Five years ago, Wally West retired as Kid Flash, the sidekick to the Scarlet Speedster himself, Flash. He was hoping to live a normal life. But now, tragedy has struck. The Joker tricked Superman into killing his wife Lois, and destroyed all of Metr...
Before you get into this story, I just want to clarify/rant, I was not a fan of the animated movie adaptation. I'm a big fan of the video games and the comic book tie-ins, I've made that abundantly clear. One of the reasons I became a fan of the Injustice franchise was because of the voice acting, and it had an engaging storyline. Not only do I have autographs from Tara Strong and Kevin Conroy (rest in peace), I also have an autograph from George Newbern, the man who voiced Superman for the Injustice games and Justice League series.
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I even have an autograph from Phil LaMarr, who voiced Aquaman and John Stewart for the games as well. I met him at Emerald City Comic Con in 2022, and he was really cool and very nice.
So I have a massive soft spot for Injustice. Many fans agree that the Injustice movie could have benefited from instead being a multi-season TV show with the original actors from the video game. When I found out that they were going to do an animated movie adaptation of Injustice without ANY of the original voice actors, I was so not happy. They only brought back Fred Tatasciore and Laura Bailey, but Fred didn't get to voice Bane and Solomon Grundy like in the game and only voiced Captain Atom, and Laura Bailey only voiced Lois and Rama Kushna, even though she didn't even appear in the original game and only appeared in Injustice 2 as Supergirl. Whether I would say she was one of the original voice actors is debatable in my opinion. Am I being a little pedantic? Okay, yes. But I am rather peeved that they didn't contact the other original voice actors. The only voice actor that didn't appear from the game I really approved of in that movie was Zach Callison as Damian Wayne. He actually did a good job. I also hate how the movie adaptation deviated from the source material. Characters that played big and important roles in the game and comics were either left out entirely, reduced to non-speaking cameos, or unceremoniously killed off like The Flash. Barry Allen was done dirty! And every pivotal moment that was iconic in the comics, it just didn't feel as great without the voices of Kevin, George, Tara, or Grey Griffin.
But, for every bad decision made towards this animated adaptation, there are some bright spots. For one, I really like the animation. It's quite clear that they brought back the character designers and animators from the Mortal Kombat Legends animated films. Those Mortal Kombat cartoons have a unique style, and given that Injustice is developed by NetherRealm, I think hiring the people behind the Mortal Kombat cartoons seems appropriate, and these character designers do a good job with what they're given. And I actually like one line from Batman when he disowns Damian after he accidentally killed Dick. He said, "I thought I could redeem you. I was wrong." That was a good line. And while I shouldn't use Kevin Conroy and Grey Griffin as a comparison, the scene where Catwoman comforts a grieving Bruce remains mostly faithful to the source material in this brief scene. It's done very well, and I'll give the voice actors and animators credit for pulling off an emotional moment.
It's a mixed bag, and giving the film an R rating when the video game was given a T for teen rating still leaves me dumbfounded. Then again, X-Men Origins Wolverine was a PG-13 movie with a video game tie-in that was rated M for mature. And a lot of Hollywood films based on M for mature video games have often been given a PG-13 rating, much to the chagrin of the fans of those franchises. (Looking at you, 1990s Mortal Kombat films.) So what the hell would I know? If the film wasn't connected to the games and comics, I think it would fare a little bit better. But it has nearly 10 years worth of source material they could have used that could have been done better, and this animated adaptation couldn't do the first game justice. Pun intended. To quote Superman in Zack Snyder's Justice League...
Sorry, I just had to get all that off of my chest. I felt it wouldn't be right to not express how I felt about the movie adaptation before you start reading this fanfiction. So like I said before, this film did Barry Allen dirtier than Ezra Miller. In the comics and the video game, the Barry Allen of that continuity is constantly conflicted, always questioning whether he's doing the right thing standing by Superman's side as he descends into a tyrannical dictatorship. His complexity and questioning of his moral ethics is what helped make Flash unique in this universe. The Regime Flash goes through a redemption arc! And what does the movie adaptation do? Itstraight up kills him off before Metropolis even gets blown up! That's a complete disservice to the character right there! It's a bigger disservice than the 2023 Flash movie.
But, this fanfiction is a way to make lemonade out of lemons. Like Nightwing Dying Wish, I use a situation that I didn't like from a video game and try to make a better story out of it. And I do like Wally West, and since he's never featured in Injustice, I thought it would be interesting to write a story where he's the main protagonist, coping with the events, because I am sure he would be devastated by Dick's death in the game. So this'll be quite a hero's journey for Wally. So let's pretend this is what happened during the events of the animated movie. I certainly hope you all enjoy my story.
