Remember how I was wondering if DC's next straight-to-DVD animated movie Flashpoint Paradox, based on the Flashpoint minseries that transformed the regular DC universe into the New 52-niverse, would do the same for DC animation? I've stopped wondering, because the answer is a loud, empathic "Yes."
Spoilers (kind of): Much like the end of the Flashpoint comics, the Flash ends one DC continuity and begins another. The first continuity is obviously the DC animated universe helmed by Bruce Timm, complete with the beloved voices of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Sam Daly as Superman, likely reprising their roles for the very last time in Flashpoint Paradox. Then the Flash enters a new universe where a different Wayne is Batman and Aquaman and Wonder Woman are are waging a war that's tearing the world apart.
When the Flash fixes the timeline at the movie's conclusion, he creates the animated equivalent of the New 52. "Stick around after the credits," director Jay Oliva told reporters at Comic-Con. "We do have something that leads into the next movie. We do have something, and it was only afterwards that we realized this is a new twist on the New 52." That next animated movie will be Justice League: War, based on the first six issues of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's first New 52 Justice League storyarc, where the team first forms to battle an invasion by Darkseid.
And although the DC animated movies have generally been standalone, now they will be in one continuity. Via Comic Book Resources:
While to date Warner Animation's DC Universe Animated Original Movies have been largely standalone, long-time DCU Animated casting director Andrea Romano indicated that the intent moving forward is that of connectivity.
"There is that intent, there absolutely is," Romano said. "There will be some exceptions to that, but yes, I believe there is that intent of the powers that be, to keep some kind of continuity going as we go through."
Obviously this won't extend to the animated TV series, since DC's two cartoons are currently Beware the Batman and Teen Titans Go... but it does imply that DC will only be animating their modern storylines instead of their classics for the DVD movies now. So what classic DC saga are you most sad about not getting animated?