In the present,[N 1]Barry Allen and Iris West picnic in Metropolis, hoping to get away from "work". However, their plans are disrupted by Superman fighting Brainiac. Allen comes to Superman's aid as the Flash. When Brainiac fires a Kryptonite bullet, Flash tries to catch it, but runs fast enough to channel the Speed Force for the first time. Guided by someone's voice, Allen arrives in what he believes is the past during a battle between the JSA and the Nazis. Despite initial confusion over his allegiance, the JSA realizes Allen is an ally and seemingly comes from the future. As the team mobilizes to stop another wave of Nazis, Allen takes Trevor back to the JSA's base and learns about the team, whom he never heard of before.
After meeting "Shakespeare", the JSA's war correspondent, and Trevor attempts to propose to Wonder Woman, the JSA meet for their next mission. Despite the risk of causing a time paradox, the heroes realize they need Allen's help in saving a codebreaker from a Nazi fortress who can decode a message Trevor stole.
The heroes and Shakespeare break in the fortress, defeat the guards, and discover several prisoners in the dungeons. A prisoner reveals someone told him of Shakespeare's arrival and implores him to prevent something from happening. A guard attacks Shakespeare, only for the bullets to bounce off of him. When Wonder Woman, Allen, and Trevor arrive, Shakespeare identifies himself as Clark Kent. However, he has a different background from the Kent Allen knows. Allen realizes that he is in a parallel reality. He runs to find Jay and the other heroes. They find the codebreaker, whom Hawkman recognizes as Doctor Fate. When Allen arrives and finds them, he recognizes the man as the one who called out to him. He asks Dr. Fate if it is possible for him to return. He says Barry can return but there is a lesson to be learned from his experience there and a mission but he refuses to speak further of what that mission is. Breaking the code with his powers, Fate directs the team to the Bermuda Triangle before disappearing.
Arriving at the Triangle by sub, the team is detected by Nazi warships. After depth charges disable the engines, the Flashes jump-start the sub while Wonder Woman heads out to destroy the enemy ships. The heroes are saved by Atlantean soldiers, who direct them to a nearby outpost. Met by the Advisor, the team meets Aquaman, who imprisons them. The code turns out to be a Nazi trap and Aquaman is being controlled by the Advisor, who is influencing the Atlanteans to work with the Nazis. The Advisor hopes to destroy them later and take over the planet. After the Flashes realize they are becoming weaker while they are together, they join forces to regain their strength and break out. The team splits up, with one heading for New York to stop the Nazis and Atlanteans while Allen and Wonder Woman try to stop Aquaman and the Advisor from releasing monsters from the Trench.
As Atlantean forces attack Manhattan, they are confronted by the JSA. The heroes gain the upper hand until the monsters arrive, killing Hawkman and wounding Hourman. Garrick and Canary destroy the monsters while Wonder Woman and Allen arrive and fight Aquaman. With the help of Trevor, Wonder Woman manages to break Aquaman's trident and frees him from the Advisor's control. Realizing what he has done, Aquaman retreats in guilt, but the Advisor reappears and reveals that a follow-up strike by Nazi bombers is imminent before killing Trevor with Aquaman's broken weapon. Barry knocks out the Advisor while Kent returns to destroy the bombers. Before dying, Trevor proposes again to Wonder Woman, and she accepts. The Advisor regains consciousness and manages to escape in the chaos of the Nazi bombers being taken down. The JSA vows to avenge Trevor.
Before returning to his Earth, Allen shares his goodbyes with the JSA. Wonder Woman gives him the ring Trevor gave her, warning him of holding off for tomorrow. Allen and Garrick use their combined speed to send the former back to the moment he intercepted the Kryptonite bullet. After destroying Brainiac with it, Allen suggests forming a team,[N 2] to Superman to combat future threats before returning to Iris and proposing to her, which she accepts.
The film was officially announced in August 2020, during the Superman: Man of Tomorrow panel at DC FanDome.[3] Some of the concepts for the story and setting originated from a Wonder Woman animated series developed by producer Butch Lukic, who would later incorporate them into the film.[4]
Release
The film was released on digital platforms on April 27, 2021, and was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 11.[5]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10.[6]
Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated the film a 9 out of 10: "Justice Society: World War II easily ranks among the best of long-running DC Universe Movies series. It draws just the right amount of inspiration from the source material while also pulling from adventure movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark to spin an entertaining superhero yarn. It deftly avoids the pacing issues that have plagued so many of these movies and manages to take full advantage of nearly every member of its ensemble cast. Clearly, Warner Bros. should be putting Barry Allen at the center of these animated films more often".[7]
The film earned $732,012 from domestic DVD sales and $2,887,606 from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total domestic home video earnings to $3,619,618.[8]
The Flash makes a non-speaking cameo in Batman: The Long Halloween: Part II's post-credits scene. Additionally, Criss and Bomer reprised their roles as Clark Kent / Superman and Barry Allen / The Flash in the film Legion of Super-Heroes, which is also set in the Tomorrowverse.[9]
