The origins and inspiration of Justice League: War, explained

Justice League: War was released in 2014 as part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies franchise. It is based on the Geoff Johns and Jim Lee comic book Justice League: Origin, which was a part of The New 52, DC's reboot in the 2010s. The New 52 brought lots of new origins to the DC universe, not least among them was the Justice League.

The most obvious difference between the movie and the comic book is the roster. Granted, the rosters are mostly the same in both versions, but with one difference: In the movie, Aquaman is replaced by Shazam. Justice League: War still features Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Cyborg, but it is Shazam who stands in for Aquaman in this adaptation.

Justice League: War's connection to Origins

The villain is Darkseid in both, the ruler of the planet Apokolips. Darkseid's intimidating presence and army of parademons are featured in both. The Justice League fights to save the Earth for the very first time as a team, having as much conflict with each other as they do with their enemies.

Justice League: War served the same purpose as its comic book counterpart: To provide an exciting beginning for a new universe. The comic book that it is based on set up the core Justice League and the main villain, Darkseid, for the rest of The New 52. And the film adaptation attempted to do the same in animation.

The movie led to what is called the DC Animated Movie Universe, or, DCAMU. This led to numerous movies, including Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, which continued the trend of taking inspiration from The New 52 Justice League, and introduced Aquaman.

The DCAMU concluded in 2020 with Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. The DCAMU told an entire story, with a focus on the Justice League. None of it would have been possible without the incredible start which was Justice League: War.