If there is anyone out there from Warner Bros. reading this, I have a request: please, please, please release Justice League: The New Frontier in theaters. I don't want to live in a world where an animated film the caliber of this latest DC Universe release is simply called a direct-to-video movie.

A period animated film set in what was a dead zone for superheroes during the waning days of The Golden Age, Justice League: The New Frontier takes comic book fans on a dream journey into territory even the live-action theatrical releases have rarely attempted to take us. Steeped in the tradition of other recent DC Universe animations - narratives that steer away from the solid, mainstream appeal of most superhero films - this Bruce Timm-production moves at a Flash-like pace without forgetting the characters or, more importantly, its inspiration.

At the end of the Korean war, fighter pilot Hal Jordan (David Boreanaz), a man who never fired at an enemy, is forced to eject from his plane and kill on the ground to survive. The day haunts Jordan so much that he is rejected in every attempt to fly into space in the early days of the space race. While he tries to find his place in post-war life, the McCarthy-fueled Red Scare is turning the American government against the superheroes who protect it. Superman (Kyle MacLachlan) can't rectify his own commitment to American ideal with his super friends' loss of status. The Flash (Neil Patrick Harris) is forced to give up chasing jewel thieves and go into hiding. Wonder Woman (Lucy Lawless) returns to Paradise Island.

Only Batman (Jeremy Sisto), struggling with is own identity as a feared vigilante after frightening a child, remains on a case and uncovers a threat beyond anything the Earth has ever imagined. With the help of a Martian (Miguel Ferrer), who cannot get over the injustices in human society, they sniff out the source of a cult that serves THE CENTRE. The threat is enough to band masked crusader, human, and even Martian together, while giving Jordan the opportunity to become the superhero he always could be.