The world of DC Comics has burst out of its funny books for years now, with the Justice League, its allies, and opponents finding movies, television, video games, and all sorts of media to conquer. Nine years ago, Cartoon Network began airing a unique take on some of DC’s biggest heroes and villains that can often be overlooked, especially in the face of the original DC animated universe. While there will most likely never be a show that can replace the likes of Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited, there was one DC series that deserved more credit than it ultimately received.
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Premiering on December 16th, 2016, Justice League Action was a series that gathered together some of the biggest characters from the DC universe for a rather unique animated show. Rather than having a more traditional, overarching episode structure like the previous Justice League animated series, JLA instead focused on more unique “shorts” that normally ran for around twelve minutes in total. The series itself was created for a younger audience than the DC Animated Universe, but it still had plenty of unique stories that helped set it apart, especially when you consider the voice acting cast that helped fill it.
Kevin Conroy’s Batman and Mark Hamill’s Joker were just two of the returning voice actors that helped round out Justice League Action, which created some hilarious segments that played on the strengths of the DC animated universe. Specifically, Hamill led the short segment titled “Missing The Mark,” which saw Mark playing himself as he was kidnapped by none other than the Joker, also voiced by Hamill. Joining the pair was the Trickster, another character voiced by Hamill, with the superhero known as Swamp Thing joining the mix. Ironically enough, the green-thumbed superhero was also voiced by Hamill, and you can check out the three-minute segment below.
The Beginning And End of JLA
When the series premiered, many DC fans might have been surprised to see the breadth of talent from the comic book company’s past that joined the fray. The producers of the show included Batman Beyond alum Butch Lukic, Green Lantern: The Animated Series alum Jim Krieg, and Batman: The Animated Series’ Alan Burnett all worked on this new take on the Justice League. Even executive producer Sam Register had experience with the DCU thanks to Teen Titans Go!, which is why JLA was able to play on the strengths of the comic world’s heroes and villains. Unfortunately, while the breadth of talent was able to create two seasons of television, along with quite a few internet shorts, it wasn’t able to dodge cancellation in 2018.
To this day, Cartoon Network has yet to officially confirm why the Justice League series was cancelled following its first two seasons, though there are common factors that could give DC fans a good understanding of why. Elements such as low ratings, low toy sales, and the need for a fresh take on the DC heroes can all contribute. Certainly, with James Gunn creating animated adventures that are part of the DC Universe’s new canon, such as Creature Commandos, it would make it hard for Justice League Action to stick around.
As mentioned previously, many of the episodes that made up Justice League Action were “one and done” short stories that existed apart from one another, not creating an overarching storyline for the animated show. This meant that the animated series never truly received a proper send-off with its grand finale. In 2018, the show’s final episode, “She Wore Red Velvet” was a Booster Gold-centric episode that introduced more time-hopping shenanigans into the series.
The future of the Justice League remains unclear at the moment when it comes to animation, though the DC Universe does have future animated projects in the works. Batman: Knightfall has been announced by Warner Bros Animation as the studio preps to adapt the story that introduced comic readers to Bane and introduced Azrael as the new Dark Knight. Fingers crossed that we’ll see DC’s brightest and biggest superhero team once again hit the screen in the near future.
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