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Next Tuesday, Warner Premiere releases the seventh in their line of direct-to-video DC Comics movies. Since closing shop on the shared-continuity DC Animated Universe that began with the seminal Batman: The Animated Series and ended with the can-do-no-wrong Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, the DC animation team guided by the sure hands of super-producer Bruce Timm has been busy putting out stand-alone movies based on DC superheroes.

Some are original genesis stories, not unlike how a live-action movie of the characters would be (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern: First Flight), while others are adaptations of fan-favorite graphic novels (Justice League: New Frontier, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies), both meant to attract new audiences. The latest one, I suspect, will satisfy old fans the most. While it's decidedly a separate continuity from the Justice League TV series, it is by far the closest we've got to new material from that universe.

It's called Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, and I was lucky enough to see it at its world premiere screening this week at New York's Paley Center. In attendance at the event were writer Dwayne McDuffie, voice director Andrea Romano and actor James Woods, who voices the villainous Owlman in the movie—all of whom I've got to chat with shortly before the screening.

The pseudo-return of Justice League Unlimited

The movie kicks off with a fake-out, showing Lex Luthor and the Joker breaking into a secure location to steal an element from people who look like the Justice League, but aren't. We realize this is not the world we know when Joker sacrifices his life to give Luthor a chance to get away. This Luthor is actually the last surviving member of his Earth's Justice League after a long battle to free the governments of the world from the criminal stranglehold of the Crime Syndicate. Desperate, Luthor jumps worlds to enlist our Justice League's help.

"This is a new twist. Just like the different artists that comprise the animation directors or did the graphic novels, they've got a slightly different twist on it. So it's worth exploring another voice option," said Andrea Romano about the new cast.

This is a different take, that much is obvious. Aside from the voice actors, which boasts names like Mark Harmon as Superman and Billy Baldwin as Batman, they also swapped designs and even members. The Green Lantern here is the comics' main Lantern Hal Jordan instead of Dwayne McDuffie's personal favorite, John Stewart—a decision McDuffie claimed was dictated by DC higher-ups. Rounding up the cast are Law & Order's Chris Noth as Lex Luthor and Firefly's Gina Torres as Superwoman.

Even so, the characterizations and team dynamic feel identical to the show. Superman is the righteous but naive decision-making frontman; Martian Manhunter is the wise heart of the team; Flash is the childish wisecracking goofball; and as always, Batman is the cynical, uncooperative badass who ends up saving everyone's collective behinds.

"It wasn't cast when I wrote it, so... In my head, I probably had the actors I knew from the show," McDuffie admitted.

"Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, these characters have been around for seventy years. It's just as appropriate to have different people be Batman as to have different people be Hamlet, you know? It's a great part."

McDuffie was a producer on JLU and his mark on it was widely recognized by fans. He wrote Crisis on Two Earths years ago to be a part of the show, but it never got made until now, when it's rewritten to remove references to the show's continuity.

"I shall become... an owl!"

Comic fans would know who the Syndicate are: evil twins from a parallel world. They're pretty unique here in that they're portrayed not so much as a supervillain team as they are—true to the name—a superpowered Cosa Nostra. Superman's analogue is a power-hungry thug named Ultraman. Wonder Woman's is a lustful psychopath called Superwoman. Batman, fittingly, gets the coolest evil twin, one by the name of Owlman.

It's just as well that James Woods got to be the only voice actor present at the premiere, because it's obvious that his character, Owlman, steals the movie. Just as Batman's dark crusade for being a hero differs from the rest of the Justice League's across-the-board valor, Owlman stands out from his peers as being an existential nihilist who's in it to make a lasting difference rather than collect money. Upon learning of the parallel worlds, Owlman comes to the conclusion that nothing matters in the context of infinite worlds and infinite possibilities. Justice is irrelevant.

"I started very differently than I ended up," said Woods of his performance. "I give [Andrea] a lot of credit because she was the one who wanted to do it this kind of very quiet, compressed tone."

"I said, 'Really? You think so?' And she said, 'Yeah, he's a really despairing kind of guy, very existential story.' I said, 'Well, okay. Let's try it.' It seems different than what I'm used to, I thought they'd want a more dynamic approach to the character, but in fact her instincts, I think, worked great. It came out better than what my first instincts were."

Fans of DC's animated output have long associated one man as the definitive voice of Batman. Kevin Conroy, who has voiced the Dark Knight since the early 90's from Batman: The Animated Series to recently in the video game Arkham Asylum, is so closely associated with the character that it's hard to hear someone else's voice in the role, but Romano said she understands why Conroy's not always the best choice.

"It's such an iconic character. And there's a lot of different ways to play Batman," said Andrea. "I don't always have to have someone who feels like they have to completely embody Batman for an animated series, which would be a very long commitment."

"Every time I'm called upon to cast him, my first thought is, '[Sigh], again?!' And then I look at it as a very nice challenge, because it's a very important character. I loved working with Kevin Conroy, but I loved working with Jeremy Sisto [who played Batman in Justice League: The New Frontier], I loved working with Billy Baldwin, and I loved all the Batmen I've had to work with."

The climax of the film, a one-on-one between Batman and Owlman, is as much a philosophical battle as it is a physical one; Woods so convincing in making Owlman argue his Nietzschean case well. Batman, however, is no slouch opponent in arguing the tenets of heroism.

Rated PG-13 for strong allusions to existentialism

Like the previous movies they've released, Crisis on Two Earths is rated PG-13, but it's nowhere near as violent or risque as, say, the Wonder Woman movie, which came with it gory sword fights and sexual dialogue.

"Really, other than a couple of gratuitous curses, I think this is about on the same level as the show was, because we tended to bend the rules horribly for the TV show," said McDuffie. "I guess now we're doing it legit. Before, we were being sneaky."

The series—technically aimed at kids—had a tendency to sneak in not only some surprisingly brutal fight scenes and sexual innuendos, but also subversive moralities and political squabbles, to the point where the Justice League went head-to-head with the US Government in one season over matters of national security.

Crisis on Two Earths has shades of that, with the League having to argue with US President Slade Wilson (aka Teen Titans baddie Deathstroke, who in this Earth is a good guy) over getting rid of the Crime Syndicate. The government is apparently in the mind that as long as the American people are relatively safe, living in submission to terror is an acceptable status quo. Superman, on the other hand, is not going to stand by and watch that kind of America take place.

The writing is classic McDuffie; plenty of fun humor, great ensemble interaction, some ideological clashes, a bit of satire and some overwritten—but nonetheless snappy—dialogue ("We're not the same. We both looked into the abyss, but when it stared back... You blinked.") to complement the action scenes.

Co-directed by Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern: First Flight) and Sam Liu (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies), the action are top-notch as always. They have an excellent grip on how to do group battles, often using The Flash's running around to navigate the warzone, from one pocket of battle to the next.

The highlight has to be the expected Justice League/Crime Syndicate one-on-one fights, each of them using different fighting styles. Superman vs Ultraman is of course a foundation-shaking brawl; Batman vs Owlman is a flashy kung fu fight; but the best is Wonder Woman vs Superwoman. True to Wondy's Greek origin, this fight is a very technical Greco-Roman wrestling match with a submission finish. Good stuff.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, February 23. It contains a bonus short film featuring The Spectre, and a 10-minute look at their next direct-to-video release, Batman: Under the Red Hood.