Warner Bros has made artwork for
Justice League Season 2 available, and left us puzzled, at least to start with. The packaging lists a "Standard Version" which was the same wording used on the back of season 1, which was released in Full Frame (1.33:1). We called over to Warner Bros to see what was going on; there have been so many questions about the aspect ratio for this release, and we wanted to get everything right before posting news to the site.
Justice League Season 2 will be released in widescreen, but it won't be anamorphic, and that's what's causing the confusion. The DVDs will contain a "Standard Version" (meaning a 4x3 image), with black bars on the top and bottom, making it a matted 1.78:1 image. People with 4x3 TVs will have bars on the top and bottom, just like normal, and people with widescreen TVs will have to zoom the picture in to remove bars on all sides. Why isn't it anamorphic like the "Starcrossed" release? We haven't been able to get an answer on that yet. There are various people that work on any DVD set, and not everyone has a hand in every decision, so getting answers can be difficult at times (and these people are working on multiple projects at one time). This is a rare case of a Warner widescreen release that isn't enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The film used for the box is already done, so the wording on the back may, or may not, be changed for the final release. At least you know the truth.
We're working with Warner Bros to get more information to pass on, but we don't know when that'll come. We've asked them to provide a screen grab from an episode on the DVD, and we'll post that if/when they deliver it to us.
The back of the box also lists the bonus material for the set. It includes:
- Creator's commentary on 3 key episodes
- Justice League Declassified: Phil Lamarr (the voice of Green Lantern) takes you behind the scenes with the show's creative team
Here's a look at the box, including the aspect ratio wording:
