[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/justice_league_war_3908.jpg]]

Superheroes have recently started to appear and not only are they considered strange, but are hated and feared, which Batman doesn't mind. But when he discovers signs of an alien invasion from the planet [[ComicBook/NewGods Apokolips]], ruled by the GodOfEvil ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, Batman must team up with Green Lantern and they must band together a team of superheroes to stop it.

A film in the WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies line and the first full movie in the WesternAnimation/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse, ''Justice League: War'' is an AnimatedAdaptation of the first arc of the ComicBook/{{New 52}} version of the ComicBook/{{Justice League|2011}}, ''Justice League: Origin''. Voice actors include Creator/JasonOMara (''Series/TerraNova'') as Franchise/{{Batman}}, Creator/AlanTudyk (''Series/{{Firefly}}'') as Franchise/{{Superman}}, Creator/MichelleMonaghan (''Film/SourceCode'') as Franchise/WonderWoman, Creator/ChristopherGorham (''Series/CovertAffairs'') as Franchise/TheFlash, Creator/JustinKirk (''Series/{{Weeds}}'') as Franchise/GreenLantern, Creator/ShemarMoore (''Series/CriminalMinds'') as ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}, Creator/SeanAstin (''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'') as ComicBook/{{Shazam}}, and Creator/SteveBlum (''Anime/CowboyBebop'') as ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69ILNSlQhXQ Here is the first trailer released.]]

Here is the [[Characters/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse character sheet]].
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!!This movie provides examples of:
* ActorAllusion: Creator/SteveBlum goes from voicing Darkseid-{{Expy}} [[WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}} Vilgax]] to the real deal here.
* AdaptedOut:
** ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} is replaced by Shazam.
** Freddy and Darla are Billy's only foster siblings shown in the film. Mary, Eugene and Pedro are not seen or mentioned.
* AdaptationExpansion:
** The fight scenes against Darkseid are much more epic in both scale and length than they were in the comic.
** Wonder Woman is given more focus than in the source material. Her fight scenes are some of the most impressive in the movie in technical terms.
** Shazam [[AdaptedOut replacing Aquaman]] is also an example of this, as Cyborg's OddFriendship with him develops the latter's character beyond the source material.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Freddy Freeman is a kind young boy, in contrast to his New 52 counterpart, who was a lying hustler and thief.
* AlienBlood: The Parademons have dark green, electrically charged blood that doesn't stick to clothing or skin.
* AlienInvasion: This film deals with Darkseid and his parademons' first invasion on Earth, an event which leads to the formation of the Justice League.
* AllAmazonsWantHercules: Wonder Woman is instantly smitten when she sees Superman kicking ass.
* AloofAlly: SubvertedTrope, while Batman is as [[TheStoic stoic]] as ever, he also proves to be quite amiable and approachable to all of his teammates. The one exception is Green Lantern, though that is more of a side effect that this incarnation of Hal Jordan is quite the jackass.
* AmazonChaser: At least three of the heroes hit on Wonder Woman.
* AudibleSharpness: Wonder Woman can't move her sword one inch without it making little noises.
* AssInAmbassador: Wonder Woman is supposed to be this, though she's really just an InnocentlyInsensitive BoisterousBruiser who treats every situation like it's a fantasy epic. She bails on meeting the president because she doesn't want to wait, cares little to nothing about the customs of the Nation she is in, and constantly thrusts her sword at people, which clearly terrifies them. It has gotten so bad that at the beginning of the movie there is a protest group wanting her gone.
* BadassNormal: Batman holds his own against a few parademons, although he's nowhere near as effective as the other superheroes and most of his fights involve evasion or trickery. His fight against Superman is exactly as one-sided as a fight between an alien god and a guy in a bat costume should be. Green Lantern asks questions that confirm, to his horror, that despite who they're fighting, Batman is someone Hal can't believe has survived as long as he has.
* BerserkButton: For Darkseid, getting his [[EyeScream eye stabbed]] by Wonder Woman. He doesn't say anything, but he goes form expending minimal effort to tackling and [[RapidFireFisticuffs wailing on her]].
%%** For Superman, hurting Wonder Woman.
* BigBad: Darkseid. A galactic level conquerer who invades planets, converts the populations into more of his monster mook soldiers, and moves on to the next one.
* TheBigGuy: Superman, as opposed to his [[TheCape more traditional portrayal]], is more cocky here and is frequently labeled as the group's "Big Gun."
%%* BloodKnight: Superman is a bit more fight-happy in this adaptation.
%%** Ditto for Wonder Woman.
* BodyHorror: Victor's transformation into Cyborg. After an Apokoliptan Mother Box blows up in his face, Victor's father tries to use the advanced technology in his lab to save him, but it interacts with the Apokoliptan tech and bonds to him painfully. Notably, as the film progresses, his body horror softens in stages until he's settled into his normal look.
** Also, the poor alien who we see being [[PainfulTransformation painfully transformed]] [[ReforgedIntoAMinion into a Parademon]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KuPwL9lBHo Enjoy]].
* BoisterousBruiser: Wonder Woman loves a fight and relishes the battlefield as soon as the war against Darkseid begins.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Superman]] after being tortured on Apokolips and partially converted into one of Darkseid's cyborg soldiers. He even kills Desaad and tries to kill Batman before coming back out of it.
* BrawlerLock: Superman does this against Darkseid and forces him to his knees.
* ButtMonkey: Green Lantern. Batman hands out humiliation to him to such an extent that he looks like his ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'' incarnation.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Victor calls his dad out for never caring about him and actively discouraging his skills.
%%* ChewingTheScenery: Wonder Woman's reaction upon discovering the [[MundaneObjectAmazement wonders of ice cream]].
* CloudCuckooLander: Wonder Woman's tendency to filter everything in terms of being part of a heroic epic makes her surprisingly childish and detached from reality.
* CombatPragmatist: Batman, as per usual, picks his fights carefully. He sticks to surprise attacks against the parademons as best he can, uses the fact that Superman doesn't kill to test him for weaknesses, and only ever directly engages Darkseid after he's blinded, and only just long enough to try to send him back through his portal.
* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodeNames: They're never actually called the Justice League. The president calls them the ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' and the movie ends with with Shazam calling them the Super Seven with everybody else groaning.
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: After being rescued from a Parademon by the Green Lantern, the woman in the beginning asks what the catch is.
-->'''Woman:''' What's it gonna cost?\\
'''Green Lantern:''' (sarcastically) You’re welcome, lady.\\
''[Green Lantern flies away in a huff]''\\
'''Woman:''' And how am I supposed to get down from here now?
* ConvenientlyEmptyBuilding: Dozens of them, at least some seem to be construction sites or abandoned buildings befitting urban sprawl but city centers have no excuse. This is averted for that one with someone visibly fleeing inside it when Superman plows through it and several Darkseid damages to drive the terrified population outside.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: One Parademon handles Batman and Green Lantern. Another seems to give Superman a decent fight (though he may be holding back to try to capture it alive). Once the Mother Boxes open, they go down in droves.
* ContinuitySnarl: Batman and The Flash seemingly meet for the first time in this movie, with the latter being surprised the former exists, even though the final scene of ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox The Flashpoint Paradox]]'', after The Flash changes the timeline to the one in this movie, depicts Batman and The Flash talking in the Batcave. It can be argued this takes place in the past, before the scene where Pre-Flashpoint Barry awakes in the new timeline.
* CurbStompBattle:
** Green Lantern and Batman are hopelessly outmatched when they decide to interfere with Superman. It takes Bruce revealing he knows Supes' secret identity to stop him from attacking them.
** The Air Force tries to stop Darkseid, and is unsurprisingly obliterated without managing to deal any significant damage.
** Batman has, in prior adaptations, been portrayed as able to beat Superman handily as long as he has an edge of some kind. Here, we get to see him try to fight Superman ''without'' an edge, and it doesn't go well. Superman becomes TheJuggernaut, completely shrugging off the gadgets Batman tries to use against him while neutralising him with little more than a blast or two of his EyeBeams and throwing one or two punches. In the end, Batman has to resort to IKnowYourTrueName to defuse the conflict, with the playing field quickly levelled thanks to Superman's X-Ray Vision.
%%** The first battle of the Justice League against Darkseid is one-sided.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Like all of his other versions, Batman cultivates a dark image to make his heroics easier, and considers the general public fear and hatred of heroes to be an necessary evil, but does what he does to make the world a better place. Wonder Woman even compares him favorably to Hades, who in the original myths was a very dark, but not evil, death god.
* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Desaad]] gets this at the hands of a brainwashed and berserk [[spoiler:Superman]] in particularly brutal fashion.
* {{Determinator}}: Hal's main redeeming feature is that, per canon, he doesn't give up. Ever.
%%* TheDragon: [[EvilGenius Desaad]] to Darkseid, as usual.
* DumbMuscle: Hal has shades of this, but it's mostly because he's over-confident. Superman at first hits this due to being the strongest living thing on the planet most of the time.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Superman's design featured a slightly different belt design and lacked the "S" on the cape for this film.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In this film, superheroes are treated as a recent thing and Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern are voiced by Creator/AlanTudyk, Creator/MichelleMonaghan, and Creator/JustinKirk respectively. The very next film in the ''WesternAnimation/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse'', ''WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman'' shows that Dick is already Nightwing; ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract'' shows that the Teen Titans were already formed when Dick was Robin with Speedy also being around, despite ComicBook/GreenArrow never once having been seen in the setting; and the respective roles of Clark, Diana, and Hal were voiced by Creator/JerryOConnell, Creator/RosarioDawson, and Creator/NathanFillion in subsequent installments.
* EskimosArentReal: The Green Lantern and The Flash are shocked to learn that Batman exists.
* EvilIsBigger: Darkseid is huge in this incarnation, easily three times taller than the heroes and just as wide.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Darkseid is voiced by Creator/SteveBlum, and his voice is altered to demonic levels.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The bulk of the film takes place in a single night.
* EyeScream:
** The heroes agree that disabling Darkseid's [[EyeBeams Omega Beams]] is their first priority, and thus aim for his eyes. Because of this, [[spoiler:Darkseid gets both eyes gouged out, one with a sword, the other with a ''crowbar''. For good measure, Shazam sends a lightning bolt down the latter. And ''then'' Superman follows suit by shooting into both of Darkseid's bloody eye sockets with his EyeBeams.]]
** The poor victims [[spoiler:(including Superman!) of the PainfulTransformation that would turn them into Parademons; it starts with the ''eyes'' and includes visibly dripping blood.]]
* {{Fanboy}}:
** The Flash is pretty happy about meeting Batman. [[PetTheDog And Batman respects him]], which, after treating Hal like a moron for the entire movie up until that point, is amusing.
** Billy Batson is one for Victor and his football career, and continues supporting him when he's transformed into Cyborg.
* FeedItABomb: Batman does this to a Parademon in Darkseid's base.
%%* FishOutOfWater: Wonder Woman, [[CharacterExaggeration to a ridiculous extent]].
* ForTheEvulz: Darkseid is given no motivation or backstory for his invasion of Earth. All he states is that he is entropy and death. When not busy fighting the heroes he engages in random acts of destruction with his eye beams. So he invades because he is evil... and that is about it.
* FriendToAllChildren: Wonder Woman blows off a meeting with the president in favor of befriending a young girl named Hannah Grace and getting ice cream with her.
* GenericDoomsdayVillain: Darkseid is given no motivation, background, personality, or anything. The only reason given for his invasion is for organic material to create more Parademons so he can invade other planets to get the organic material to create more Parademons. You could replace him with any other alien conqueror.
* GoForTheEye: Wonder Woman comes up with a rather direct solution to [[spoiler:Darkseid's Omega Beams: blind him]].
* AGoodNameForARockBand: Green Lantern jokingly asks if Darkseid is the name of a band.
* HeroInsurance: A protester rants about the heroes causing $100 million in damage yearly as part of the reason they need to go. Such an estimate is rather tame by modern standards, all things considered.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: The heroes aren't well-liked to begin with, in part because of the massive collateral damage they cause; aside from the Flash, most of them can't be bothered to check themselves. An alien invasion warms the public to them.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: What ultimately stops Darkseid is [[spoiler:Cyborg, who has a combination of Apokaliptian technology and other alien tech which allows him to interface with the Mother Box and reprogram it to send Darkseid and his army back where they came from]].
* HostileTerraforming: Darkseid's trying to do this to the Earth, making it yet another hive for creating Parademons.
* HumanResources: Parademons are created by re-purposing the local populations of the planets Darkseid conquers.
* IAmTheNoun: Darkseid introduces himself by saying "I am entropy. I am death. I am... ''(DramaticPause)'' Darkseid."
%%* IdiotBall: Vic Stone when he grabs the Mother Box his dad is working on.
* IKnowYourTrueName:
** Batman defuses the fight with Superman by calling him by his civilian name. Superman turns it around on him by using his x-ray vision to learn Batman's secret identity.
** Batman does it to Green Lantern to make sure Hal listens to his pep talk.
* INeedToGoIronMyDog: When Victor is first transformed, he starts argue with Silas. The Flash mentions that he is probably needs to "help out downtown," and leaves.
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Batman successfully does this after Superman has been brainwashed and partially converted into a Parademon.
* ImpossibleThief: Batman manages to steal Hal's ring while he's wearing it, and Hal doesn't notice until Batman holds the ring up to study it.
* JerkJock: According to the writers, Green Lantern was intentionally meant to be seen as an arrogant jock.
-->'''Heath Corson:''' Hal Jordan is a jock. He’s the guy who’d walk into a bar with a popped collar -- he’s a douchebag! And guess what: He gets to be a douchebag in this.
* LargeHam: Wonder Woman is very exuberant, especially when it comes to battle. Even outside of fighting, she seems to approach near every situation with the same [[BoisterousBruiser warrior's boisterousness]]. Even ''eating ice cream.''
* LeeroyJenkins:
** Green Lantern doesn't really think before he attacks. Amusingly, by the end of the plot he manages to shape up and puts together a careful plan of attack, only for Shazam to ruin it by doing this instead--which Lantern lampshades.
--->'''Lantern:''' ''[to Wonder Woman]'' Get him out of there. His showboating is gonna ruin the entire plan. Oh, great, now I'm Batman.
** Diana doesn't stop to think before she decides to attack Cyborg upon first meeting--and gets a face of automated sonic cannon for her troubles. Immediately after, Flash lets everyone know Vic's on their side.
%%** Shazam (and Diana calls him out on it), though he has the excuse of being a kid.
%%** Superman himself has this problem, though it's downplayed in comparison to the other heroes.
* LetsYouAndHimFight: The superheroes are unfamiliar with one another at first. This leads to brawls such as Green Lantern and Batman vs Superman, and Wonder Woman vs Cyborg.
* MadeOfIron: Darkseid withstands a ''lot of punishment'' from the Justice League and continues fighting even after he's blinded in both eyes. All they end up being able to do to stop him in any form is to simply send him back through a Boom Tube because fighting him is basically a futile effort that will eventually wear them down.
* MistakenForSuperpowered: Hal Jordan honestly believes Batman to be a vampire because of the things he's capable of doing, and is taken aback when he realizes he's on a SuperTeam with a BadassNormal.
* MythologyGag:
** Superman and Green Lantern fight in a building with a [[ComicBook/LexLuthor Lexcorp]] sign in front of it, and then Superman throws Lantern into a Lexcorp truck.
** [[ComicBook/{{Static}} Virgil Hawkins]] and Tye Longshadow from ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' can be seen at the football game in the beginning.
** The Wonder Woman effigy that the protester is seen hanging sports her ComicBook/{{New 52}} design. Incidentally, there are also similarities to ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', where a protester is seen holding a Superman-like effigy.
** Freddy Freeman and Darla Dudley appear as Billy's foster brother and sister.
** One of the scientists early on is basically Dr. Sterling Roquette as a brunette. Likewise, one of the others is future supervillain T.O. Morrow.
** When they're being lauded in the ending, the speaker stumbles over what to call them before settling on "WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}", prompting an argument about what to name their group.
** Batman being mistaken for a vampire, which he was in the ''ComicBook/BatmanVampire'' trilogy.
** Shazam's name suggestion for their team is "Super Seven", a [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Super_Seven name]] used in the (pre-New 52) Elseworlds issues ''Adventures of Superman Annual'' #6 and ''Superboy Annual'' (vol. 4) #1.
** The victims of a previous invasion of Darkseid turned into parademons look to be Ulla's species, from Ultra the Multi-alien.
* NeckLift:
** Superman gives one to Batman at the start, before they recognize they're on the same side.
** Batman then interrogates Desaad this way.
** A brainwashed Superman [[spoiler:kills Desaad by breaking his neck one-handed]].
* NoSell: Batman hurls multiple explosives at Superman during their fight, but the latter shows no signs of injury afterwards.
%%* NoRespectGuy:
%%** Barry doesn't seem to get a lot of respect from his coworkers.
%%** The heroes in general aren't respected by the public they save, until the end.
%%** Among the heroes, no one respects Green Lantern.
%%* NoSocialSkills: Wonder Woman's a bit out of touch with social conventions, to say the least.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The conclusion of how Batman manages to defeat a flood of Parademons by himself or how he eventually talks down a brainwashed Superman isn't depicted.
* OnlySaneMan:
** Batman is clearly the most rational and mature member of the group at the start.
** Flash, who manages to be the only hero to go the entire story without getting into a pointless scrape of some kind with another hero.
* PainfulTransformation: The story does not pull punches with how horrifying the [[spoiler: Parademon transformation process is. There's a lot of restraint, a lot of screaming, and a LOT of blood.]]
* PrecisionFStrike: Cyborg delivers one [[spoiler:when the Mother Box stops working]].
-->'''Cyborg:''' ''Shit.''
* PsychoticSmirk: When he's not busy looking grim, Darkseid has a very menacing smirk that usually prefaces a brutal ass-kicking.
* RapidFireFisticuffs: The Flash lashes out with his fists rapidly a couple times, concentrating his hits around a target using his speed.
%%* RecognitionFailure: Green Lantern doesn't know who Bruce Wayne is.
%%* RedEyesTakeWarning: Superman, ''Darkseid''.
%%* ShipTease: Between Superman and Wonder Woman.
* ShockAndAwe: On top of being a FlyingBrick, Shazam can fire lightning bolts from his hand.
* ShoutOut:
** Near the beginning of the film, Green Lantern snarks that Batman - who he assumes is a vampire - hasn't had his [[Series/TrueBlood True Blood]].
** Shazam refers to Darkseid as "[[ComicBook/GhostRider Blackheart]] the [[Literature/HarryPotter Deatheater]]" while referencing [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft World of Warcraft]] in the same breath.
** Cyborg compares himself to the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' while angsting over his condition.
* SmallNameBigEgo:
** Played with by Green Lantern. He's perfectly correct when he tells Batman that this whole star sector is his jurisdiction... but then he goes and quickly gets taken down a peg almost constantly.
** Shazam assumes he can take Darkseid by himself and wrongly believes Wonder Woman "digs" him.
* SmugSuper: Superman, Shazam, and Green Lantern all think they can handle most threats on their own and rely on their powers. Superman even toys with Batman and Green Lantern when they first meet, knowing there's nothing they can really do to him. Superman's first interaction with WW is just saying, "you're strong," and she replies, "I know." Even ''[[BadassNormal Batman]]'' is smug and he has no powers to be smug about; he swipes Green Lantern's power ring and when told he's not going to do it again, his reply is "Unless I want to."
* TheStinger: [[spoiler: The post-credits sequence shows Ocean Master declaring war on the surface world, a SequelHook for ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueThroneOfAtlantis'', introducing Aquaman.]]
* StuffBlowingUp: As a BadassNormal, Batman can only get kills with liberal use of explosives.
* SupermanStaysOutOfGotham: Gets a lampshade hanging twice: Batman tells Green Lantern that Gotham is his, and Superman tells GL and Batman that Metropolis is "my turf."
* TakingYouWithMe:
** The first Parademon being tracked by Green Lantern and Batman tries to blow itself up with them.
** [[spoiler:Darkseid tries to take Superman with him as he's being sucked into the Boom Tube.]]
%%* TemptingFate: Basically every time someone says something like "What can possibly go wrong?", ''things get worse''.
%%* ThirdPersonPerson: Green Lantern talks about himself this way at times.
* TooDumbToLive: Victor. His transformation is a result of grabbing a ''visibly glowing alien box'' while it's being studied by his father.
* UngratefulBastard: The woman in the beginning who doesn’t thank Green Lantern for saving her life.
* UngratefulTownsfolk: Until the end, the public hates the superheroes for the damage they cause in their battles, showing no gratitude for the crimes they prevent.
* UnwillingRoboticization: The means in which Parademons are created involves subjected captured bystanders to this, to a horrifying extent. Victor's transformation into Cyborg partially involves undergoing the same process, but he keeps his sense of self.
%%* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Darkseid begins to suffer from this after getting his eyes stabbed out.]]
%%* WellDoneSonGuy: Victor Stone and his dad.
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: It's established early on that the Parademons are mindless foot-soldiers, so the heroes cut them down in droves. Even after it's revealed that they were innocents converted to become Parademons, no one bats an eye about slaughtering them en masse. In fairness, it's indicated that there isn't really all that much left of the people they used to be, and they don't really give the heroes any chance to discuss terms of surrender...
%%* WhyAmITicking: Batman takes out a few Parademons this way.
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