Fans who grew up with Batman: The Animated Series as their go-to cartoon superhero show have undoubtedly noticed the darker, more violent trend in those same cartoons now. I don’t think this is bad or even unwanted, as you can tell from my review of this month’s Batman vs. Robin. But a return to a more traditional, 90s feel is certainly welcome. That’s what we get in Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts.

The story brings together classic Batman foes and heroes to uncover the plot behind Penguin’s new invention of Cyber Animals. The robotic creatures keep popping up during strange crimes committed by the Animilitia, a squad of animal-inspired villains that includes Silverback, Cheetah, Killer Croc and Man-Bat. Luckily, Batman has his own squad to call on and Flash, Green Arrow, Nightwing and Red Robin answer.

Animal Instincts comes straight out of DC Entertainment’s desire to create a Batman animated film for younger kids. That sentiment registered strongly with screenwriter Heath Corson who “wanted to capture that fun of Silver Age Justice League comics.” He’s definitely done that here. Humor is used to great effect and is mixed effortlessly with both hand-to-hand and high speed action scenes. Fight sequences are often one-on-one giving each hero and villain a chance in the spotlight.

As is quickly becoming a tradition, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Animation unveiled a new Batman movie at a world premiere event at WonderCon on April 3. Inspired by best-selling graphic novel, Batman: Court of Owls, Batman vs. Robin is an excellent addition to the ever expanding universe of DC’s original movies.

Picking up on three months after Son of Batman left off, Batman vs. Robin showcases the still tenuous relationship between Bruce and Damian Wayne as they each try to better fit into their respective roles as father and son. Being crime fighting partners is both a help and a hindrance to their relationship, especially when it seems like Batman can’t rely on Robin to put aside his League of Assassins tendencies. The duo are to the test when Talon, the enforcer for The Court of Owls, tries to lure Damian in as his new protégé while Gotham’s secret society also enacts a plan that could destroy the city.

The film boasts a strong voice cast, including the return of Jason O’Mara (Batman), Stuart Allan (Robin), and Sean Maher (Nightwing). Allan once again brings the perfect amount of petulance to Damian and Batman vs. Robin goes the distance to remind us Damian isn’t a child the way the previous Robins, including Dick Grayson, were.

He was born and raised with assassins. Nightwing even remarks to Batman about Damian, saying, “He’s just a 10-year-old boy.” But Batman gently corrects him. “No. He just looks like one.” The film drives this message home so well it doesn’t seem as impossible for a kid to face off with full grown adults, even Batman, and hold his own or come out ahead.

DC Universe will premiere its 20th animated original movie at WonderCon this Friday, April 18. Son of Batman will have its world premiere in the Anaheim Convention Center’s Arena theater at 6 p.m. A panel discussion with the cast and filmmakers will follow the screening.

In Son of Batman, Bruce Wayne (Jason O’Mara) learns he has a son, Damian (Stuart Allan), whose mother is Talia al Ghul. He takes the boy in to train him as the new Robin and father and son form an uneasy partnership to take down the criminal enterprise, Deathstroke. Sean Maher (Nightwing) and Xander Berkeley (Langstrom) also star in the movie produced by James Tucker and directed by Ethan Spaulding. Check out a clip from the film below:

An encore screening of the movie is also available Sunday, April 20, at 1:15 p.m. in the Arena. The animated feature, which is based on Grant Morrison’s DC storyline, arrives on Blu-ray and DVD May 6, 2014.

Check out the clip after the break.

I went for the tacky pun. I had to. Chris doesn’t let me put enough puns on the Flickcast. And it’s Zatanna. You really can’t expect me to post a story about her in any way shape or form and not mess with it at LEAST a little bit. So now that I have gotten that out of my system, let’s get down to business: Zatanna is coming to Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Though appearing in a number of comics such as Hawkman, Batman, Green Lantern and The Atom alongside the title heroes starting in 1964, it was more than a decade later before she was offered membership into the Justice League. The crux of her early appearances revolved around the search for her father, magician Giovanni Zatara. Unlike most magicians though, Zatanna actually possesses legitimate magical ability because of her mother Sindella, who is Homo magi. Staying true to her father’s profession, Zatanna’s costume resembles that of a Playboy bunny combined with a magician’s tux (though the New 52 version only wears that costume on stage).

Like we originally said, the Martian Manhunter made his way to the cast of Injustice: Gods Among Us yesterday in the form of DLC. The first character not released as a part of the Season Pass, J’onn J’onzz as he is also known was released for 400 Microsoft Points over XBox Live and $4.99 on the PlayStation Network.

For the most part though, not many people know the full story behind the Martian Manhunter or even just how much power he holds. Luckily, Netherrealm studio has released a quick video to help bring people up to speed on those very important details of the Martian Manhunter that you chan check out below.

As it is discussed in the short, the Martian Manhunter has not only the strength and speed to go toe to toe with Superman but also owns a host of other unique powers that make him even more of a wildcard in battle. The ability to phase, turn invisible and shapeshift coupled with his abilities to read and even rewrite memories puts the Martian Manhunter in to a class of his own as a total wildcard in a fight.

When someone can attack you in so many different ways, how is someone able to prepare a defense against it? That is going to be the challenge for all Injustice: Gods Among Us players as the Martian Manhunter enters the fray for the first time in his new DLC pack.

Back when NetherRealm gave us the Scorpion reveal trailer as the third piece of DLC for Injustice: Gods Among Us, they also teased Martian Manhunter at the end.

But, as all Injustice players know, they instead got Zod which just so happened to time out around the same time as the Man of Steel feature film release. Luckily, that tease ended up being true as the Martian Manhunter is still joining the likes of Lobo, Batgirl, Scorpion and General Zod as a member of Injustice: Gods Among Us’ DLC roster. Sadly though, because he is the fifth piece of character DLC, Martian Manhunter won’t be a part of the season pass.

For those who aren’t familiar with J’onn J’onzz, he has been around since the fifties and has played a variety of roles in the DC Universe. Currently, the Martian Manhunter is the top dog in the Justice League of America book from the New 52 as the corollary to Superman. With strength, speed, senses, intelligence, endurance, shapeshifting, invisibility and intangibility to name just part of his power set, the Martian Manhunter could very well be one of the strongest characters in DC’s lineup.

Considering the level of exposure through both the comics and animated series and his overall power, it makes sense that Martian Manhunter would be in that roster, especially more so than a character like Killer Frost. (To this day, I still haven’t figured out why Killer Frost is in that game, especially as her main adversary Firestorm is not.)

Take a look at the roster of Injustice: Gods Among Us and tell me, who do you think is missing? The Season Pass has already brought us Lobo and Batgirl but there are still so many of DC’s top tier talent or at least upper B-level stars yet to appear in the game. Scarecrow. Mera. Firestorm (who is conceivably the only reason Killer Frost is in the game). Deadshot. Guy Gardner. The Black Hand. Hell, even Ambush Bug. So who is the third character revealed in the Season Pass for Injustice: Gods Among Us?

That’s right. Scorpion. Yup, the fighting game that won’t let you perform fatalities was just begging for Mortal Kombat to make its way into its ranks. Now, I won’t be completely cynical about it. There is an awesome new redesign to Scorpion done by Jim Lee in the game (so we know what he would have looked like if he had been a Marvel mutant during the Claremont run of X-Men).

This is also a character who MK fans will instantly be familiar with his moveset allowing for a much slower learning curve to the character since his gameplay isn’t almost entirely new like most of the rest of the cast. You can check out his full trailer below.

Do you have a friend who picks apart every movie they see? Or maybe that friend is you? Well, let it be known that you aren’t the only one. And let it be known, you can go somewhere doing it.

If you have heard of a little site by the name of YouTube, you may want to check out the channel CinemaSins. In about six months, CinemaSins has gained close to 400,000 subscribers and over thirty million views just by being “that guy” who decides to tear apart the hard work of so many creative people. (I kind of want his job.)

In this week’s installment, CinemaSins takes a look at what some could consider “low hanging fruit.” Let’s face it, Green Lantern was not a great movie. In fact, it was a pretty bad movie by all stretches of the imagination. And not just for the poor story, poor acting and poor effects…. Actually those are all the reasons it was bad. But CinemaSins helps articulate just what those problems are unlike most of us who are all just so appalled by it that our only response is “It sucks.”

Ever wonder what the attraction to Lobo as a character was? Aside from being an amalgam of various comic tropes and stereotypes, something about him ended up resonating to the point that thirty years since his inception, the anti-hero (who is pretty much just such a badass villain that people still like him) finds his way to the roster of Injustice: Gods Among Us as the first of four DLC characters.

For those who purchased the Season Pass, Lobo was announced on launch day for the game as the first member of the DLC roster. From the video below, he looks like a combination of fighting styles of some of the other brute characters like Solomon Grundy or Doomsday with the gunplay of Deathstroke. The trailer also gives a brief history of Lobo and the concept behind him, and how Lobo started out almost as a parody before taking on a life of his own.

After a bit of speculation, it’s been confirmed that Lobo will be the first character available as a DLC for Injustice: Gods Among Us. To In fact, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released a gameplay video today featuring Lobo, just to make sure everyone knows he’s coming. Of course, we’ve got the trailer for you as soon as it came to us.

In case you’re not familiar with Injustice: Gods Among Us, it “introduces a new franchise in the fighting game genre and a brand new story created in collaboration between NetherRealm Studios, DC Entertainment and comic book writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti.”

“As the story unfolds, players will experience the power, gadgetry and unparalleled strength of some the most popular DC Comics heroes and villains, such as Batman, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, The Joker and others, as they engage in epic battles in a world where the line between good and evil is blurred.”

In short, it’s pretty awesome. Soon to get a bit more awesome with the inclusion of one of our favorite characters.

Check out the gameplay fotage after the break. Lobo will be available for download beginning May 7th.