The latest DC Entertainment direct-to-DVD animated feature from Warner Premiere is Justice League: Doom, an assemblage of fan-favorite voice actors including Tim Daly as Superman, Kevin Conroy as Batman, Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, Carl Lumbly as The Martian Manhunter, Michael Rosenbaum as The Flash, and more all under the voice direction of the amazing Andrea Romano. In the film, the Justice League is tormented by Vandal Savage and the individual characters’ greatest foes to create a “Legion of Doom” aimed at exploiting the characters’ weaknesses.
Justice League: Doom comes out as a Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD on February 28, and will be available to purchase On Demand in advance of that date.
We attended the movie’s Los Angeles premiere and red carpet at the Paley Center in Beverly Hills, California on January 16 and were able to speak to the attending voice actors including Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg, and Olivia d’Abo. The highlight for us, of course, was getting to speak to a fan favorite from Smallville, Phil Morris, who portrays the immortal lead baddie Vandal Savage in Justice League: Doom and had played John Jones, The Martian Manhunter in multiple episodes between Smallville’s sixth and ninth seasons.
Here’s what he had to say. Our questions are in bold; Mr. Morris’ answers are not.
When we spoke over the years about John Jones, there was a lot of talk about his being around for a while. And now, you’re playing another long-lived character in Vandal Savage. How are John Jones and Vandal Savage alike, and how are they different?
Well, Vandal having lived this long, feels like he can overcome anything. He can overthrow the world. John having been around this long, gives him more compassion for the condition, because he’s seen it for longer. So it’s two different sides of the spectrum. John’s Yin, Vandal’s Yang. John uses his Yin to try to understand the plight of the world. Vandal uses his Yang to try to overthrow the world. It’s like time served. Your experiences make up who you are. Vandal’s experiences are that of a conqueror. John’s experience is that of a compassionate savior. It’s two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. You can’t have good without evil, or else it would just be a void.
Would you say that Vandal Savage is a negative influence on the villains in the same way that John Jones was a positive influence on the heroes of Smallville?
Absolutely.
Are you aware that DC Comics is planning a Smallville Season 11 comic book, and do you hope that John Jones will be a part of that?
I was really sad that I wasn’t part of the tenth season, quite frankly. I saw that he could have been a part of many of the episodes. It took me a while to watch the tenth season, because I don’t know if I was boycotting it or not… but I’m a fan. I wanted to see John. I thought John could have fit very well. He could have assisted Clark in many ways, and that League of heroes in many ways, that they just didn’t choose to insert him. So I do hope that in the comic books, they explore him more, and they flesh out his details a little bit more than they were able to with the series.
Our thanks go to Phil Morris for speaking with us and for the Justice League: Doom team for allowing us the opportunity. Check out Justice League: Doom on DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack February 28! Order your copy from Amazon.com and support this site!
1 Comment
It’s so sad to hear that he’s so sad about not being a part of the final season. I assumed maybe he had scheduling conflicts that prevented him from coming back, but hearing that he really wanted to and was disappointed that he couldn’t…man. That’s depressing. :(
Way excited for this movie, though. The DC Animated movies are hit-or-miss usually but this seems like a winner. Morris was great as Savage in the Justice League TV show, so I’m glad they got him back.