Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics Trailer

Posted by on August 12th, 2010   Filed under: Books/Comics, Documentary, Trailers

With Warner Brothers currently attempting to revitalize their stable of DC comic book properties on the big screen, they’ve also decided to bankroll a new documentary to help spread the word about the magic of DC. Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics looks at the history behind some of their most well-known heroes including Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, and features interviews with such big names as Neil Gaiman, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Grant Morrison, Dennis O’Neil, Paul Pope, Louise Simonson, Mark Waid, and Len Wein.

These kinds of documentaries are rarely hard-hitting or particularly deep, mainly because they are advertising tools, but this one is executive produced by Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound, Lucky) which lends at least a little bit of credibility to the project. The film is narrated by Green Lantern himself, Ryan Reynolds, who coincidentally is also narrating a documentary about a baby killer whale called simply The Whale. Either way, if you’re a comic book fan I suspect you’ll be interested in checking this one out when it hits DVD on November 9th. Check out the full trailer for Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics after the jump.



  • Mr.Nobody

    I don’t mind people going to comic as a way of entertainment. But i really can’t imagine someone spending a big part of their life on something like that. To be honest, i can’t imagine people spending (wasting) most of their life on just entertainment like that. You’ll just end up and, as Chomsky said it, tell yourself: ”Why did i bother living?”

  • Niklas

    what are you talking about? anything that doesn’t interest you is going to feel like a waste of time. People who don’t care about movies probably think all of us are wasting time..

  • Tomoo

    Yeah I’m not so sure what you’re talking about Mr. Nobody. I read comics and I enjoy them. to me it is like picking up a magazine. Something to do to pass the time. And if you are referring to the comic creators well then they spend a big part of their life on it for the same reason anyone does in entertainment. They enjoy creating something that pleases people, which to me sounds like an ultimate satisfaction.

  • Mr.Nobody

    >>”People who don’t care about movies probably think all of us are wasting time..”

    Not really. I personally consider movie as art, and there are certain films that are made just for entertainment (like 90-95% of all the films released in Hollywood), that I don’t consider as real art, and others that have say social critic elements, that I will consider art. There is for example a big difference between a movie like Tarantinos Inglourious Basterds and Paul Thomas Andersons There Will Be Blood.

    I am not saying being entertained ’’to pass time’’, as Tomoo said it, is bad. But how much of our life are we going to spend on just being entertainet? What are we going to end up having done in our lives when we look back at it?

    I’m sorry if some people feel that I am going way out of the line here, by criticizing their lifestyle. If I am acting like an idiot, just blame it on the depressive state that I am currently in. =P

  • Jonathan

    And what do you consider as art in films Nobody?

  • Jonathan

    I consider film-art something which teaches us things, either in its message of our society or in the cinematic aspect. Films with art are for me films that we learn of, films that bring more than just empty adrenaline overpowering emotions created just to consume a single purpose: entertainment.

    I don’t think entertainment is bad in any way, and it can definitely be art too. But the overwhelming majority of the films presented by Hollywood are in no way near what I consider as art, or more than ‘’just simple and brainless entertainment’’ for that matter.

  • Mr.Nobody

    Thank you for understanding me Jonathan! Your consideration of art is almost exactly how I look at it.

  • I’m actually pretty interested in checking out this doc, hard-hitting or not, as I’ve always been more of a Marvel guy (most of the DC stuff I read is from the Vertigo imprint, which I hope gets some coverage), and whether you’re a big fan of Marvel or not, their story through the years is a little more familiar. It’ll be interesting to see what gets filtered out though, as DC has always been the bitch of their parent company (I highly suggest reading “Hollywood vs. Superman” for more on that) and haven’t been allowed to be as self-sufficient as their competitors, for better or for worse. I’m sure that there has to be a more non-biased look at their history available elsewhere, or that more unauthorized books/documentaries will start to spring up, so at the worst, this “Secret Origin” will at least be a well-produced companion piece.