Fans Looking for ‘Young Justice’ Hints Should Read ‘Batman and the Outsiders’

Young Justice fans are happy to know that the show’s long-awaited third season will finally debut soon on the DC Universe streaming service, but there is some homework they can do in the meantime.

During an interview with ComicBook.com at San Diego Comic-Con, the creative team behind Young Justice: Outsiders revealed a reading suggestion for those who may want to get some hints about things to come, and the first clue is right there in the new season’s subtitle.

“Batman and the Outsiders, I suppose, is a big one,” says co-creator Greg Weisman. “Specifically for the first few episodes.”

Co-creator Brandon Vietti adds, “We’re kind of riffing on that, doing our Earth-16 version of that story. Our entire series has been granted by DC the designation of Earth-16 and we really lean into that. There are a lot of reminders of that throughout the season. The number ’16’ pops up quite a lot.

“It also allows us to kind of riff on the comic books rather than have to stick to them very faithfully,” Vietti continues. “What we try to do is at least really pay respect to the characters or storylines that we’re riffing off of so that hardcore fans really feel that respect but also can be surprised. The hardcore fans that know these stories and know these characters inside and out, we want something new and something fresh, a different take. And then for new people coming onboard hopefully they’ll be able to see our stuff and go backward and see what the source material was and rediscover the DC Universe as we have.”

Batman and the Outsiders was a series that launched in 1983 during a period in the DC Universe when Batman’s relationship with the Justice League was somewhat strained. He formed a new team of superheroes who didn’t fit in with the popular mainstream heroes to work under his supervision without Justice League oversight. The classic team roster consisted of Black Lightning, Metamorpho, Geo-Force, Katana, Halo, and Looker. Some of those characters have been highlighted in the marketing for Young Justice: Outsiders. Nightwing later formed a new version of the Outsiders and he seems to be involved with the Young Justice version of the team as well.

Are you going to catch on Batman and the Outsiders before Young Justice returns? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Young Justice: Outsiders will premiere on DC Universe in 2019.