With the latest adventure from the “DC Universe”, we head to the future. 2023’s Legion of Super-Heroes offers a team based in the 31st century.

At the Legion Academy, budding do-gooders train for potential membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes. That group fights threats on a number of levels, and Supergirl (voiced by Meg Donnelly) – newly arrived from the 21st century - aspires to join their ranks.

Matters complicate when she butts heads with Brainiac 5 (Harry Shum, Jr.), a relative of an old foe. Supergirl and the others also need to battle a nefarious group called the Dark Circle, as its members attempt to steal a weapon from the Academy.

Though DC introduced the Legion of Super-Heroes in the comics all the way back in 1958, this team never got a ton of play in other media – certainly not as much as the vastly more famous Justice League. Even the Justice Society – which predated the JLA – earned more 21st century media time, mainly since they played a big role in 2022’s live-action movie Black Adam.

The Legion has appeared in dribs and drabs, mainly via connections through various DC live-action TV series. The Legion also enjoyed its own short-lived animated show across 2006-08.

The movie at the heart of this review gives the Legion room to find a new audience. Does the film do much to entice viewers to desire continued Legion adventures?

Maybe, though one could view the title as misleading since Legion plays much more as a Supergirl story than a team-based effort. Legion starts with an abbreviated view of Supergirl’s origin story and doesn’t actually get her to the 31st century – and the Legion Academy – until 18 minutes into the fairly short film.

From there, the majority of Legion sticks with basic exposition to develop Supergirl and the organization to which she now belongs. While the threat of the Dark Circle acts as a plot point, it becomes secondary to the general “getting to know you” arc.

Which seems fine for the most part, though I can’t claim Legion becomes a particularly scintillating effort. While it offers a moderately engaging intro, it doesn’t excel in any particular manner.

Some of that comes from the slew of new characters we meet. While the film focuses on Supergirl – and Brainiac 5 to a lesser degree – it also throws a slew of other heroes at us.

The movie’s story follows a pretty predictable path, especially in terms of Supergirl’s training and her rivalry with Brainiac 5. Nothing one could call novel or especially creative emerges here.

That said, Legion delivers a more than watchable little affair. It maintains a light tone that suits the characters and moves along at a good pace.

All of this leaves Legion as a middle-tier DC animated film. While it lacks much to make it stand out from the crowd, it delivers reasonable entertainment.

Legion of Super-Heroes appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. As expected, this became a satisfying image.

Sharpness excelled. The movie always came across as tight and well-defined, so don’t expect any signs of softness.

Jaggies and moiré effects also remained absent, and the image lacked edge haloes or artifacts. In addition, print flaws were a non-factor and didn’t appear at any point.

In terms of colors, Legion went with a fairly palette that emphasized greens, blues and purples. The tones looked solid within those parameters, and HDR brought impact and punch to the hues.

Blacks were deep and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity. HDR gave power and range to whites and contrast. Across the board, the image worked well.

I thought the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Legion opened up the comic book material in an appropriate manner. The forward channels brought out the majority of the material, but the entire package added a lot to the movie. Music presented strong stereo imaging, while effects cropped up in logical spots and blended well.

The surrounds also contributed good information. For the most part, these reinforced the forward channels, but they also contributed a fair amount of unique material.

These instances mainly occurred during bigger action scenes, but they spread out in quieter scenes as well and even featured some directional dialogue. The back speakers brought out a nice sense of space and environment.

Audio quality always satisfied. Speech was warm and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music sounded lively and full, while effects displayed good definition. Those elements seemed accurate and dynamic. All of this led to a positive presentation that deserved a “B+”.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Audio remained identical.

The 4K’s visuals boasted improvements in terms of delineation, colors and blacks – but not major ones. While the 4K became the more satisfying rendition of the film, it didn’t offer a substantial upgrade over the Blu-ray.

No extras appear on the 4K disc itself, but we get some on the included Blu-ray copy. The Legion Behind the Legion runs four minutes, 40 seconds and brings notes from producer James Krieg, writer Josie Campbell, and actors Meg Donnelly and Yuri Lowenthal.

The program looks at the Legion and issues related to the film’s story development and cast/performances. A few decent details emerge but the featurette can feel fluffy.

Down to Earth goes for eight minutes, 21 seconds and offers comments from Campbell, Krieg, Donnell, and Lowenthal.

“Earth” covers story/character areas as well as cast/performances. Expect another fairly superficial piece.

Next comes Meet the Legionnaries, a nine-minute, 24-second piece that includes Campbell, Krieg, Donnelly, and Lowenthal.

As implied by the title, “Meet” looks at the secondary members of the Legion. It offers a cursory overview.

Brainiac Attack lasts eight minutes, 14 seconds and delivers info from Campbell and Krieg. It delivers a general discussion of Brainiac 5 as well as the Dark Circle but it doesn’t offer much substance.

We also find two bonus episodes of Superman: The Animated Series: “Little Girl Lost, Part 1” (21:17) and “Little Girl Lost, Part 2” (21:30).

“Lost” shows how Superman found Supergirl and brought her to Earth. This two-part program offers good entertainment and adds value to the disc.

Two Previews finish the disc. To look at Justice League Vs. the Fatal Five (9:26), we hear from producer Bruce Timm, screenwriters Jim Krieg and Eric Carrasco, director Sam Liu, and voice director Wes Gleason.

“Peek” gives us basics about story and characters, cast and performances, and related areas. It’s a decent overview, albeit one that exists to sell the movie.

A discussion of Superman: Man of Tomorrow (8:34) provides remarks from Krieg, Gleason, director Chris Palmer, producer Butch Lukic, screenwriter Tim Sheridan, and actors Zachary Quinto, Alexandra Daddario, Ryan Hurst, Brett Dalton and Darren Criss. Expect another basic promotional overview.

As an introduction, Legion of Super-Heroes offers a moderately entertaining opening salvo. Though not innovative, the movie brings a lively experience. The 4K UHD boasts strong picture and audio along with a mediocre roster of bonus materials. Hopefully future Legion adventures will offer more depth but remain fun.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES