In the comics, Batman and Superman teamed up for the first time all the way back in 1952. With 2022’s Battle of the Super Sons, that pair undergoes a generational shift.

The son of Clark “Superman” Kent (voiced by Travis Willingham) and Lois Lane (Laura Bailey), 11-year-old Jonathan Kent (Jack Dylan Grazer) experiences the unveiling of his own superpowers. This plops him into the wild world of superheroes, and also leads him to meet Damian Wayne (Jack Griffo), the adopted son of Bruce “Batman” Wayne (Troy Baker).

When an alien threat emerges and disables their fathers, the boys need to grow up in a hurry. Jonathan and Damian reluctantly team to fight this danger.

I must admit it seems somewhat odd for the DC Animated Universe to pursue Jonathan Kent’s burgeoning powers given the current existence of Superman & Lois as a live-action TV series. That show also places a married Lois and Clark back in Smallville with a son who develops super-abilities in adolescence.

Granted, the two differ in a few ways. Lois gives the leads twin sons, and it’s Jordan who gets skills, not Jonathan. The TV series also makes the kids 15, not 11.

Of course, Lois doesn’t involve Batman or other major DC superheroes – at least not yet- so that acts as a shift. Still, it remains a little strange that Sons takes on similar territory.

Getting away from this overlap, Sons tends to feel more like a traditional Superman story than does Lois, which can favor “soap opera” over heroics. Indeed, a substantial portion of this show looks at Jonathan’s origin story.

Really, that becomes the major element of Sons, as the action narrative turns into almost a secondary component for a lot of the running time. However, it eventually kicks into higher gear and becomes a pretty effective tale.

Granted, Battle does tend to be more about Jon than Damian. It balances matters some as it goes, but given the aforementioned lean toward Jon’s origins, this tendency remains.

In terms of story, don’t expect anything especially fresh. Battle follows some predictable arcs and lacks a lot of real creativity.

That said, it does what it wants to do pretty well. Battle embraces some of the youthful tone one would anticipate it also comes with enough action – and violence – for its “PG-13” rating.

Ultimately this turns into a mostly effective superhero production. Battle avoids some pitfalls and may not reinvent wheels, but it entertains.

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons 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, Sons went with a fairly bright palette that could lean pastel, but it emphasized primary colors. The tones looked solid within those parameters, and HDR gave them some heft and power.

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

I thought the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Sons 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? Both came with identical audio.

As for visuals, the 4K UHD came with the usual format-related boosts in definition, colors and blacks. However, the source meant these didn’t get a big upgrade, so expect this to become the more satisfying of the two but not a clear improvement over the BD.

Extras appear on the included Blu-ray copy. A featurette called Rival Sons spans 14 minutes, 41 seconds and brings notes from producer Jim Krieg, DC Animation Creative Director Mike Carlin, supervising producer Rick Morales, director Matt Peters, UCLA clinical psychologist Drea Letamendi, and screenwriter Jeremy Adams.

“Rival” looks at story, characters, and themes. We get some insights but I would’ve liked additional production notes.

Two bonus cartoons appear here, both from Batman: The Animated Series: “Demon’s Quest, Part One” (22:22) and “Demon’s Quest, Part Two” (22:18). Here an adult Robin (voiced by Loren Lester) gets abducted by the same party that kidnaps Talia Al Ghul (Helen Slater) so Batman (Kevin Conroy) must team up with foe Ra’s Al Ghul (David Warner).

Back when I read the comics regularly, I always thought Ra’s was a lackluster, unexciting villain. That attitude hasn’t changed with Ra’s as a character in the animated series. He lacks the panache or glamour of the better Bat baddies, and that factor makes this two-part episode average.

Nothing about Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons makes it a classic, but it manages to work pretty well. The movie embraces its young characters in a way that does not turn too kiddie oriented, so this winds up as an entertaining adventure. The 4K UHD comes with strong picture and audio along with minor bonus materials. Sons gives us a better than average animated superhero tale.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of BATMAN AND SUPERMAN: BATTLE OF THE SUPER SONS