Every Animated Version of the Justice League, Ranked

October 3, 2025, 12:30pm

The Justice League should be even bigger than the Avengers. After all, DC’s two most important heroes, Superman and Batman, headline the team, which can’t be said of Marvel’s group. The one thing holding the Justice League back is that it can find its footing on the big screen. The DC Extended Universe rushes to the finish line to bring its heroes together, skipping over important origin stories and other adventures to compete with what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is doing. The result is so bad that James Gunn, the head of DC Studios, wants to wait as long as possible to bring together a group of remarkable people in his universe.

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Fortunately, the live-action medium isn’t the only one that the Justice League calls home. The team has been flourishing for decades in animation, headlining its own shows and making notable appearances in other ones. Here’s every animated version of the Justice League, ranked.

8) Harley Quinn

Unlike every other show or movie on this list, the black comedy Harley Quinn makes the members of the Justice League out to be a bunch of bumbling fools. They’re too proud to ask for help, forcing Harley Quinn and her crew to pick up the slack. The Justice League serves its purpose in the show, but it’s far from its best appearance.

7) DC League of Super-Pets

The 2022 movie DC League of Super-Pets also keeps the spotlight away from the Justice League, handing it over to its pets instead. However, when the furless heroes are around, they’re as heroic as ever. Superman, in particular, makes an impact by motivating his goof friend Krypto.

6) Justice League Action

Justice League Action turns down the serious meter and lets its titular team get back to having fun. That works to its benefit most of the time, but keeping things kid-friendly gets old after a while. It also feels like the show wants to be more about Batman than anyone else, which is a shame because most of its characters are great.

5) Justice League: Gods and Monsters

DC loves alternate universes, and few are as interesting as the one in Justice League: Gods and Monsters. The member of the titular team that headline the movie aren’t familiar faces, with General Zod’s son being Superman and Kirk Langstrom, aka Man-Bat, taking over as Batman. The group fights back against a plot to ruin its reputation and proves that its stories are just as interesting as the ones going on on Earth-One.

4) Young Justice

The animated series Young Justice loves its sidekicks, allowing them to create their own team. However, they don’t get far without the help of the Justice League, which provides plenty of support. While this version of the League makes its fair share of mistakes, including letting Vandal Savage take control of it, Nightwing and others young heroes earning a spot on the roster pushes it above most of the competition.

3) Super Friends

The Justice League doesn’t get to use its name in Super Friends, but all the usual suspects are present. Despite the name of the show and the members of the team changing nearly every season, the show’s characters get to go on a lot of interesting adventures and fight plenty of iconic villains. The Super Friends‘ portrayal of the Justice League sets the stage for everything that comes after.

2) DCAMU Justice League

The DC Animated Movie Universe takes on the difficult task of building a franchise of interconnected stories that build up to major events like Justice League vs. Teen Titans. While it’s easy to get lost in all of the lore, every member of the team has moments to shine, especially in the team-up movies. The only blotch on this Justice League’s record is that they lose to Darkseid, forcing The Flash to reset the universe.

1) DCAU Justice League

There’s an argument to be made that the DC Animated Universe is the reason why many non-comic book readers are fans of DC characters at all. From Batman: The Animated Series all the way to Justice League Unlimited, the shows and movies take its heroes to new heights and really makes the Justice League feel like a family. Having Kevin Conroy’s Batman lead the pack also doesn’t hurt its case for the top spot.

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