Justice League × RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen[2] is a 2023 two-part American direct-to-video animated superherocrossoverfantasy film loosely based on the limited crossover comic book series RWBY × Justice League and DC/RWBY written by Marguerite Bennett. A co-production of Rooster Teeth Productions, DC Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Animation, the film centers on several members of the Justice League mysteriously turned into teenagers and teleported to Remnant while teaming up with Team RWBY to defeat a superpowered Grimm and a group of supervillains, including an old enemy of RWBY.
Part One first premiered at WonderCon in March 2023 before being released a month later on April 25, 2023.[3]Part Two was released on October 17, 2023.[4]
Plot
Part One
Clark Kent awakens in the Emerald Forest near Beacon Academy on the world of Remnant, where Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long are fighting against a pack of Grimm. On Remnant, Clark has gained a semblance that only works in sunlight, making him realize he's much weaker than he normally is and that there are some of his powers he can't use. The two sisters notice that the Grimm can absorb dust and fire lasers, which is unusual. In Menagerie, Blake Belladonna meets Diana Prince while Weiss Schnee meets Bruce Wayne in Atlas, who has also gained a semblance and is a bat faunus. Inside Beacon Academy, Ruby, Yang and Clark unite with Blake and Diana and later find members of Team JNPR Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren with Mari McCabe, Victor Stone, Barry Allen and Jessica Cruz from the Justice League.
The Justice League, who have all become teenagers, put what they remember together and deduce that they were fighting something mechanical before, while also realizing that while in Remnant, the semblance powers they have gained make them much weaker than they normally would be on Earth. Barry being much slower and having lower stamina, Diana's powers coming from her weapons instead of within, Victor's technology matching Remnant's era and therefore much inferior to his usual tech, and Mari and Jessica not even having their respective totem necklace and Green Lantern ring that give them their powers. Meanwhile teams RWBY and JNPR deduce that events such as the Fall of Beacon have apparently not happened, making them suspicious if this is the real Remnant.
Blake, Yang, and Diana set out to find Bruce and Weiss who ultimately come to the conclusion that this is a digital simulation of Remnant, Jaune remains with Jessica to help her find her ring while the others set out to find the cause of their current predicament. The third team comes into conflict with the Grimm, with a Wyvern amongst them and a fatal blow only causes a Leviathan to appear beside it. Jessica and Jaune are suddenly trapped in a white space with a Seer Grimm which, unlike many other things, was real and after getting out are lured into another trap by a simulated Pyrrha Nikos.
Blake, Yang and Diana along with Bruce and Weiss join Ruby, Clark, Nora, Ren, Mari, Victor and Barry with Bruce revealing that Barry is possessed by Kilg%re, who reveals that he turned the Justice League into teenagers (so their insecurities would reemerge and distract them) while trapping them along with Teams RWBY and JNPR in this Simulation with the collaboration of someone from Remnant and Bruce learns from a conscious Barry that Kilg%re is trapped as well. With Jaune's encouragement, Jessica frees the two of them from the trap and join the heroes and together they exorcise Kilg%re from Barry, the latter giving Mari's necklace and Jessica's ring back to them. Kilg%re then possesses the Wyvern but is ultimately defeated. The Justice League and Remnant's heroes bid farewell to each other and return to their respective worlds, with teams RWBY and JNPR awakening in Atlas from what was supposed to be a training simulation.
Part Two
After escaping the digital trap, Justice League members Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Cyborg, Flash, Green Lantern and Vixen wake up as adults in the Hall of Justice. Black Canary informs them that they were unconscious after their battle with Kilg%re and were brought in to heal; she then explains that their world is attacked by the Grimm. They decide to call team RWBY in Remnant for help. In the meantime, the Justice League try to contain the situation and come across Kilg%re possessing a Goliath who indirectly gives them a clue about his ally while a Death Stalker poisons Batman, the one who would likely discover him. Meanwhile in Vacuo, Team RWBY save two civilians from a King Taijitu Grimm, but Ruby's recklessness during the fight causes discomfort for her teammates and tension between her and her sister Yang.
The Justice league eventually call team RWBY from their world where three days have passed since their encounter but weeks in Remnant, with Team RWBY using an abandoned SDC laboratory to reach their world. After arriving, Team RWBY's appearance and powers change, with Blake losing her Faunus traits and has the ability to shadow bend, Yang gains the power of fire fist’s, Ruby has teleportation powers, and Weiss becoming a normal human. The Justice league bring RWBY up to speed regarding Batman's condition and Grimm evolving against their powers and attacking their weaknesses, with both sides realizing that a new Grimm is attacking the Central City. Weiss, Blake, Lantern and Cyborg leave for Gotham to find the poison for an antidote for Batman, while the others leave for Central City. The first team encounters a Sea Feilong, with Cyborg's attempt to take it down almost turning him into a Grimm and Weiss manages to retrieve a sample of the poison, they later join the team in Central City to destroy the Grimm.
After returning to the Hall of Justice and putting their clues together, the heroes learn that Kilg%re's mysterious ally is Doctor Arthur Watts, an agent of Salem who created a digital copy of his own consciousness as a contingency plan which escaped to the Earth with Kilg%re after the Fall of Atlas. During their break to prepare for the upcoming fight, Yang helps Flash come to terms with his trauma of being possessed by Kilg%re. After training together, Superman helps Ruby realize that if she wants to carry on the legacy of her deceased idols (like her mother Summer Rose), she should fight for their ideals not die for them. While preparing the antidote, Weiss discusses her identity crisis with Batman after the loss of her home. Cyborg and Vixen receive a call for help from Kilg%re while trying to discover the Grimm's power source. When discussing whether to trust him or not, tension reaches its peak when Yang expresses her concern for Ruby's well-being due to her reckless behavior, but the latter ensures her that she will be fine, deciding in the end to go along with Kilg%re and recruit Weather Wizard, Mirror Master and Killer Croc if it was a trap.
The Justice League and Team RWBY meet with Kilg%re, who indeed along with Watts was planning a trap. With the help of the aforementioned rogues, the heroes lure the duo into cyber space who try to manipulate it to their advantage, with Kilg%re possessing Wonder Woman and Yang, Flash absorbs him from the latter in order to keep him under control but Lantern's attempt to help results in her possession. While fighting, Ruby is injured but refuses Yang's demand to leave the battle. She implores her half-sister to cease her overprotectiveness and trust her as a Huntress and they reconcile. While by using Dust Cyborg tries to find a way to fix the situation, team RWBY corners Watts who reveals his own ambitions and deceptions, like trapping Kilg%re in the simulation so he would kill team RWBY and Justice League for him. Realizing this, Kilg%re possesses Watts and the two start to bicker. Seizing the opportunity, the heroes defeat their enemies and trap them in a virtual prison, ending the Grimm's rampage in the real world. With the incident resolved, team RWBY bids farewell to Justice League and return to their own world while the latter are called to another mission.
The film was announced at RTX 2022 with a release date around 2023.[5][6][7] Around February 2023, the trailer was released and revealed the title, cast and the release date and that it would be a two-part film much like Batman: The Long Halloween.[8][9][10]
On February 2, 2023, James Gunn confirmed that all DC animated projects are being released as part of DC Elseworlds.[11]
The Complete Adventure was released on December 5, 2023.
Reception
Part One received mostly positive reviews from critics. Sam Stone of Comic Book Resources praised the film's ensemble, pacing and action sequences.[13] Ricky Church of Flickering Myth praised the film's voice acting and writing.[14]
