"Under a Red Sun" is the tenth episode of Justice League Action.
Summary[]
Steppenwolf intends to enhance his reputation by destroying Superman when he whisks him away to a planet with a red sun, and the Justice League have no idea where they have gone.
Featuring[]
| CHARACTER | VOICED BY |
|---|---|
| Heroes | |
| Superman | Jason J. Lewis |
| Batman | Kevin Conroy |
| Big Barda | Laura Post |
| Villains | |
| Steppenwolf | Peter Jessop |
| Virman Vundabar | William Salyers |
| Parademons | - |
Story[]
Superman, Batman and Big Barda battle a squadron of parademons from Apokolips in a warehouse and gradually eliminate them all. Big Barda says she had detected the arrival them together with another entity. Superman spots a dark figure high up and knocks him down into the light - it is Steppenwolf. The latter, seemingly pleased to see Superman is in good form, suddenly opens a travel portal with his 'Mother Box' and leaps into it, taking the superhero with him. Batman and Barda are left, wondering where they have gone.
Arriving on a rocky, desert planet, Superman attempts to subdue his opponent but finds that his powers are ebbing away. Steppenwolf points to the red sun in the sky and says that he intends to win favour with his master, Darkseid, by being immortalised as the vanquisher of Superman. The two continue to fight, but Superman's strength subsides, forcing him to retreat and hide. Steppenwolf mounts his 'Astro Harness' to hunt down his prey and orders the two parademons who have joined him to split up and search the area. Now powerless, Superman falls back on the scouting skills of his youth to avoid Steppenwolf and is able to eliminate both parademons.
To locate their colleague, Batman and Barda travel through a portal to Steppenwolf's planet, Apokolips. Arriving outside Darkseid's citadel, they deal with a guarding 'demon dog' and go in to try to find Steppenwolf's war-room so they can rifle through his records. Fighting their way past parademons, they find the room but still cannot locate the planet where Steppenwolf had intended to go. Fortunately, Virman Vundabar appears and he knows Steppenwolf's plan but, protecting himself with a force field, he will not reveal anything. The two superheroes respond by threatening to crush him under a heavy weight unless he tells them where Superman is, and he capitulates.
After a running battle through a lush landscape, Superman hides in a cave, which Steppenwolf is afraid to enter, so the latter tries to bring down the mountain above on the superhero. Superman climbs up through a crevice to avoid being crushed and comes out above his opponent. He jumps down onto the floating Steppenwolf and together, on the Astro Harness, they fly across the landscape but eventually crash, with Superman breaking his leg and Steppenwolf landing in water. The superhero picks up a sparking fragment of the harness and throws it into the water to electrocute his opponent.
Later, Batman and Barda appear from a portal and find their hobbling colleague with a hog-tied Steppenwolf. As they all leave together, Superman brags he was able to achieve all this without his superpowers.
Video Excerpts[]
Notes[]
- There appear to be references to the Dune (1984) movie when a giant sand worm rears up out of the desert and also when Virman Vundabar surrounds himself with a box-like force field.