JUSTICE SOCIETY: WORLD WAR II Interview: Director Jeff Wamester Explains His Fresh Take On The Golden Age Team

We recently caught up with Justice Society: World War II director Jeff Wamester to discuss balancing action-packed fights with character-driven moments, putting a fresh spin on classic heroes, and more...

By JoshWilding - Mar 24, 2021 12:03 PM EST

Filed Under: Justice League (Animated)

Justice Society: World War II arrives on streaming platforms on April 27th, 2021, and hits 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray on May 11th, 2021. This next entry in the DC Animated Universe sees The Flash thrust into the midst of an epic battle between Golden Age DC Super Heroes the Justice Society and Nazis for an adventure which definitely doesn't play out the way you might be expecting.

Picking up with Barry Allen in the present day, prior to the formation of the Justice League, the Scarlet Speedster discovers he can run even faster than he imagined, and that milestone results in his first encounter with the Speed Force. Arriving in World War II, he finds himself teaming up with a Golden Age team (Wonder Woman, Hourman, Black Canary, Hawkman, Steve Trevor, and Jay Garrick).

Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with director Jeff Wamester to discuss finding the right balance between blockbuster action and character-driven storytelling in Justice Society: World War II, putting a fresh spin of familiar faces, and his hopes for more stories involving these characters.

Before taking the helm of this movie, Wamester has worked as a storyboard artist on titles like Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Superman: Man of Tomorrow, and Batman: Soul of the Dragon.

Check out the full interview below, and keep checking back here for much more about this movie.

Looking through your credits, you’re certainly no stranger to the DC Universe, but what led to Justice Society: World War II being the movie you made your directorial debut with?

Well, it’s a long story, but I’ll give you the shortest version of it! I was doing lots of storyboards for DC, and I got recommended to be the next "up and comer" to direct movies specifically by [producer] Butch Lukic. I was also super psyched to do this particular movie because it’s a World War II setting and I grew up watching old movies from that time period. My mom was a huge fan, and she still to this day watches movies from that era. I’m always watching them whenever I get chance, and I do enjoy watching them with her; also, my grandfather was a WWII veteran. So, I got to explore that world and share my respects to my grandfather.

As this is a new, and still very young, DC Universe following the events of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, did you feel that gave you a little more freedom to do something new with these characters?

Definitely. I don’t think we’ve seen these characters much in film, so we got to express some new ideas with the characters that are different to what we’ve seen [before]. We have the main DC characters, but this finds them in the larger index of what they are, and being able to express that on film was an absolute blast.

I feel like the way the Flash’s powers are portrayed here both in terms of visuals and his actions are so different to what we’ve seen on screen before - was that important to you for this project?

I think we tried to do that with everything. The look of the film, the decisions about the characters...it’s pushed in a different, new creative direction. It’s just such a different take from what we were doing before to now.

The fights scenes in this movie are insanely good, but when you’re working on an animated feature like this one, what are some of the challenges that come with those? I’m sure there will be some people out there who think, ‘Oh, it’s animated - they can do whatever comes to mind,' but what's the reality?

Yeah, there’s always limitations. Well, there isn’t and there is. There are no limitations in terms of what kind of fighting you can do, but there’s always scale you have to think about in terms of how much you destroy. In animation, you destroy something, you have to keep track of that if you’re in the same spot the whole time. That becomes tough because it’s not like a live-action set where it's always going to be there. You have to come back to that and make sure it’s in the same spot and make sure you’re tracking that. With animation, tracking can become difficult and becomes too big. Also, the other part of it is if you have armies fighting armies, that’s nearly impossible. It’s just too much to animate, so you have to make sure you keep it insular.

When you’re dealing with a different timeline and reality as you are in this film, is it fun to explore those different versions of characters whether it’s Aquaman or other members of the Justice Society?

I loved it. I always like to find new interpretations of stuff without losing who the character is themselves. That’s always a really fun challenge. I love challenges like that, and you probably saw in the movie that we were trying to do that.

Definitely. However, I couldn’t help but notice some parallels to the Wonder Woman movie’s "No Man’s Land" scene here when Diana leaps into action; was that a deliberate nod on your part?

It is a little bit of a nod to that! I think everyone enjoyed that entire part of Wonder Woman, and I think it was the most close to what we should see from her which is being a super capable all out warrior. She’s not just a superhero. She’s not like Superman who goes out on the street and brawls dudes, and he’s big and he fights. This is a trained warrior. She’s not gonna straight up fight a guy and have fisticuffs. She has a specific style to the way that she fights because she’s been trained to be that way since she was a kid. I think expressing that in those scenes was really important, and the live-action scene is probably closest to what it should be.

For me, Black Canary and Hawkman’s dynamic was a standout part of the movie, but what did you enjoy most about exploring their dynamic?

What was most enjoyable is that each one had a different idea of what their relationship was and what they each wanted. Hawkman was mourning for his wife the entire time, but these two were so close because they’re both warriors too and have that commonality. She wanted more. I think we never originally, when the script was first written, intended on that, but it just came out. We said, ‘This is exactly what would happen between these two.’ It built as we built the movie, and we realised what it is. It’s one of those things where sometimes you’re making the movie go in a certain direction, but sometimes, the movie makes that decision for you. With them, it was very exciting to see that within the story and then express it.

Whether it's the two versions of the Flash, or Black Canary and Hawkman, the relationships in this movie are clearly key. Which of them did you find most satisfying to explore, though?

I like them all for different reasons. The idea that Hawkman and Black Canary were so close but on slightly different tracks with how they thought about each other was a super interesting interaction. It was fulfilling for me, especially that moment in the cellar, I think was really great. I thoroughly enjoyed that. I also enjoyed the classic Wonder Woman relationship with Steve Trevor and how hesitating to grab stuff in life how heavy a price you can pay for that. That was also exciting to me.

When it came to the roster of the Justice Society, were there any characters you wanted to include, but couldn't?

Me, personally? No, I think it’s one of those things where I don’t want to add more because I want to make sure that whatever characters we do add, they all have a story in the whole. I think if you add too many characters, it gets to be too much. There are other characters who would have been cool in it, but I think this story...these characters are meant to be in this story to get to the conclusion we did.

The Justice Society is very underrated in some ways, but between Stargirl and Black Adam, they’re finally getting their chance to shine. What do you think is so special about the team?

I don’t think they all follow the usual archetypes. Usually in comic books, you have a big guy, a femme fatale...you know what I mean? There’s a set of what they’re like, but I think the JSA go a little counter to that. I think that’s really cool, and their interactions are a little different than the usual archetype for a superhero group.

After watching the movie, I’m desperate for a sequel; I know it’s too soon to say if one might happen, but if it does, do you have any ideas where you’d like the team to go next?

Yeah. I’d like to see more of the fight against the Nazis and maybe a new enemy they’ve brought up. This movie never really brought enemy "superheroes" to the conflict; it never intended to. If the team were to actually fight what the Nazis ended up recruiting, and we see them actually fight, and what that would lead to, I think would be really fun to see.

Will JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED Get An X-MEN '97-Style Revival? DC Studios Boss James Gunn Weighs In

Recommended For You:

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 2 Spoilers: Batman Beyond Disappoints But Stage Is Set For Epic PART 3

DISCLAIMER: ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and... [MORE]

ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

Do you have what it takes to write for us?

Want to contribute?

18 Comments

dracula - 3/24/2021, 12:01 PM

Wonder if Batman The Long Halloween will be connected to this and Man Of Tomorrow.

Need a Green Arrow movie.

RageDriver2401 - 3/24/2021, 12:06 PM

Finally a DC article I can get behind.

Been a while since I've watched a DCAU movie, I think the last one was Superman MoT. This should be good.

dracula - 3/24/2021, 12:20 PM

Best movies of the last DCAMU
Constantine City Of Demons
Death Of Superman
Reign Of The Supermen
Suicide Squad Hell To Pay

Everything else ranged from mediocre to okay, with some straight up crap

dracula - 3/24/2021, 12:20 PM

Hopefully this universe is more consistant in its quality

UXASIS - 3/24/2021, 12:24 PM

This seems like a test run on whether people will enjoy JSA, which potentially could spin out of Black Adam.

And Dc would have a brand new Justice League type team-up.

bkmeijer2 - 3/24/2021, 12:32 PM

I really like tha art direction of this. It's similar to Man of Tomorrow, but here it feels very fitting with the setting.

Also (and I haven't seen it yet), is the Barry we see in this the Barry that went back in time at the end of Apokalips War? If so, WWII seems like a good place to have the timeline diverge from the other DCAU entries.

inkniron - 3/24/2021, 12:38 PM

Nice! DC content I can actually look forward to.

jonathanstrange - 3/24/2021, 2:58 PM

Wow.... I was thinking today that Dc should do a live action Justice Society movie... the animated universe is the one they do (mostly) right isn't it?

GeneralZod - 3/24/2021, 3:27 PM

@jonathanstrange - Isn't Justice Society going to be in the Black Adam film? (I can't remember.)

kirbyfan - 3/24/2021, 5:07 PM

The Kamandi short is what I'm interested in!

Related Headlines

Justice League (Animated)

Will JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED Get An X-MEN '97-Style Revival? DC Studios Boss James Gunn Weighs In

JoshWilding

2 days ago

Justice League (Animated)

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 2 Spoilers: Batman Beyond Disappoints But Stage Is Set For Epic PART 3

JoshWilding

6 days ago

Justice League (Animated)

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 3 Will Feature Kevin Conroy And Mark Hamill As Batman And Joker

JoshWilding

Feb 29, 2024 01:02 PM

Related Headlines

Justice League (Animated)

Will JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED Get An X-MEN '97-Style Revival? DC Studios Boss James Gunn Weighs In

JoshWilding

2 days ago

Justice League (Animated)

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 2 Spoilers: Batman Beyond Disappoints But Stage Is Set For Epic PART 3

JoshWilding

6 days ago

Justice League (Animated)

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 3 Will Feature Kevin Conroy And Mark Hamill As Batman And Joker

JoshWilding

Feb 29, 2024 01:02 PM

Justice League (Animated)

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS PART 2 Full Cast Includes DCAU Legend; Blu-ray Release Now Confirmed

JoshWilding

Feb 23, 2024 04:02 AM

Justice League (Animated)

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS PART TWO Trailer Pits Batman Against Robin And Features [SPOILER]

JoshWilding

Feb 21, 2024 09:02 PM

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART TWO Clip And (Digital Only?) Release Date Revealed

Justice League (Animated)

Captain America: New World Order

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Promo Art Reveals Full Look At Sam Wilson's Suit As Toys Highlight Red Hulk

JoshWilding

1 hour ago

Thor: Love and Thunder

Chris Hemsworth Says "I Became A Parody Of Myself" In Taika Waititi's THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

JoshWilding

2 hours ago

Latest Headlines

X-Men

X-MEN: Could MUFASA Director Barry Jenkins Be A Contender To Helm MCU Reboot?

MarkCassidy

38 mins ago

Captain America: New World Order

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Promo Art Reveals Full Look At Sam Wilson's Suit As Toys Highlight Red Hulk

JoshWilding

1 hour ago

Thor: Love and Thunder

Chris Hemsworth Says "I Became A Parody Of Myself" In Taika Waititi's THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

JoshWilding

2 hours ago

Superman & Lois

Rachel Brosnahan Says "Thanks For The Lovely Torch Pass" As SUPERMAN & LOIS Star Elizabeth Tulloch Signs Off

MarkCassidy

2 hours ago

Spider-Man 3

SPIDER-MAN 3: Rarely-Seen Concept Art Reveals Just How Different Venom Almost Look In 2007 Movie

JoshWilding

4 hours ago

Doctor Strange

DOCTOR STRANGE Director Scott Derrickson On Casting Benedict Cumberbatch And How Close Joaquin Phoenix Came

JoshWilding

4 hours ago

Hot Headlines

180 comments

X-MEN Rumored To Introduce Characters We Haven't Seen In Live-Action Before While Focusing On Female Heroes

MarkCassidy

1 day ago EST

146 comments

DOCTOR WHO Star Ncuti Gatwa Responds To Racist/Homophobic Backlash: "Turn Off The TV. Go And Touch Grass"

JoshWilding

16 hours ago EST

121 comments

The New Falcon Suit Revealed Via CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Promo Image

MarkJulian

1 day ago EST

82 comments

AVENGERS Star Chris Evans Rumored To Have Signed On For MCU Return - Here's When You'll See Him!

JoshWilding

1 day ago EST

74 comments

More Sci-Fi & Fantasy ►

SCOOBY-DOO Live-Action TV Series In The Works At Netflix From COWBOY BEPOP Writers

More Cartoons & Animated ►

PALWORLD: More Pals Set To Arrive This Summer In Newly Teased Update

More Anime & Manga ►

IN A VIOLENT NATURE Teaser Highlights Stellar Reviews Along With Terrifying New Footage

More Horror ►

MONKEY MAN Exclusive Interview With Mask Designer Eddie Yang; Dev Patel Film Now Available On Digital HD

More Action Movies & TV ►

CM Punk Taunts Drew McIntyre During RAW As Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Makes Surprise Appearance

More Pro Wrestling ►

MEGALOPOLIS First Official Look Spotlights Adam Driver And Nathalie Emmanuel's Characters

More Sci-Fi & Fantasy ►

More Cartoons & Animated ►

More Anime & Manga ►

More Horror ►

More Action Movies & TV ►

More Pro Wrestling ►

JUSTICE SOCIETY: WORLD WAR II Interview: Director Jeff Wamester Explains His Fresh Take On The Golden Age Team

We recently caught up with Justice Society: World War II director Jeff Wamester to discuss balancing action-packed fights with character-driven moments, putting a fresh spin on classic heroes, and more...

Will JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED Get An X-MEN '97-Style Revival? DC Studios Boss James Gunn Weighs In

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 2 Spoilers: Batman Beyond Disappoints But Stage Is Set For Epic PART 3

Will JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED Get An X-MEN '97-Style Revival? DC Studios Boss James Gunn Weighs In

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 2 Spoilers: Batman Beyond Disappoints But Stage Is Set For Epic PART 3

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 3 Will Feature Kevin Conroy And Mark Hamill As Batman And Joker

Will JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED Get An X-MEN '97-Style Revival? DC Studios Boss James Gunn Weighs In

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 2 Spoilers: Batman Beyond Disappoints But Stage Is Set For Epic PART 3

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART 3 Will Feature Kevin Conroy And Mark Hamill As Batman And Joker

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS PART 2 Full Cast Includes DCAU Legend; Blu-ray Release Now Confirmed

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS PART TWO Trailer Pits Batman Against Robin And Features [SPOILER]

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - PART TWO Clip And (Digital Only?) Release Date Revealed

Popular Headlines

AVENGERS Star Chris Evans Rumored To Have Signed On For MCU Return - Here's When You'll See Him!

AVENGERS 5 Rumor Claims To Reveal FIVE Characters Who Will Be Key To The Movie

Rarely Seen Photos Of Spider-Man's Original MCU Costume Resurface...And They're Splitting Opinions

The New Falcon Suit Revealed Via CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Promo Image

X-MEN Rumored To Introduce Characters We Haven't Seen In Live-Action Before While Focusing On Female Heroes

X-MEN: Could MUFASA Director Barry Jenkins Be A Contender To Helm MCU Reboot?

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Promo Art Reveals Full Look At Sam Wilson's Suit As Toys Highlight Red Hulk

Chris Hemsworth Says "I Became A Parody Of Myself" In Taika Waititi's THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

X-MEN: Could MUFASA Director Barry Jenkins Be A Contender To Helm MCU Reboot?

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Promo Art Reveals Full Look At Sam Wilson's Suit As Toys Highlight Red Hulk

Chris Hemsworth Says "I Became A Parody Of Myself" In Taika Waititi's THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

Rachel Brosnahan Says "Thanks For The Lovely Torch Pass" As SUPERMAN & LOIS Star Elizabeth Tulloch Signs Off

SPIDER-MAN 3: Rarely-Seen Concept Art Reveals Just How Different Venom Almost Look In 2007 Movie

DOCTOR STRANGE Director Scott Derrickson On Casting Benedict Cumberbatch And How Close Joaquin Phoenix Came

Hot Headlines

X-MEN Rumored To Introduce Characters We Haven't Seen In Live-Action Before While Focusing On Female Heroes

DOCTOR WHO Star Ncuti Gatwa Responds To Racist/Homophobic Backlash: "Turn Off The TV. Go And Touch Grass"

The New Falcon Suit Revealed Via CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Promo Image

AVENGERS Star Chris Evans Rumored To Have Signed On For MCU Return - Here's When You'll See Him!

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Trailer Fan Edit Gives Logan His Mask - But Does It Look Better Or Worse?

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

MEGALOPOLIS First Official Look Spotlights Adam Driver And Nathalie Emmanuel's Characters

DUNE: PART TWO Sandwalks Its Way To An Impressive Global Box Office Milestone

Jeff Bridges Confirms Return For TRON: ARES As Cameron Monaghan Praises The Film's VFX

DOCTOR WHO Star Ncuti Gatwa Tells Viewers Who Have A Problem With His Casting To "Go And Touch Grass"

STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE Comic Reveals A Possible Alternate Future For Anakin Skywalker

THE ACOLYTE: New International TV Spot Reveals Return Of An Alien Species We Haven't Seen Since The Prequels

Cartoons & Animated Features

SCOOBY-DOO Live-Action TV Series In The Works At Netflix From COWBOY BEPOP Writers

MOANA 2: The Rock Shares Behind-The-Scenes Video Of Maui Voice Recording Session

X-MEN '97 Epic Final Trailer Teases The Conflict To Come In Three-Part "Tolerance Is Extinction" Finale

VELMA Season 2 Is Now Streaming: Here's What The Critics Are Saying

MUFASA: Disney Releases First Trailer & Poster For THE LION KING Prequel

MUFASA: THE LION KING First Trailer Roars Online Tomorrow; New Still Released

Gaming

PALWORLD: More Pals Set To Arrive This Summer In Newly Teased Update

STARFIELD: SHATTERED SPACE Expansion Coming This Fall; Bethesda Teases Another New Update Soon

FALLOUT Is Prime Video's Most-Watched Debut After THE RINGS OF POWER

STAR WARS OUTLAWS Reveals All-New Details About The Ashiga Clan

ASSASSIN'S CREED CODENAME HEXE Rumored For 2026 Release

SPIDER-MAN 2 Concept Art Reveals A Closer Look At The Game's Monstrous Take On Venom

Anime & Manga

GUITY GEAR -STRIVE- Reveals Slayer As Final Season 3 DLC Fighter

HATSUNE MIKU Is Coming To MAGIC: THE GATHERING SECRET LAIR

Star And Stripe Character Visual Revealed Ahead Of MY HERO ACADEMIA Season 7 Premiere

New ONE PIECE Prequel Novel For Roronoa Zoro Announced

MY HERO ACADEMIA: YOU'RE NEXT Sound Director Shares Promising Update On Upcoming Film

Next FORTNITE X MY HERO ACADEMIA Collab Could Add The League Of Villains

Horror

IN A VIOLENT NATURE Teaser Highlights Stellar Reviews Along With Terrifying New Footage

DEAD BOY DETECTIVES Features A Cameo From ANOTHER Member Of THE SANDMAN's Family - SPOILERS

First Look At Michael B. Jordan On The Set Of Ryan Coogler's Untitled Jim Crow-Era VAMPIRE Movie

THEM: THE SCARE Exclusive Interview With Star Deborah Ayorinde On The Bone-Chilling New Season

THEM: THE SCARE Exclusive Interview With Singer/Actor Luke James On His Terrifying New Character

THE LITTLE MERMAID Attacks In First Trailer For New R-Rated Live-Action Adaptation

Action Movies & TV

MONKEY MAN Exclusive Interview With Mask Designer Eddie Yang; Dev Patel Film Now Available On Digital HD

Tom Cruise's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 8 Adds SEVERANCE Actor Tramell Tillman

A24's CIVIL WAR Was The #1 Movie In America For The Second Week In A Row

JAMES BOND: Henry Cavill Isn't Closing The Door On Playing 007; "Maybe I'm Too Old Now. Maybe I'm Not..."

Alex Garland's CIVIL WAR Is The #1 Movie In North America- Opens To $25.7M

THE ACCOUNTANT 2 Adds Four More Actors Including JURASSIC WORLD Star Daniella Pineda

Pro Wrestling & MMA News

CM Punk Taunts Drew McIntyre During RAW As Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Makes Surprise Appearance

WWE DRAFT: Night 2 Featured Some Bigger Surprises As NXT Stars Are Called Up To RAW And SMACKDOWN

Matt Hardy Shares Frustrations About AEW Run; Shares A Big Update On Jeff's In-Ring Future