Justice League Unlimited

[j03superbat]

Next time, though, I'd like them to call it Justice League of America. Doesn't mean it has to get political.

Frankly, unless they're representing America, I find the "of America" unneccessary and potentially inaccurate. Especially the JL of this show, which had their headquarters up in a satelite in outer space. By the time they expanded their roster, they were including international heroes so I don't see how the "of America" would've even been accurate.

I'm not suggesting that "of America" should be left off for some silly political reason like I know I'll be accused of, but any team that has a Martian, a Kryptonian, a Themysciran, an Atlantean, and a representative of an intergalactic police force on it just doesn't sound strictly "American" to me.

However, I have thought that an intriguing political plot line could be written with nations using superheroes as their new arms race (picture a JLA appointed by Congress to compete with a Justice League of China and a Justice League of the European Union). If that's not already an existing story, that is.

[RightWingConspirator]

However, I have thought that an intriguing political plot line could be written with nations using superheroes as their new arms race (picture a JLA appointed by Congress to compete with a Justice League of China and a Justice League of the European Union). If that's not already an existing story, that is.

That would be interesting, if done right. I don't think it's been done before....

[j03superbat]

That would be interesting, if done right. I don't think it's been done before....

We've seen other nations form their own super-teams (like China's Great Ten), and we've seen superheroes being used as political pawns (see Watchmen), so I think it's natural that we see a story where superheroes are the new weapons of mass destruction - everyone's scrambling to get their own.

Alan Moore originally wanted to use existing characters for Watchmen because they have an established history, giving them weight. I'd like to see that concept realized by doing an out-of-continuity story with DC characters, especially because DC isn't as good as Marvel at spotlighting their lesser-known characters and a story like this would require lots of characters.

[nate-dog1701d]

Speaking of JLU, I just learned yesterday that Nightwing has a cameo in Grudge Match. I've wondered for years why so many characters, especially Batman characters, were never shown on this series (some kind of embargo?). Heck, I wondered why Nightwing wasn't a legitimate member of the expanded League, so that was a very cool revelation, even if it's just a second long.

[Gotham Knight]

Speaking of JLU, I just learned yesterday that Nightwing has a cameo in Grudge Match. I've wondered for years why so many characters, especially Batman characters, were never shown on this series (some kind of embargo?). Heck, I wondered why Nightwing wasn't a legitimate member of the expanded League, so that was a very cool revelation, even if it's just a second long.

http://dcanimated.*****.com/wiki/Bat-Embargo
That should answer your question.

[nate-dog1701d]

http://dcanimated.*****.com/wiki/Bat-Embargo
That should answer your question.

Thanks. I've heard of the Bat-Embargo (mainly in relation to Smallville), but I never realized it was that extensive. It just seems really dumb to me. The show was still great, but it would have been so nice to have Nightwing, Robin, or some prominent Bat-villains show up once in a while. If TPTB were so concerned about having multiple versions of the characters going on simultaneously, why was Batman allowed to be on the show?

[RightWingConspirator]

http://dcanimated.*****.com/wiki/Bat-Embargo
That should answer your question.

I visited that site, and as I started reading, a full screen pop up advertising the Captain America movie blocked everything!

I know that Marvel is a competitor, but geeze.....

(Yes, it did go away and I read the article on the crummy embargo....)

[mbozzo]

I remembered Justice League Unlimited when they has new episodes on Cartoon Network. My favorite episode is 'The Clash' when Superman got into a fight with a Captain Marvel who is trying to reason with him. It was not Superman's greatest moment.

[Rival X The Great]

One of my favorite episodes from Unlimited was Doomsday Sanction

[super_j_man]

I miss this show. Thank God for Amazon!

[jon-el87]

Came across this question elsewhere (and thought that I'd discuss it here):

If One of the "Trinity" never appeared in the DCAU, whose absence would have the biggest impact?

("Trinity" = Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.)

Clearly, the answer's Batman. Batman the Animated Series is what started it all. Laid the foundation of it all. No Batman the Animated Series, no DCAU. No Superman would be the second biggest impact. Superman the Animated Series was the second show. It established more of a shared universe (needed for stuff like the Justice League to exist). One inhabited by aliens, robots, metahumans, and magic.

Actually, when you look at the "Trinity" in the DCAU, an absence of Wonder Woman would probably not leave an impact. Unlike Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman wasn't introduced in her own series (which would've been the first/only DCAU series with a female titular hero). In fact, Justice League introduces Wonder Woman as a literal rookie, while Hawkgirl is presented as a well-established superheroine (and, frankly, I remember Hawkgirl in the DCAU better than Wonder Woman). Batman the Animated Series and Superman the Animated Series had also already introduced Batgirl, Supergirl, and Zatanna (don't remember if they did anyone more. Was Phantasm a hero or villain?). Apparently, Catwoman almost got her own series. So, Wonder Woman's introduction didn't mark the introduction of female superheroes in the DCAU. No landmark moment for the franchise. Wonder Woman isn't the first (unlike with Superman or Batman, who were introduced as the first of something). She joins a world that already have got female superheroes in it. When they got to Justice League Unlimited, they had even more female superheroes show up. Don't think that they ever had any of them mention that Wonder Woman inspired them to become superheroes (Hawkgirl at least got to inspire Hawkman). In fact, an X number of them probably pre-dates her.