Universo Viviente
Related Articles
In 2020, the DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU) franchise which launched in 2013 with Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox ended after 16 films with Justice League Dark: Apokolips War…or at least that’s what it looked like at the time. Two years, this particular continuity was recently revisited through Constantine: The House of Mysterywith Legends of tomorrow‘s Matt Ryan once again reprising the wizarding anti-hero. DC Showcase’s extended short served as an epilogue to DCAMU, and supervising producer James Tucker shared his thoughts on House of Mystery back to the world he oversaw for nearly a decade.
James Tucker oversaw all 15 films set in the DC Animated Film Universe, and the only tales set in this continuity were the web series. Constantine: the city of demons and Constantine: The House of Mysterywhich is included in a recently released box set along with other DC Showcase shorts Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth!, blue beetle and Losers. While talking to Tucker about his work on the next DC movie The Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem in the MultiverseI asked him what he thought about it House of Mystery serving as an epilogue to the DCAMU, and he replied:
Well, those ideas were discussed when I was doing the Apokolips War finale. As far as I’m concerned, my continuity is closed. This door is closed. So whatever they do, the characters don’t belong to me, so I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s cool.’ In fact, when I was doing Apokolips War, I was going to do an ending that would have been a more overt transfer. So you would have known at the end of Apokolips War that there would be another continuity created. But there was some back and forth, and it was decided that it was best to leave the ending as it was, as you saw it, and let subsequent people decide whether or not to use it. So they used it, sort of. When I’m not involved in something, I’m a little deadpan, so I’m like, “Okay, it happened.” Also, I love The Spectre, I wish I could have used The Specter in my movie set.
With Earth ravaged after the battle with Darkseid and his forces, and millions expected to die before the surviving superheroes find a potential solution, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War ended with John Constantine persuading The Flash to go back in time to reset the timeline, i.e. create another Flashpoint, so all the destruction would be erased. Constantine: The House of Mysterywhich is inspired by Doctor Who, sees Constantine waking up in the eponymous location in the DC Showcase short after the time reset, with no memory of how he got there. Unfortunately, his stay at the House becomes hell, with demons disguised as loved ones killing him again and again in a time loop. As James Tucker mentioned, this short also featured the divine entity known as The Spectre, who was voiced by Lou Diamond Phillips.
As for James Tucker, he ended the DC Animated Film Universe the way he wanted with Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, but he acknowledged that he originally intended for this final film to more clearly indicate that a new DC continuity had been created. Without going into too much detail Constantine: The House of Mysteryends, the DC Showcase short indicates that there is now another DC Universe. And although we don’t get a glimpse of that reality in House of MysteryI would be remiss if I did not mention that what is informally called the Tomorrowverse kicked off in August 2020 with Superman: the man of tomorrowand will continue later this year in Green Lantern: Beware of my powerwhich released its first trailer in early May.
Constantine: The House of Mystery also concludes in a way that hints that even if the DC Animated Movie Universe is gone, its mythology could be explored again at some point. Now, we’ll have to wait and see if that actually happens, but until then you can buy Warner Bros. homeentertainment The Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem in the Multiverse on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital starting May 24. The film will also premiere on Cartoon Network on May 28, then will be available to stream with an HBO Max subscription on June 28.
