Two of Mattel’s current toy lines based around classic DC properties are going to be making a big push in 2015 with all-new animated content. Both Batman: Unlimited and Super Friends are set to get a series of new cartoons and straight-to-DVD movies over the course of the coming year.

First one out of the gate will be Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts, which is set to come out on May 12, as a direct-to-home-video animated movie that features Batman, Nightwing, the Flash, Red Robin and Green Arrow as they face off gainst the Penguin, and will also introduce cyber animals as new bad guys. A sequel film will be released around the second half of 2015. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment  is getting ready to release a series of Batman Unlimited films on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD, and are also planning to produce 22 two-minute shorts around the Batman Unlimited toys, making them available for free on a variety of digital platforms.

Batman Unlimited toys from Mattel are now appearing in toy aisles across the country, and it seems this new iteration of Batman effectively replaces the Beware the Batman cartoon from Cartoon Network, which I guess was too adult and not toy-friendly enough, and was quietly cancelled last year.

The other toy-line from Mattel based around DC heroes should have a very familiar name to Gen X-ers. Super Friends, based on the toy line of Fisher-Price action figures and play sets for younger kids, is also going to be turned into a series of 15 three-minute animated shorts, also coming out this spring. Based on the artwork, it looks like much more kid-friendly versions of the New 52 Justice League lineup. It’s unknown whether any of these shorts will appear on Cartoon Network’s DC Nation block alongside Teen Titans Go, but it seems a likely home for them. WB and Mattel plan to release a whole slew of other items based around both of these properties, including books and Halloween costumes throughout the rest of 2015.

HT [Variety]