Live-action DC films have a reputation for mediocrity, but their animated counterparts are in a class all their own.
The MCU may have its biggest competitor beaten on the big screen, but DC’s small screen releases have long put Marvel to shame. This trend persisted for years before the MCU took off, and it didn’t slow down in the face of multiple DCU (or is it DCEU?) change-ups. It remains the best branch DC has to offer, outside of classic comic books, and yet another animated hit recently joined the stacked ranks of Tomorrowland releases with Justice League: Warworld‘s July 2023 release.
The latest Justice League flick follows several of DC’s favorites — including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Martian Manhunter — as they’re thrust into several new worlds, including one where gladiatorial combat forms the basis of society. Trapped in the ceaselessly brutal environment, the lineup of heroes are forced to join forces and lead the planet’s people to freedom. The film’s surprise ‘R’ rating could set it back a bit, however, as some viewers steer clear of the mature release.
Justice League: Warworld‘s R rating
Its exceedingly rare for a comic book movie to sport an R rating, so why is Warworld considered “restricted?” The film generally contains all the typical elements of a superhero movie, complete with plenty of enduringly popular heroes, but its rating prohibits any young viewers from tuning in. This is, according to the film’s producers — Jeff Wamester, Jim Krieg, and Butch Lukic — due to the violence present in the 2023 release.
Wamester joked that nudity was behind the rating in an interview with Screen Rant at San Diego Comic-Con, noting that “the nudity is tasteful,” before Lukic jumped in with the real culprit behind the film’s higher-than-expected rating.
“It’s mostly rated R because of the violence,” he said. “There’s a lot of bloodletting, sword-fighting, and gunfights.” The R rating is reportedly entirely spurred by Warworld‘s more violent scenes — even IMDb reinforces that the film is “Rated R for some bloody violence.”
That’s despite Lukic’s claim that, apart from those more violent scenes, the flick should be rated PG-13. Animated gore is still seen as adult content, however, and thus the film recommends adult supervision for any viewers under the age of 17.
