Justice League Dark: Apokolips War

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is a 2020 American adult animated superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Home Video. The film is directed by Matt Peters and Christina Sotta, while Ernie Altbacker and Mairghread Scott wrote the screenplay. It stars an ensemble cast including Rosario Dawson, Jerry O'Connell, Jason O'Mara and Matt Ryan. In the film, members of the Justice League, Justice League Dark, Teen Titans and Suicide Squad join forces against Darkseid to save Earth.

Based on the comic book storylines "Darkseid War" by Geoff Johns, "Final Crisis" by Grant Morrison, and elements of "Futures End", it is the 40th DC Universe Animated Original Movie as well as the sixteenth and final feature film set in the first group of the DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU), generally marking the continuity's conclusion. The film was released digitally on May 5, 2020, and in 4K/Blu-ray/DVD on May 19. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and fans alike.

Plot
Following Darkseid's failed attempts at conquering Earth, the Justice League devise a plan to defeat him by infiltrating Apokolips while leaving the Teen Titans to defend Earth. Unbeknownst to them, Darkseid spies on the League through Cyborg. The League is overwhelmed and defeated by Paradooms — hybrid creatures made from Parademons and Doomsday using Superman's Kryptonian DNA—and a majority of the heroes from both the League and the Titans are killed, while those who survive are placed into Darkseid's slavery.

Two years later, Darkseid has placed devices known as "Reapers" which mine the planet's core. Superman, forcibly depowered after Darkseid tattooed his chest with liquid kryptonite, escapes from Apokolips and reunites with Raven, who has been struggling to maintain her father Trigon's imprisonment. They seek John Constantine for a location spell to track Damian Wayne. Although reluctant to help at first, considering himself a coward for fleeing during the initial attack on Darkseid and leaving his lover Zatanna to die, Constantine locates Damian at a League of Assassins outpost. Clark explains to Damian they need him to help free his father Batman from Darkseid's control. Damian reluctantly agrees to join the group.

The group travel to Stryker's Island in Metropolis and meet with Clark's wife Lois Lane who has recruited the Suicide Squad to their cause, now led by Harley Quinn. Clark and Lois reveal their plan to infiltrate LexCorp and use a boom tube to return to Apokolips and kill Darkseid. Meanwhile, the remaining heroes attack the Reapers but are overrun and killed by Paradooms. At the building, Lex Luthor confronts them, revealing he was working with Lois to gain intel on Darkseid. The group splits into two with Clark, Damian, Raven, Constantine, and Etrigan the Demon going to Apokolips and Lois, Luthor, and the Squad remaining at the building to defend the boom tube. Batman informs Darkseid of Luthor's betrayal, and sends Paradooms and the newly converted Furies after the heroes.

Upon arrival, Clark's group is attacked by the Furies, consisting of cybernetic versions of Wonder Woman, Mera, Hawkman, Starfire, and Martian Manhunter. Wonder Woman kills Etrigan, but Constantine manages to break her free using her Lasso of Truth. She decides to stay behind to fend off the other Furies as the group head on. They also rescue Flash from a treadmill powering Apokolips; Constantine learns that Flash had previously altered the timeline in the past in a "flashpoint". Shortly thereafter, Cyborg, who has integrated into the planet's network, confronts them. Constantine frees him from Darkseid's control, which also frees the remaining Furies. Darkseid orders Batman to kill Damian but he hesitates when he is reminded of his parents' death, which breaks him free of Darkseid's control. In a fit of rage, Darkseid tries to kill Batman but Damian intercepts him, dying in Batman's arms. Damian's death overwhelms Raven, the two having confessed their love for one another earlier on Striker's Island, and her sudden emotional instability frees Trigon. Constantine offers his body as a vessel for Trigon, but he refuses and takes Clark's body instead, purging the kryptonite from his body, restoring his powers, and breaking Constantine’s neck, killing him. Now possessing Clark, Trigon attacks Darkseid. Zatanna briefly visits Constantine in the afterlife, revealing she used a compulsion spell to manipulate and force him into fleeing back to Earth as part of a backup and contingency plan prepared by Batman when she died. Simultaneously, Raven and Zatanna revive Damian and Constantine.

Back at LexCorp, Paradooms surround Lois's team, prompting them to initiate a self-destruct. Lois transmits a goodbye message to Apokolips with Cyborg's assistance. Her death shocks Clark back to his senses and frees him from Trigon's possession. Constantine and Raven combine their magic to give Trigon a physical body so he can continue fighting Darkseid. Cyborg sacrifices himself to drag Darkseid, Trigon, and the Paradooms into a void boom tube with no destination at all. Trigon prevents Darkseid's escape as Apokolips is dragged into oblivion.

Despite their victory, Batman reveals that the Reapers have drained 31% of Earth's magma, the planet's rotation was compromised, and billions of people will die before the League can potentially find a solution. As a result, Constantine convinces Flash to run back in time and reset the timeline again despite knowing that the world will never be perfect or the same as before, it still has to be better than theirs. Flash eventually agrees, and the remaining heroes watch as he makes another flashpoint, resetting the timeline.

Production
The film was first announced in July 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con. Several voice actors from previous DC Animated Movie Universe films reprised their respective roles.

Release
The film was released on digital platforms on May 5, 2020, and on 4K/Blu-ray/DVD on May 19. It features a showcase animated short based on Adam Strange.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on  reviews, with an average rating of. Jesse Schden of IGN said: "This film takes full advantage of the fact that it's the final chapter in a 15-movie arc. Its narrative veers into some very surprising and compelling directions, and somehow it manages to pay off on loose ends from across the DCU".

Revenue
The film earned $5,661,974 from domestic Blu-ray sales.

Future
In spite of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War being confirmed as the last film in the DCAMU, screenwriter Ernie Altbacker teased the possibility of a new project related to that continuity. He said that "the way we ended it... it's really like a tough balancing act: It ends something on a bittersweet yet hopeful note, and I'll just say, people who are saying, 'Oh man, we're not going to get anymore of these!' ...you're not losing something, you're gaining something new..."

The DCAMU's second phase occasionally references events from the latter. In May 2022, Constantine: The House of Mystery was released. The short film deals with the aftermath of Apokolips War, setting the plot of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One.