DC League of Super-Pets

About

DC League of Super-Pets refers to an animated movie that takes place in the DC Comics cinematic universe, featuring childlike versions of Batman and Superman that have pet dogs who must join together with other animals to save them. The movie is produced by Waner Bros. Studios and directed by Jared Stern. Additionally, it stars voice actors like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski and Keanu Reeves, among others. The movie's release date is set for May 20th, 2022.

History

The Super-Pets movie is based on a pre-cursor Cartoon Network series called "DC Super-Pets" that was a part of DC's programming block DC Nation.^[1] Short episodes of it aired on TV throughout 2012 and 2013. Some are accessible on YouTube, all posted in 2013 (shown below). Before the cartoon, however, the DC Super-Pets date back to Adventure Comics #293 in February 1962.^[2] Krypto the Super-Dog is the most notable, being Superman's dog.

The Super-Pets movie was first announced in July 2018, detailed in an article from Collider^[2] that stated the movie was to be directed and written by Jared Stern, known for writing and directing The Lego Batman Movie, as well as working on both Bolt and Wreck-It Ralph.

In May 2021, The Hollywood Reporter^[3] reported on the voice-over cast of the upcoming movie. Among the list was Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna and Keanu Reeves. Additionally, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would be voicing Krypto, posting his own announcement tweet^[4] on June 8th, 2021 (shown below). The tweet featured the first trailer for the movie and earned roughly 12,500 likes over the course of six months.

Ladies, gents & children of ALL AGES it’s my pleasure to INTRODUCE our star studded DCSuperPets</a> cast 🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/SevenBucksProd?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">sevenbucksprod + @dccomics = SUPERHERO & SUPER VILLAIN FUN for you & your families worldwide 🌍Hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change😊💪🏾⚡️#SUPERPETS pic.twitter.com/4qdaVZYDvx

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) June 8, 2021

Trailer Releases

On November 23rd, 2021, DC Comics tweeted^[4] the official trailer and posted it to other platforms like YouTube.^[5] Their announcement tweet received roughly 8,900 likes over the course of four months while their YouTube video (shown below, left) received roughly 21.3 million views in the same amount of time.

On March 6th, 2022, Warner Bros. released a secondary trailer, featuring in more depth Keanu Reeves' portrayal of Batman. The YouTube upload (shown below, right) received roughly 69,000 views in less than 24 hours.

Reception

Memes and reactions to the Super-Pets movie weren't prevalent until 2020. For instance, on August 16th, 2020, Twitter^[6] user DankBat posted a tweet that gave a humorous portrayal of disappointment about the movie, earning over 40 likes in two years (shown below).

When secret movie they'll announce is Super Pets pic.twitter.com/mrGJAzzYz9

— ABADAKATELA (@DankBat) August 16, 2020

It wasn't until mid-2021 when the trailers started releasing that mainstream internet users and meme creators became aware of the movie's existence. For instance, on March 12th, 2021, Instagram^[7] user ocaradosquadrinhoss posted fan art of Batman and Superman with their dogs, earning roughly 3,000 likes in one year (shown below, left). On July 10th, 2021, Twitter^[8] user EpicVoiceGuy posted a photo of a hyper-realistic cat-person, captioning it, "Zack Snyder’s DC League of Super-Pets," and earning over 80 likes in six months (shown below, right).

Keanu Reeves Voicing Batman

On March 6th, 2022, after the second trailer was released, internet users reacted en masse to Keanu Reeves' voicing of Batman. Although Reeves' presence in the movie's cast was already known, the March trailer was the first time fans were able to hear him playing the character. The news of his role in the film went viral, evident in a tweet^[9] posted by the Twitter account CultureCrave on March 6th that earned roughly 12,900 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, left). The Instagram^[10] account wondervaughn also posted on the 6th about Reeves' Batman, comparing it to all the other Batman portrayals which were dropping in 2022, referencing Robert Pattinson in The Batman (2022 Film), Michael Keaton in the upcoming Catwoman film and Ben Affleck in the upcoming The Flash film. The post (shown below, right) received roughly 2,700 likes in 24 hours.

Meme creators started to ironically compare Reeves' Batman to Pattinson's Batman as the secondary trailer's release coincided with The Batman's theater debut. For instance, Twitter^[11] user RiseFallNickBck posted a tweet on the 6th that earned roughly 3,600 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). Instagram^[12] account fyousee posted a meme that object labeled screencaps from Pacific Rim and used Cheems, earning roughly 5,300 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References