Superman/Batman: Apocalypse



The sequel to Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and the first sequel in the DC Universe Original Animated Movies line.

The film begins with a huge meteor crashing into Gotham Bay alerting the attention of Batman to the scene. The meteor turns out to have contained a spaceship belonging to a girl possessing the strength and powers of Superman. In her confusion and fear she causes enough damage to warrant Batman using kryptonite to subdue her. Awakening in the Batcave she destroys Batman's scanning equipment but her attempt to flee is halted by Superman. Able to understand her language and provide her reassurance, Kal-El learns she is his cousin Kara Zor-El.

Superman offers to take the young Kara under his wing, despite Batman's suspicions, and teach her how to live among the humans. However Darkseid knows of her arrival and makes plans to use Kara for his own means.

The direct-to-video adaptation is based on "The Supergirl from Krypton" story arc. Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly reprise their roles from the first feature and Susan Eisenberg returns as Wonder Woman, whilst Summer Glau voices Supergirl.

"Kara: I've been chased, shot at, kidnapped, beaten up, had my mind controlled and I Broke a Nail."
 * Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Wonder Woman and Big Barda go for a stroll through one on Apokolips.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking


 * Artistic License Physics - Early on, we see a blimp damaged, and it promptly falls towards the ground like a plane. They're called "lighter-than-air craft" for a reason, folks.
 * Art Shift: Public Enemies tried to emulate the art syle of Ed McGuinness, who drew the comic version of PE. This movie has an art style trying to emulate the late Michael Turner, who drew "The Supergirl from Krypton".
 * Badass Normal: Batman takes out Supergirl, meets an army of Doomsday clones with a "bring it on" attitude and defeats Darkseid by holding his entire planet hostage.
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: Wonder Woman and Barda against the Female Furies.
 * Beauty Is Never Tarnished:
 * Played straight when Kara faces off with her cousin on Apokolips. Well, she did break a nail.
 * Berserk Button: Superman is overprotective of his cousin.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy
 * Buffy-Speak: "I can help [rebuild your house]. I'm good with a hammer, I can... pound... I'm a good pounder."
 * Clone Degeneration: The only possible explanation for the semi-even battle on Paradise Island, since the real Doomsday did not just kill Superman, but took out the entire Justice League first.
 * Clothing Damage:
 * Happens to Kara a lot.
 * Superman's suit gets pretty torn up
 * Combat Stilettos: Kara wears platform shoes during her time as a Female Fury.
 * Conservation of Ninjitsu: The pre-battle overhead view shows that the army of Doomsday clones outnumber the Amazon's by at least two-to-one, but the Amazon's still hold them back and even Batman, normal human though he is, is able to best them in hand-to-hand combat. The fact that they are clones might cover this, except they apparently retain enough strength to knock Superman to the ground and cause him visible pain.
 * Continuity Nod: The opening scene featured a radio announcer giving a synopsis of the events of the first movie, including the kryptonite asteroid and President Luthor's impeachment. Much of the information has little bearing on the plot of this film, but it does set the stage for Supergirl's arrival, explaining where the Kryptonite meteor shower came from.
 * Darker and Edgier: It is lighter than the last DC Animated Movie, but still provides a darker tone and events than Public Enemies.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Batman.
 * Digital Piracy Is Evil: The movie was available on-line on September 13, 2010, two weeks and a day before its official release on home video.
 * Does Not Know Her Own Strength: Kara, especially when she first arrives.
 * The Dragon: Kara was this to Darkseid during her stint as leader of the Furies. It was a short stint but she did a pretty good job.
 * Evil-Detecting Dog: Subverted. Krypto does not seem to like Kara at all, a fact that Batman points out given that he is a good judge of character. However, Superman believes his dog is just being a little overprotective and Kara herself is quite evil-free.
 * Evil Costume Switch: Skin-tight red and black pants with a black bra and Combat Stilettos? Is it supposed to be a surprise that she is evil?
 * Evil Makeover: Kara's costume becomes more revealing and metalic post brainwashing.
 * Evil Mentor: Darkseid to Supergirl.
 * Exact Words: Darkseid promises not to come after Supergirl again.
 * Eye Beams: Comes in original and Omega flavors.
 * Fan Service:
 * Supergirl is completely nude when she first arrives, then ends up wearing only an overcoat. She also seems to have a fondness for Stripperiffic outfits when she goes shopping with Clark, and winds up wearing a bra during her tenure as Fury.
 * Big Barda is introduced wearing only a towel, and you can see her shadow while she gets dressed.
 * Groin Attack: Wonder Woman to Granny Goodness.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard: Kara is able to banish Darkseid by utilizing a skill that he taught her.
 * Hollywood Healing: Batman looks pretty good for a guy who
 * Humans Are Bastards: Darkseid believes this, and heartily approves.
 * I Broke a Nail: Kara's final complaint after the Apokolips adventure is that she broke a nail.
 * Idiot Ball: It seems the Amazons and Wonder Woman of all people pick this up when they go to seek out Kara to train her to control her abilities. Apparently Wonder Woman assumed Superman to be such an unreasonable person that simply requesting her be trained was out of the question. Instead they opted to kidnap her, whilst her cousin was with her. Made worse that when things eventually calm down, Kal-El actually sees the reason in the move and agrees even after being attacked
 * Inferred Holocaust: Wonder Woman and Harbinger ambush Kara and Superman in a park to demonstrate the risks of leaving her in the city without proper training, highlighting her inability to control her powers and the massive collateral damage that results. She points out that if this attack had happened in daylight, with people in the park, there could have been countless innocent casualties when Kara lost control of her laser vision. Nobody seems to notice that, as laser eyes, her beams do not stop after twenty feet: The eye beams that missed the local statues and furniture will keep going until they hit something. Given that this is a major metropolitan area, the odds are very good that Kara just directly vaporized a person, or demolished a building. More immediate to the discussion is that, since Kara and Superman were walking in the park as simple tourists, it is obviously not empty just because it is night. Though fewer in number than during the day, there would still plenty of people in the immediate area to be killed during this "demonstration."
 * Ink Suit Actor: Unknown if it was intentional, but Granny Goodness does look kinda like Edward Asner in drag.
 * "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight
 * Knight in Sour Armor: Barda.
 * Larynx Dissonance: Edward Asner is once again voicing Granny Goodness, so naturally, this trope got invoked.
 * Limit Break: When Superman realizes that the Doomsdays are pushing back the Amazons, likely to overwhelm them, he stops holding back and destroys the lot of them with his heat vision.
 * Magic Skirt: Kara first appears naked, then gets her hands on a trenchcoat, after which her flight powers are awakened. This involves her flipping upside down a few times. You do the math.
 * Market-Based Title: It's generally believed by fans of the comics that WB's disappointment at Wonder Woman not meeting WB's expectations is the reason the movie is called Superman/Batman: Apocalypse and not Superman/Batman: The Supergirl from Krypton.
 * More Than Mind Control: After she is freed, Kara confesses she fears this about how Darkseid took control of her; Superman firmly dismisses that, noting that Darkseid has many resources and specialists to bend anyone's will to his control.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * The suit of Mister Miracle (Barda's husband) is hanging in Barda's superhero closet.
 * The radio news reader is named Vicki - presumably Vale.
 * The jetpack rig Batman uses on Apokolips looks very much like Orion's.
 * Naked On Arrival: Kara.
 * Only Six Faces: The main characters are all visually distinct from one another, but they blur together with supporting characters to an extent that almost seems deliberate. The writers seem to realize this, since when  dies her name is actually spoken aloud so that it is clear whose body is being held. Apparently this is actually the case in the movie, as Harbinger is not able to recognize herself in a prohetic vision, mistaking her own body for Supergirl's.
 * Papa Wolf: Superman. Any indication of someone even attempting to harm Kara is pretty much Kal-El's Berserk Button.
 * Power Incontinence: When Supergirl first arrives on earth she has a lot of trouble controlling her powers. This results in several scenes where her laser vision activates that she cannot turn off, and even an occurance of her floating off the ground and being unable to get down again.
 * Show, Don't Tell: The movie features many time jumps (ranging from a few hours to a few months) and attempts to reveal what happened in this missed time with clumsy exposition. Kara shares only a single scene with Lyla, during which they both talk about how great it is that they are best friends and have been for several months, and Superman and Supergirl battle over Apokolips while Superman exposits that its clear Darkseid has complete control over her. However, never is there a scene showing Kara and Lyla forming a friendship, or a scene showing any kind of brainwashing, torture or mind control being used on Supergirl. Much of it simply has to be taken on faith that it happened at all, and it lessens a lot of the impact of the events on-screen.
 * Space Is Cold:
 * Stripperiffic:
 * Lashina's outfit (in both the movie and the comic it is based on) can be summed up as "her traditional mask, a pair of pants, and a bra."
 * Kara tries on numerous outfits while touring Metroplis with Clark, several of which he adamantly refuses to let her wear. When she joins Darkseid, her top is essentially just a bra.
 * Statuesque Stunner: Big Barda appears to help resuce Supergirl.
 * Stunt Casting: Bruce Timm admits it's the reason behind most of the casting choices for the DC Animates series, including choosing Braugher over Ironside.
 * Swiss Cheese Security: Apokolips might have plenty of roving bands of bloodthirsty monsters, but actually having somebody stationed near the room filled with planet-busting bombs, or having a guard outside the door to Darkseid's chambers, seems to be expecting too much.
 * Take Our Word for It: None of the brainwashing of Supergirl is shown on screen, nor is it even described in detail. She appears, acts Brainwashed and Crazy and Superman describes her as being controlled by Darkseid, but we have only his word for this. There is no on-screen evidence at all to even imply that Supergirl is acting under any sort of coercion.
 * Thou Shall Not Kill: Though Superman would never intentionally kill anyone, he does warn Darkseid to never come back.
 * Throwing Your Shield Always Works: Wonder Woman does this at least once.
 * What Measure Is a Mook?: It is explicitly stated that Granny Goodness and Darseid exploit brainwashing and conditioning in their soldiers, forcing people to fight for them, so why does nobody seem at all concerned when they are killing off the Female Furies?
 * What Measure Is a Non-Human?: It is only after Diana points out that the Doomsdays do not bleed that Superman begins to stop holding back, and after he kills (destroys?) the group she comforts him with the fact that they were not really alive at all. Of course this brings up some questions since Superman had frozen and smashed two of the clones earlier without hesitation or sign of guilt.
 * Wrestler in All of Us: Wonder Woman in her teamup with Barda against the Furies.
 * You Did What You Had To Do: After explaining to Superman that the Doomsday clones were not really alive (See What Measure Is a Non-Human? above) Diana consoles him with the fact that "you did what you had to do."
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle: The movie seemingly ends with Clark getting ready to introduce Kara to his adoptive parents.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle: The movie seemingly ends with Clark getting ready to introduce Kara to his adoptive parents.