investment, we have been looking for a new and exciting way to tap into the company’s unmatched content," said Machinma CEO Chad Gutstein.
"We are committed to delivering DC Entertainment’s extensive line-up of world-class characters and stories to audiences across all platforms and formats," added DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson. "'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' is an exciting opportunity to bring alternate versions of DC Comics' iconic Justice League characters to Machinima, and we look forward to bringing this new animated shortform series to life with our partners across Warner Bros.”
The digital series will apparently serve as a prequel of sorts to the upcoming animated film upon which they're based, Justice League: Gods & Monsters, as the episodes will premiere weeks before the film's release in 2015.
You can check out Machinima's official video announcement for the series below, as DC takes an "all hands on-deck" approach with its popular properties:
The notion of a slightly darker DC Universe certainly has its appeal, although this approach feels like a bit of a targeted strategy to be the anti-Marvel, contrasting Marvel's adventurous spirit with dramatic severity. I'm not sure if it's a strategy that's going to work, but it should be interesting to see DC give it a shot, as characters like Batman aren't exactly difficult to make grittier (although Superman and Wonder Woman might be a bit of a hard sell). Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett are producing, and their collaboration on Batman: The Animated Series resulted in one of the best shows ever set in the DC Universe, animated or otherwise. So there's damn good reason for confidence in this project already.
Via: Variety
Credit: DC