Justice League (TV series)
Justice League is an American animated superhero television series, which aired on Cartoon Network from November 17, 2001, to May 29, 2004. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics. It serves as a sequel to Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series, as well as a prequel to Batman Beyond, and is the seventh series of the DC Animated Universe. The series ended after two seasons, but was followed by Justice League Unlimited, a successor series which aired for three seasons.
Overview
Bruce Timm, who co-produced Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series in the 1990s, became producer on an animated series focusing on the Justice League. The roster consisted of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, J'onn J'onzz, and Hawkgirl.According to audio commentary on the DVD release of Season 2, the second-season finale "Starcrossed" was expected to be the final episode of the series. However, in February 2004, Cartoon Network announced a follow-up series, Justice League Unlimited, which premiered on July 31, 2004, and featured a larger roster of characters.
It is the first series in the DC Animated Universe to fully use digital ink and paint, also the first to be produced in widescreen starting in Season 2.
Production
Kevin Conroy reprised his voice role as Batman from Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, and Batman Beyond. Batman's costume was redesigned, but this time, his costume was a combination of his last three costumes. The same costume from The New Batman Adventures is retained, but with the blue highlights from the Batman: The Animated Series costume and the long-ears from the Batman Beyond costume are added to the costume. Tim Daly, who voiced Superman in Superman: The Animated Series, was initially involved, but was unable to reprise his role due to involvement with The Fugitive. He was replaced by George Newbern. Both Newbern and Daly have voiced the character in different DC projects outside the DCAU, with Newbern becoming the longest-running actor to portray Superman.Alongside Kevin Conroy and George Newbern as Superman, joining the rest of the main cast is Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, Maria Canals-Barrera as Hawkgirl, Phil LaMarr as John Stewart, Michael Rosenbaum replacing Charlie Schlatter as the Flash, and Carl Lumbly as J'onn J'onzz.
Several actors in previous DCAU media also reprise their roles, including Dana Delany as Lois Lane, David Kaufman as Jimmy Olsen, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred Pennyworth, Shelley Fabares and Mike Farrell as Jonathan and Martha Kent, Mark Hamill as the Joker, Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, Corey Burton as Brainiac, Ron Perlman as Clayface, Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn, Peri Gilpin as Volcana, Diane Pershing as Poison Ivy, Mark Rolston as Firefly, Ted Levine as Sinestro, Brian George as Parasite, Michael Ironside as Darkseid, Michael Dorn as Kalibak, Lisa Edelstein as Mercy Graves, and Brad Garrett as Lobo. In the episode "Hereafter", Maria Canals-Barrera voiced Livewire and Corey Burton voiced Toyman and Metallo, replacing their respective original actors Lori Petty, Bud Cort, and Malcolm McDowell.
Voice cast
Main cast
- Kevin Conroy – Batman
- Maria Canals-Barrera – Hawkgirl
- Susan Eisenberg – Wonder Woman
- Phil LaMarr – Green Lantern
- Carl Lumbly – J'onn J'onzz
- George Newbern – Superman
- Michael Rosenbaum – Flash
Home media
From 2006 to 2011, Warner Home Video released the entire series of Justice League on DVD and Blu-ray, and presented in original broadcast version and story arc continuity order.Season releases
| Name | Disc | Release date | Ep # | Notes |
| Season One | DVD | March 21, 2006 | 26 | Contains a set of 4 DVDs with all of the episodes from the first season as well as audio commentaries, interviews, and other special features. |
| Season One | Blu-ray | August 19, 2008 | 26 | Season One has been re-mastered and re-issued as a set of 3 Blu-ray Discs with everything included on the prior release. |
| Season Two | DVD | June 20, 2006 | 26 | Contains a set of 4 DVDs with all of the episodes from the second season as well as audio commentaries and a panel discussion involving the production team of the series. Despite the show having been produced in a widescreen format this release lacks anamorphic encoding. |
| Season Two | Blu-ray | July 26, 2011 | 26 | Warner Home Video released Season Two on a two-disc Blu-ray set. |
Warner Home Video also released another DVD set titled Justice League: The Complete Series. It contained all 91 episodes of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited on a 15-disc set with the 15th disc containing a bonus documentary. This was later re-packaged and sold as a 10-disc set without the bonus documentary.
;Individual releases
| DVD name | Release date | Additional information |
| Justice League | April 23, 2002 | Contains all three parts of "Secret Origins". A mini-DVD version of this disc has also been released. |
| Justice on Trial | April 22, 2003 | Contains "In Blackest Night" and "The Enemy Below". |
| Paradise Lost | July 22, 2003 | Contains "Paradise Lost" and "War World". |
| Starcrossed The Movie | July 13, 2004 | Contains "Starcrossed" in both widescreen and fullscreen. |
| The Brave and the Bold | October 19, 2004 | Contains episodes "The Brave and the Bold" and "Injustice For All". |
;Boxsets
| DVD name | Release date | Additional information |
| The Justice League Collection | April 13, 2004 | Contains previous "Secret Origins", "Paradise Lost", and "Justice on Trial" DVDs |
| Challenge of the Super Friends to Justice League: | April 13, 2004 | Contains the previously released "Justice League" DVD along with two Super Friends discs in a slip-case. |
| Justice League - The Complete Series | June 20, 2006 | Contains Justice League seasons 1 & 2 along with Justice League Unlimited seasons 1 & 2. |
| Justice League: 3-Pack Fun | July 19, 2011 | Contains "The Brave and the Bold" and "Injustice For All" As well as the Justice League Unlimited episodes: * "For The Man Who Has Everything" * "The Return," * "The Greatest Story Never Told," the Young Justice episodes: * "Independence Day" * "Fireworks," * "Welcome To Happy Harbor" * "Drop Zone". |
Soundtrack
A 4-disc soundtrack of musical highlights from both seasons of Justice League was released by La-La Land Records in July 2016. It is a limited edition of 3000 units and can be ordered at the La-La Land Records website. The set includes tracks from fan-favorite episodes like A Better World, Hereafter, Wild Cards and Starcrossed.La-La Land are hoping to release a soundtrack for Justice League Unlimited as well, provided that sales of the Justice League soundtrack improve significantly and that there is sufficient demand from fans. A second Justice League volume may also follow if fans support the existing release.
Broadcast history
The series premiere on November 17, 2001, set a Cartoon Network record with over 4.114 million viewers. This made it the channel's highest rated premiere ever, a record it would keep until September 13, 2009, when the world premiere of Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins gathered over 6.108 million viewers.The show was aired in the Republic of Ireland on TG4 in both Irish and English from 6 September 2002 to 2007.
Reception
Justice League Season 1 received acclaim for its portrayal of the superhero team and its engaging storytelling. WhatCulture praised the season for its exceptional execution, and highlighted the series' mature handling of themes such as relationships, trauma, and loss, which contributed to its broad appeal across different age groups. Den of Geek highlighted the show’s effective team dynamics, drawing a favorable comparison to Star Trek: The Next Generation for its exploration of character relationships. The Young Folks admired the show’s versatility, noting its ability to seamlessly shift between emotional, humorous, and epic moments. io9.com also appreciated the charm of the heroes’ initial team-up, benefiting from their backgrounds in previous animated series.Despite its strengths, the season faced some criticism. CBR noted that the storytelling in Season 1 often felt superficial, with deeper narratives and character development emerging in later seasons. Filip Vukcevic of IGN agreed, pointing out uneven character development as a drawback but still finding the show entertaining overall. Oliver Sava of the AV Club countered this view by praising the expansive nature of the series and its multi-part episodes, which he felt contributed to a strong iteration of the Justice League. Indiewire ranked the show overall as the 20th best animated show of all time.
The second season of Justice League however, is considered to be one of the best seasons of the entire DC Animated Universe, with Oliver Sava from The A.V. Club writing "good enough isn't good enough." "That's the philosophy for Justice League season two, according to producer Bruce Timm on the DVD commentary, and this two-part season opener is the perfect example of that new attitude in action. Just as Batman: The Animated Series set a new standard for solo superhero cartoon excellence, Justice League season two is only eclipsed by Justice League Unlimited as the strongest superhero-team series. Everything is of higher quality this season: the direction, animation, music, sound effects, and most importantly, the stories."
Cancelled film
Circa 2004, Bruce Timm announced that a direct-to-video Justice League feature film was being produced to bridge the second season of Justice League and the first season of Justice League Unlimited. It was planned to reveal how Wonder Woman acquired her Invisible Plane and feature the Crime Syndicate as the main antagonists, an idea that was originally conceived for the episode "A Better World" until the Syndicate was replaced by the Justice Lords. Dwayne McDuffie wrote the script and Andrea Romano assembled the cast, but Warner Bros. finally scrapped the project. In 2010, the film was repurposed and released as Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, a standalone film unconnected to the DCAU.Adaptations
''Justice League Adventures''
DC Comics published a series of 34-issue numbered comics based on the television series, between 2002 and 2004. However, while the comic would use the style of the animated show, it would often ignore its continuity and use backstories and personalities for characters based on the mainstream DC comics instead.- #34 : Guardians Against Darkness!