All the references you might have missed in ‘DC League of Super-Pets’

One of the best DC films in recent memory is jam-packed with easter eggs and references for fans of DC, Marvel, and general popular culture. DC League of Super-Pets is an animated film that tells the story of how Krypto, Superman‘s dog, meets Ace the Bat-Hound, Batman’s dog. The film has an all-star cast with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart voicing Krypto and Ace respectively, John Krasinski providing the voice of Superman, and Keanu Reeves providing the voice of Batman.

It is much easier to fit easter eggs and references – especially those which are tongue-in-cheek – into an animated film than live-action, and the writers and animators of DC League of Super-Pets definitely seized the opportunity to fit in many of them. Of course, because there were many references to look for, there were also some we might have missed, but let’s take a look at all the fun references we managed to catch in DC League of Super-Pets, which you can watch now on HBO Max.

John Williams and Danny Elfman

DC films are no strangers to reusing some of the most iconic scores in their roster, borrowing the music of John Williams and Danny Elfman to accompany a character’s entrance. DC League of Super-Pets uses John Williams’ Superman theme from the 1978 Richard Donner film of the same name starring Christopher Reeve as Superman and Clark Kent. The film uses the theme a few times starting with Superman’s entrance. They also use Danny Elfman’s Batman theme from the 1989 film of the same name directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as Batman and Bruce Wayne.

These two themes are used often in the DC world, with the Batman theme appearing in Justice League. DC League of Super-Pets also used the theme from the 1970s Wonder Woman television series where Linda Carter played Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman. Interestingly, all three of these themes – even though the Wonder Woman theme is not referenced too often – appear in the Lego DC video games.

Seeing the signs

As the League of Super-Pets brings the fight to Lulu (Kate McKinnon) to help save the Justice League, they fight outside the Daily Planet. The square they fight in seems to be a central area in Metropolis and is home to many different signs which were either obscure or blatant references to DC characters. First off there are two references to Catwoman with an S. Kyle billboard, and then a parody of the Cats musical which says Catwoman. There is also a billboard for a Bruce Wayne menswear line, and a sign featuring the Teen Titan Starfire which writes Starfire Express.

In addition to these more on-the-nose references, there are also some deep cuts among the billboards. There is a sign for Gingold Soda, which refers to the Gingold fruit which Ralph Dibney ingested, giving him the power to be the Elongated Man. There is also a sign for Sun Dollar, which is DC Comics’ substitute for Starbucks. Carol Ferris, aka Star Sapphire, the longtime love interest for Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern also had a sign, in the shape of a plane for Ferris Aircraft, her aviation company. And funnily enough, the two major fast food chains in the DC Universe were also represented with Big Belly Burger having a food truck and O’Shaughnessy’s having a restaurant. 

The Dark Knight

DC League of Super-Pets manages to throw a few references at the fans of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Toward the end of the film, Batman claims that he only works alone to get out of working with Ace but then goes on to list the exceptions to his rule, of which there are many. One of the people he claims to have worked with is “whoever Morgan Freeman played.” This is a reference to all three movies in which Morgan Freeman played tech genius Lucius Fox, the character who worked in the Wayne Industries Research and Development Department and who helped Bruce Wayne make his Batman gadgets.

There is another reference to Nolan’s trilogy in the film, specifically to Batman Begins. At one point when the Justice League are talking about animals that they have encountered Batman refers to falling down a well and being surrounded by bats. Now while this did occur in Batman Begins, it is also just a trademark of his origin story in general, also appearing in other versions of his origin like in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Marvel Comics

At multiple times throughout DC League of Super-Pets, the team of Super-Pets tries to give themselves names. Instead of thinking of names that stem from DC Comics they lean across the aisle and parody names from Marvel Comics. You can tell that they are referencing Marvel not just by the names themselves but they also used the same — or eerily similar — fonts. Names such as The Mighty Oink and Squirrelverine are parodies of The Mighty Thor and Wolverine.

Similarly Ace references both Mr. Fantastic and Thor by wishing he received stretchy powers or a magical hammer instead of the powers he has. Although both Plastic Man and Elongated Man in DC have those same powers so calling it a Marvel reference might be a stretch. Lex Luthor also mentions energized playing cards when wondering what his powers will be, a reference to the member of the X-Men, Gambit.

Near the start of the film, while Clark is getting ready to leave, he jokes in the mirror that he should have been called Iron Man before laughing it off, which is obviously a reference to the Marvel hero. The film also has a reference to Underoos, the superhero-branded underwear brand. While Underoos came in both Marvel and DC styles, MCU fans might recognize the brand from Captain America: Civil War, when Tony Stark signaled Spider-Man in the airport fight.

Krypto is definitely Superman’s dog

They blatantly make Krypto a parody of Superman throughout DC League of Super-Pets in some of the funniest references in the film. Krypto has the same powers as Superman and we get to see the destruction of Krypton from his perspective. He even has his own version of a Jor-El hologram with his father Dog-El. His nose is also in the shape of the Superman logo, and when he wants to pretend to be a regular dog, he puts on red-rimmed glasses like Clark Kent and takes on his own secret identity, Bark Kent. Early on in the movie they also parody Superman’s first comic book appearance with Krypto in the same position as Superman on the cover of Action Comics #1. At one point they also say “Pup, pup and away” a reference to “up, up and away” the Superman catchphrase popularized by The Adventures of Superman.

Black Adam

The post-credits scene of the film contains a fun reference to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s other DC Comics film, the soon-to-be-released Black Adam. Johnson voices Black Adam and his dog Anubis, and he confronts Superman and Krypto in the post-credits scene for DC League of Super-Pets, setting up his upcoming film, although this could not just be a one-off reference and we could see Anubis return in a possible sequel.

References to DC

In addition to the obvious references to Batman and Superman, there are also more obscure references scattered throughout the film. For example, PB (Vanessa Bayer) was created for the movie, but being a pig who teams up with Wonder Woman at the end of the movie is a reference to Justice League Unlimited: This Little Piggy, in which Wonder Woman transformed into a pig. 

There are also references to the DC villains Eel and Cheetah when the Justice League are reminiscing about animal villains that they have encountered in the past, while Merton the turtle (Natasha Lyonne) referenced an alchemist, who might have been the villain Doctor Alchemy. Also, Merton has multiple stickers on her back, one of which is a parody of Rosie the Riveter, except with Wonder Woman. At one point when all the Super-Pets are together, the phrase “Super-Pets activate” is used, which is most likely a reference to Zan and Jayna the Wonder Twins from Super Friends, as they would activate their powers with a similar phrase, “Wonder Twins powers, activate”.

References to popular culture

Finally, DC League of Super-Pets contains a number of references to other films and popular culture. Merton comes across a plush of the comic strip character Garfield and proceeds to flirt with it. Garfield was the star of two movies in 2004 and 2006 where the lasagne-loving cat was voiced by Bill Murray. When the Super-Pets assemble to battle against Lulu she remarks “what is this Paw Patrol?” This is of course a reference to the insanely popular animated children’s franchise of the same name.

The last two references come from Whiskers the cat, who is also a machine gun and can throw hairball grenades. She walks through the streets of Metropolis and sings “One-two, Freddy’s coming for you…” This is a reference to A Nightmare on Elm Street as that song is repeated throughout the franchise. Whiskers also yells “Super-Pets, come out to play!” which references The Warriors in which Luther (David Patrick Kelly) yells “Warriors, come out to play!”

Did you catch any more references in DC League of Super-Pets? There were some really obvious references that were not worth diving into, like Lois Lane referencing Mister Mxyzptlk or the reference to DC’s Infinite Earths, but we might have missed some super obscure ones. DC League of Super-Pets is available to stream on HBO Max.