Australian comedy web-series The Justice Lease is returning a for second season after winning $70,000 at the Viewster Online Film Festival.
In 2013, Severe Comedy self funded series one of The Justice Lease, a six-part web series which focused on the daily domestic lives of Superman, Batman, The Hulk and Aquaman, set in a suburban Australian share-house.
Series one of The Justice Lease screened at Melbourne WebFest, LA WebFest (winning eight awards) and was awarded a $70,000 cash prize in the inaugural Viewster Online Film Festival.
Since then, the creators have used that budget to create a five-part series, which will be launched on March 22 via YouTube.
Producer Erasmo Raimundo said the funding had allowed the team to create the kind of series envisioned at the beginning.
"An entirely over-dramatic comedy that both pokes fun at, and reveres, the superhero genre,” he said.
Director Jeremy Brull likes to think of it as cross between What We Do In The Shadows and The Bold and the Beautiful.
While the first season focused on the characters frustration with domestic duties and the impact that the recent film adaptations of their lives had, season two delves deeper into these themes, a highlight being Superman’s reaction to the fact that his own sequel is being turned into a Batman movie.
Several Sydney-based actors make up the cast, including original cast members reprising their roles: producer Paul Michael Ayre (Legally Brown, Soul Mates) as passive-aggressive Superman; Andrew Steel (Wonderland, Tipping Point) returns as alpha-superhero Batman,
David Eastgate (A Moody Christmas, Open Slather) returning as fish-out-of-water Aquaman, James Shepherd returning as pent up genius Bruce Banner and Tom Green as frustrated side-kick Robin.
New characters and cast include Ainslie Clouston as Lois Lane (Winter, BedHead), Sarah Bishop as Poison Ivy (Skitbox, Wham Bam Thankyou Ma'am), Scott Lee as Green Lantern (Home & Away) Shingo Usami as Ra's Al Ghul (Paper Planes, Red Dog) and three time Laurence Olivier Award winner Philip Quast as Constable Gordon.
The Justice Lease 2: Dorm of Justice will be launched at an event in Sydney and will be available on YouTube from March 22.