Warner Brothers continues its streak of releasing past animated series on DVD with the Season One release of The Zeta Project. Originally appearing on Batman Beyond, Zeta project takes place in the DC Animated Universe Future and follows the story of a former government robot named Johnny 5…I mean….Zeta….who is programed for stealth assassinations who gains awareness and doesn't want to kill anymore.
Zeta is outfitted with high-tech stealth holograms (allowing him to look and sound like anyone), lasers, and infiltration devices. "Zeta" learns that one of his targets is actually innocent and begins to question his superiors who believe that he has become compromised. He encounters a young girl named Ro who wants to help him prove his innocence and locate his creator.
The Zeta Project features several well known actors in key roles. Diedrich Bader (Batman: Brave and the Bold) stars as Zeta. Michael Rosenbaum from Smallville and Justice League plays Agent West (who looks like he could be a descendant of Wally West aka the Flash). Kurtwood Smith (Red Forman from That 70's Show) plays Agent Bennett (who also could be a descendant of Noah Bennett from Heroes). Julie Nathanson provides the voice for Ro, Zeta's partner-in-crime.
Highlights
The set contains all 12 episodes from the first season along with his initial appearances on Batman Beyond ("Zeta" and "Countdown").
The best episodes on this set are:
"Accomplice": The pilot episode of the series and introduces Zeta to his new audience. It also introduce Ro and Zeta's quest to find answers.
"His Maker's Name": Zeta learns the name of the man behind the Zeta Project and sets out to clear his name.
"West Bound": Features Agent West
"Shadows": Zeta must confront Batman Beyond and explain his situation and help an injured Ro in the process.
Special Features
"The Making of Zeta- How the Character and Series Evolved" is the only special feature on the set.
Overall
You would think that a spin-off of Batman Beyond would have involved some main characters from that series, but what was impressive was that Zeta had it's own story and own cast and didn't need DC characters to make it interesting. The series took the basic concepts and premise of Short Circuit to a new level and did a nice job making it into a series. I think that the only thing missing from this series were the dark tones that Batman Beyond had. The series was set in the same future which the same artistic design but just didnt have the same edge that Batman utilized. This set is a nice edition to the DC Animated Universe and is a fun watch if you missed it the first time.
ComicsOnline gives The Zeta Project 3.5 out of 5 Short Circuited Robots.
