Justice League was an animated series that ran from 2001 to 2004. It’s part of the DC Animated Universe, with many of the actors from shows like Batman: The Animated Series or Superman: The Animated Series reprising the roles, with the notable exception of George Newbern, who took over the role of Superman from Tim Daly. The core seven heroes consisted of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl. It maintains the high standard set by the other DC Animated Universe shows before it. IGN listed it (combining Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited into one show) as the 20th best animated show of all time. The episodes are mostly two-part or three-part episodes, and today we’re going to look at some of the best ones.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
7 The Savage Time
Distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution
The Justice League (minus Batman) returns from a mission in space and discovers Earth has dramatically changed. Vandal Savage now rules as a dictator and Batman’s parents were murdered after speaking out against his regime. Batman also reveals how long Vandal Savage has been in power: since World War II, which the Axis won. It turns out Vandal Savage sent future technology and knowledge of the future to his younger self. Using this technology, Savage took over as the leader of Nazi Germany and lead them to victory. The League then travels back to World War II to fix the timeline. The war separates our heroes. Green Lantern’s ring fails, causing him to hook up with a company of Marines, Wonder Woman meets her comic book love interest, Steve Trevor, and helps him on his mission. Superman, Hawkgirl, and the Flash help the Allied soldiers on the ground. Several of DC’s World War II-era heroes appear to help out. All of this adds up to a great first-season finale and ends on a sweet note as Wonder Woman visits a now older Steve Trevor in a retirement home. Definitely check this one out.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
6 Wild Cards
The Joker has placed bombs all over the Las Vegas strip and the Justice League has to disarm them within 22 minutes (a fun little in-joke for the length of a half-hour timeslot for a show). However, this being the Joker, there’s an added twist: The Royal Flush Gang (voiced by the actors of the Teen Titans) are there to provide our heroes with an extra challenge. The literal ticking clock provides great tension. Joker, watching the whole thing from a TV studio, provides some hilarious commentary on the goings-on, and the fights are an absolute joy to watch. The reason Joker is doing this is because he wants as many viewers as possible, as he reveals the power of Ace, the last member of the Royal Flush Gang. She can drive people insane by staring at them, either in person or via TV. It’s a wonderful episode and ends with Green Lantern and Hawkgirl sharing their first kiss. How sweet.
5 Legends
Anytime the DC Animated Universe does an “our show wouldn’t exist without the campy superhero shows that came before it” kind of episode, they knock it out of the park. “Beware The Grey Ghost” is one of the best episodes of Batman: The Animated Series and “Legends” is one of the best of Justice League. A battle with Lex Luthor’s latest giant robot ends in an explosion that sends Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl to a parallel universe stuck in the ’50s, and protected by a Justice Guild of America instead of a Justice League. It turns out the Justice Guild were a team of heroes from the comics Green Lantern read as a kid. However, this alternate world is hiding a dark secret that Justice League attempts to expose.
The episode is filled with tons of bad puns, which Flash is perfectly willing to match with, providing some humor, but when the big reveal happens, the Justice Guild must make a difficult choice, one that it turns out they already made 40 years ago. Superhero shows may be goofy; they may have more bad puns than the average dad, but at the end of the day, they inspired people to become heroes, as Green Lantern himself admits when he says he might not have his ring without those campy heroes to inspire him. A fantastic, heartbreaking episode.
4 Hereafter
A group of Superman’s worst villains team-up to kill the Man of Steel once and for all… and succeed. The death of Superman hits everyone across the universe hard. His funeral is one of the most emotional moments of the show as even Lex Luthor admits he’s going to miss Superman. Even Batman, who isn’t convinced Superman is dead, makes a powerful confession at Superman’s memorial, admitting how much he respects Superman. As it turns out, Batman was right. Superman isn’t dead. He’s been flung thousands of years into the future to an inhospitable Earth after Vandal Savage’s last plan ruined the planet. Savage, the only human alive thanks to his immortality, teams up with Superman to figure out a way to send Superman back to his own time. This new Earth de-powers Superman, forcing him to rely on his wits instead. It’s a great set-up, but that emotional wrecking ball that is the first half of this episode is what vaults it to such a high place on this list.
3 Starcrossed
This three-part episode sees the Thangarians forcibly occupy Earth to build a hyperspace bypass generator to help them fight another race of aliens. The problem? Activating the generator will destroy Earth. To make matters worse, the reason the Thanagarians had such an easy time occupying Earth was because they had someone on the inside: Hawkgirl. Torn between her old home and her new one, Hawkgirl has to decide where her loyalties truly lie. It’s a great dilemma, made even better by the fact that every member of the League is truly hurt by Hawkgirl’s betrayal. The action is great, the drama is powerful, and it ends with the rest of the League voting on whether or not to kick Hawkgirl out of the League. It’s essentially The Tower of Babel story with Hawkgirl in Batman’s role. This is the last episode before the show became Justice League: Unlimited and they ended on a high note.
2 A Better World
Lex Luthor becomes President of the United States, and his latest scheme has resulted in the death of the Flash. When Superman confronts him in the Oval Office, Luthor taunts him, saying that he doesn’t have the stomach to do what must be done. Superman’s response? Giving Luthor a good dose of heat vision, ending him for good. Later on, the Justice League becomes the Justice Lords, ruling Earth with dictatorial authority. When the Justice Lords discover the Justice League’s universe and a still-living Flash, they cross over to instill their brand of order on the Justice League’s world. What follows is a clash of ideals between the Justice League and the Justice Lords, including a brilliant scene of the two Batmans debating ethics during a fight in the Batcave. This episode also has huge implications for Justice League: Unlimited, as the Justice League offers Lex Luthor a full pardon for his crimes in exchange for help defeating the Justice Lords and making the US Government form Cadmus, which would cause some headaches later on. This episode is a must-watch.
1 Injustice For All
Lex Luthor is finally arrested for his numerous crimes, and to make matters worse, he’s got cancer due to overexposure to the Kryptonite he always carries around with him. Luthor busts out of prison and forms the Injustice Gang, consisting of Cheetah, Star Sapphire, Shade, Copperhead, Solomon Grundy, and the Joker, who forces himself onto the team after Copperhead is arrested in a skirmish with the Justice League. The Injustice Gang’s goal is quite simple: kill the Justice League. There’s so much to love about this episode, but Batman and Joker are the two biggest standouts. Luthor’s grip on his gang is tenuous at best, with him having to constantly threaten them or increase the amount he’s paying the various members of his gang. It’s quite shocking to see a villain team where Joker is not only the voice of reason, but the most competent one of them all, leading the villains to their biggest victory of the episode when his plan to capture Batman is a success. It’s also a great episode for Batman as he brilliantly exploits every member of the Injustice Gang and plays them against each other. It’s a fantastic episode
