Zatanna and The Red Tornado

What if Disney owned DC and made Zatanna and Martian Manhuntern (2021)

A grief-stricken Zatanna Zatara, devastated by the aftermath of Darkseid’s invasion, mysteriously creates a warped sitcom reality in the town of Westview, where she lives an idealized 1950s black-and-white suburban life with a resurrected Red Tornado, complete with canned laughter and an increasingly tense dinner with their bewildered neighbors that reveals subtle cracks in the illusion. As the decades shift from the 60s to the 70s and beyond, Zatanna becomes aware that the neighborhood kids, Bart and Lori, secretly possess emerging powers, and she begins training them like her own children within the safety of the Hex; however, when her neighbor Mary, secretly Mary Bromfield, mentions Zachary Zatara and Amazo, Zatanna violently expels her from the barrier, revealing her total control over the fabricated world. Outside the anomaly, Checkmate investigates under acting director Tyler Hayward, joined by agent Cameron Chase and government-assigned astrophysicist Darcy Lewis, discovering that Zatanna has unknowingly enslaved Westview’s residents, including Enns, Herb, and Norm, forcing them into sitcom roles while fully conscious and suffering; meanwhile, Red Tornado gradually senses inconsistencies in reality, briefly freeing Norm and learning of the town’s agony. During an 80s-themed Halloween episode, a version of Zachary appears, seemingly recast yet identical, heightening suspicions that the Hex is destabilizing; at the same time, Mary repeatedly forces her way back inside the anomaly, absorbing magical energy and developing abilities reminiscent of Shazam. The central twist reveals that the quiet neighbor Enns is actually Enchantress, the ancient sorceress who possesses June Moone and has been manipulating events from the shadows; she forces Zatanna to relive her trauma—her childhood under Giovanni Zatara, her exposure to a Mother Box’s cosmic energies, the loss of loved ones, and the devastation wrought by Darkseid—revealing that Enchantress exploited Zatanna’s overwhelming grief to trigger the creation of the Hex and manifest a new Red Tornado and surrogate children through forbidden Chaos Magic, marking her as the prophesied “Zatanna the Witch.” In the climactic battle above Westview, Enchantress attempts to siphon Zatanna’s power while Hayward deploys a rebuilt, weaponized android called Red Volcano against her; Mary shields the twins from gunfire, Darcy crashes into Hayward to prevent his escape, and Red Tornado confronts Red Volcano in a philosophical Ship of Theseus debate about identity and memory, restoring his consciousness before Volcano escapes into the skies. Fully embracing her identity as Zatanna the Witch, she casts backward runic spells across the sky to block Enchantress’ magic, seizes part of her power, briefly flirting with darker impulses, and ultimately frees June Moone from the curse; realizing the suffering she has caused, Zatanna dismantles the Hex and tearfully says goodbye to Red Tornado, Bart, and Lori as they fade from existence. After liberating the town, Mary reassures Zatanna that grief is proof of love, and Zatanna retreats into isolation to study the deepest corners of the Dark Arts; in a mid-credits scene, Mary is approached by a Manhunter on behalf of an old ally of her brother, hinting at Amanda Waller, while in a post-credits scene Zatanna, in astral form, hears the voices of Bart and Lori calling for help from across the Multiverse, setting the stage for darker magical events within the DC Universe.

Story added by dippy2 on December 29, 2022