Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham

• Directed by Christopher Berkeley and Sam Liu
• March 28, 2023
• Based on the three-issue series Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham written by Mike Mignola and Richard Pace

Voice Cast

• Bruce Wayne/Batman-David Giuntoli
• Kai Li Cain-Tati Gabrielle
• Oliver Queen/Green Arrow-Christopher Gorham
• James Gordon-John DiMaggio
• Harvey Dent/Two-Face-Patrick Fabian
• Alfred Pennyworth-Brian George
• Dick Grayson, Young Bruce Wayne-Jason Marsden
• Sanjay “Jay” Tawde-Karan Brar
• Grendon-David Dastmalchian
• Ra’s al Ghul-Navid Negahban
• Talia al Ghul, Martha Wayne-Emily O’Brien
• Lucius Fox-Tim Russ
• Jason Blood/Etrigan-Matthew Waterson
• Kirk Langstrom-Jeffrey Combs
• Oswald Cobblepot, Professor Manfurd-William Salyers
• Barbara Gordon/Oracle, Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy-Gideon Adlon
• Thomas Wayne-Darin De Paul

An ancient evil awakens and only Bruce Wayne can save Gotham City.

Based on the DC Elseworlds story, Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham mixes Batman mythology with the Cthulhu mythos to create something that is equal parts horror and superhero. It’s creepy and disturbing with intriguing twists on the Batman universe and its inhabitants. While creepy it is not scary. It certainly increases its weirdness by not only putting Batman firmly in a supernatural story but by creating a Gotham that’s more a strange Victorian London than it is Gotham.

After experiencing the disappointment of Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen and Justice League: Warworld I let this linger on my shelf a bit. Given two mediocre DC films in a row I wasn’t thinking this could be that good. As of late DC animated movies have taken quite a quality downturn. While this doesn’t rank up there as the greatest of the animated DC lot it is very good.

Batman/Bruce Wayne has spent two decades traveling the world to understand the criminal mind (and apparently collect young children but let’s not talk about that). These are comics characters Kai Li Cain, Dick Grayson, and Sanjay “Jay” Tawde but it is a bit weird that he has been collecting orphans. Was he prepping for dead sidekicks and wanting a spare or two handy? The more I think about it the weirder it gets. I understand they wanted to populate the story with Batman characters but having so many kids be picked up by Bruce at random ports is just weird. And how does randomly traveling on a boat help in criminology? This idea is getting worse the more I think about it.

These are not the only Batman or even DC characters that show up. We get weird twists on Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, The Penguin among others. But I especially liked how they handled Green Arrow/Oliver Queen though I think his ultimate disposition was a waste of character potential. I understand this is Batman’s story, but by taking him out I think it ruined what could’ve been a really intriguing ending. He was there to highlight how supernatural it all was and hand off a weapon/weapons to Batman prior to the climax but little else.

Not to say the ending was bad and not to say the film was bad. In hindsight what happened was inevitable. Not because of the prophecy put forth by Jason Blood/Etrigan but because that’s how the story was built. The final clash was set up pretty much from the opening moments. And the story itself was quite like a mild detective yarn. Batman actually had to deduce things and reached a point where he even deduced logic was not enough. He went through growth.

The animation/character designs look much better when the weirdness hits than they do in the more normal moments. It looks good overall but really sparks in the horror-tinged moments. Mike Mignola did not draw the series upon which this is based, but he did do the cover art and his work on the Hellboy comics shows how his style can aid in horror storytelling. I think an animation style similar to Mignola’s style would have been best and would have been more than acceptable since this is not connected to anything larger.

It lacks heavy action but holds your attention with an intelligent story. Some bits like Harvey Dent and Poison Ivy get rushed through but otherwise it is excellently done. The voice work is a step up from previous efforts though David Giuntoli as Bruce Wayne/Batman is a bit weak. I could be just stuck on the mark that Kevin Conroy left on the part. Big shoes to fill and Giuntoli does not quite get there.

I won’t call Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham great, but I will call it a good intelligent story that is a horror themed twist on the Batman mythology. It’s certainly superior to other efforts I have noted here. Fans of DC animation will enjoy this as well as people who like a good movie. I recommend it!