Young Justice: Where is Aqualad in Season 3?

Young Justice is finally on its way back, but fans are starting to question the whereabouts of the show’s most beloved character.

The creative team behind the series showed off some character art from the upcoming third season at San Diego Comic-Con this year, and Aqualad was mysteriously missing.

People thought they saw the character in a picture with some of the other Season 1 members of the team but the creators told us that it was actually Black Lightning in the art, not Aqualad.

Throughout the panel, and a number of interviews at SDCC, there was no mention of Aqualad at all.

Khary Payton teased the character’s return in a tweet back in April, making it seem as though he hasn’t been written off the show.

So, where could Aqualad be? We’ve got a couple of ideas.

On His Own

Aqualad always had a different outlook on the world than the rest of the Young Justice team did, so it’s possible he could be off doing his own thing.

If he felt that the team was holding him back, or that he could become a better warrior without everyone else, it stands to reason that Aqualad could have run off. 

The only argument against all this is Aqualad’s uncanny ability to bring the rest of the team together. He was often the glue that was needed to keep everything afloat.

While possible, it’s hard to believe that Aqualad would willingly abandon his friends.

With The Justice League

As one of the oldest, and most talented members of the team, there’s a possibility that Aqualad has become a part of the real Justice League team.

The goal was of Young Justice was always for the JL members to give the younger heroes a chance to train and learn, in hopes that they would one day graduate to the level of heroes. 

Aqualad might have made that transition.

If this is the case, Aqualad wouldn’t likely be a huge part of Young Justice: Outsiders. Fans wouldn’t be super happy about this scenario, making it hard to think that the writers went this direction.

Leading Young Justice

The most exciting theory about Aqualad is that he’s taken on a new role within the Young Justice team. What if he’s become their leader?

Aqualad was always extremely mature, and it was very clear that the guy was born to be a leader. 

While the other original Young Justice members – Artemis, Superboy, Dick Grayson – went on to join Black Lightning’s team, the Justice League may have had another idea in mind for Aqualad. If they put him in charge of the Young Justice team, they would have a veteran in place that they trust. And they wouldn’t have to use one of the Justice Leaguers to do it.

Wherever he is, let’s just hope that Aqualad has as big of a role in Outsiders as he did in the original series.