''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

that was produced by

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation divis ...

with

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

in season 3 and aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

. Featuring a wide array of

es from the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

, and specifically based on the

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the previous ''

'' animated series and picks up around two years after it. ''JLU'' debuted on July 31, 2004, on

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

and ended on May 13, 2006. It is the eighth and final series of the

DC Animated Universe The DC Animated Universe (DCAU, also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans) is a Shared universe, shared fictional universe based on DC Comics properties and media franchise produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It began with ''Batman ...

, serving as the conclusion to a shared universe which began with '' Batman: The Animated Series''. Notably, it is the most continuity-heavy show of the

, and weaves together characters and plot lines from past series. ''Justice League Unlimited'' received critical acclaim.

Overview

According to producer

Bruce Timm Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for contributing to building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, most notably as the head producer behind '' Batman: ...

, the

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...

of ''

'', "Starcrossed", was possibly meant to be the final episode of the series; however,

ordered the production of season 3 and 4. The network wanted the show to be rebranded, including changing the episode format, so instead of two-part episode stories, the standard half an hour format was used. Additionally, alongside the name change, the show features a greatly expanded League, in which the characters from the original series—now referred to as "founding members"—are joined by many other

superheroes A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

from the

; in the first episode, well over 50 characters appear. A number of these were heroes who had made guest appearances in ''

'', but many heroes and other characters made their first animated appearances in this series. The general format of each episode is to have a small team assemble to deal with a particular situation, with a focus on both action and character interaction. This extension of the

was originally planned to be explained in a planned direct-to-video feature film, but the project never materialized.

Production

''Justice League Unlimited'' features both episodic and serialized episodes, the first major overarching story arc involves the growing conflict between the League and a secret government agency known as

Project Cadmus This is a list of teams and organizations that appear in various DC Comics publications. Note: Please check :DC Comics superhero teams before adding any redundant entries for superhero teams to the page. 0-9 100 1,000 2000 Committee A ...

. This plot line builds upon events that occurred during the second season of ''Justice League'' (which in turn built upon events in '' Batman: The Animated Series'', '' Superman: The Animated Series'', ''

Batman Beyond ''Batman Beyond'' (also known as ''Batman of the Future'' in Europe) is an American superhero animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, and serving as the sequel to both '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and '' The New Ba ...

'', ''

Static Shock ''Static Shock'' is an American superhero animated television series based on the Milestone Media/DC Comics superhero Static. It premiered on September 23, 2000, on the WB Television Network's Kids' WB programming block. ''Static Shock'' ran ...

'', and ''

The Zeta Project ''The Zeta Project'' is an American science fiction animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation, which originally aired on Kids' WB between January 27, 2001, and August 10, 2002. It is the sixth series of the DC Ani ...

''), and would go on to affect the plotlines of most of its episodes. It was resolved in a four-part story at the end of the second season of ''Justice League Unlimited''. The third and final season story arc focuses on the new

Secret Society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...

, a loose-knit organization formed to combat the increased superhero coordination of the first season. Towards the end of the series, certain characters became off-limits to the show, particularly characters associated with Batman, were restricted due to the unrelated animated series '' The Batman'' and

Christopher Nolan Sir Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British and American filmmaker. Known for his Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters with complex storytelling, he is considered a leading filmma ...

's live-action ''

The Dark Knight Trilogy The ''Batman'' franchise, based on the fictional superhero Batman who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, has seen the release of 23 films. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the character first starred in two serial fil ...

'', to avoid continuity confusion, thus leading to the popular term known as “Bat-embargo".

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles ...

and related characters were unavailable due to the development of a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

for a live-action series featuring the character as a young man (planned to be a spin-off of ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

''). To compensate for this, the last season focused their stories on previously overlooked

characters and mythos. These included characters like

Deadman Deadman or Deadman's may refer to: * "Deadman" or "dead man", are alternative terms for a dead man's switch * "Deadman's foot" is another name for a Salamander (metallurgy), Salamander in metallurgy * "Deadman anchor" is a buried object (log, con ...

Viking Prince The Viking Prince is a fictional Viking hero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #1 (August 1955), and was created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert. He is one of ...

, and

Warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

. The series, along with the entire DC Animated Universe, was originally planned to end after the second-season finale "Epilogue", which concluded the story of ''Batman Beyond'' and thus the entire DCAU chronologically. But a third season was greenlit by Cartoon Network. The third season started in 2005 with the episode "I Am Legion" (which was written before the announcement of a third season) and ended in 2006 with the episode "Destroyer". Stan Berkowitz, a member of the production team, left the show later for the TV series '' Friends and Heroes'', and writer Matt Wayne was contracted to replace him. According to Matt Wayne, if the show had been renewed for a fourth season, he would have liked to write more episodes focusing on

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

and

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

. DC Comics created an ongoing monthly comic book series based on the TV series, as part of its

Johnny DC Johnny DC is a character that DC Comics has used at various times as a mascot for its lines of comic books, and occasionally as a metafictional character who comments on the comics in which he appears. History The character originally appeared ...

line of "all ages" comics, which did not have the same restrictions regarding character appearances. ''Justice League Unlimited'', like the second season of ''Justice League'', is animated in

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ...

. The show also features new theme music and intro (nominated for an Emmy). The two-part

was aired in the UK on February 8 and 18, 2006, and in the United States on May 6 and 13, 2006.

Episodes

Cast

Protagonists

Supporting cast

Antagonists

Reception

''Justice League Unlimited'' received overwhelming critical acclaim and is listed as one of the best animated television shows of all time.

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

named ''Justice League/Justice League Unlimited'' as the 20th best animated television series of all time. Similarly, IndieWire also ranked the series as the 20th best animated show of all time. James Whitbrook, editor of

io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...

, wrote "''Justice League Unlimited'' is simply the greatest superhero show of all time", further stating "it embraced its source material wholly, and was unafraid to be the wildest, biggest, comic-book-iest show it could be." Producer Bruce Timm has stated that amongst all the shows he has worked on, this show is his favorite.

Home media

From 2006 to 2007,

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

(via

DC Entertainment DC Entertainment is an American entertainment company that was founded in September 2009 and is based in Burbank, California. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery which manages DC Comics characters by working with other units ...

and

Warner Bros. Family Entertainment Warner Bros. Family Entertainment was the family division label of Warner Bros. Entertainment. It released numerous theatrical and direct-to-video family-oriented films and television shows. History The division was founded in 1993 to produ ...

) released the entire series of ''Justice League Unlimited'' on DVD. The series is presented in original broadcast presentation and story arc continuity order. The series was also released on Blu-Ray. 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. The same episodes were later sold as a 10-disc set without the bonus documentary.

Soundtrack

La-La Land Records released a 4-disc ''

'' soundtrack on July 29, 2016. A potential ''Justice League Unlimited'' soundtrack depends on how well the ''Justice League'' soundtrack sells.

Adaptations

Justice League Unlimited

DC Comics published a series of 46-issue numbered comics based on the television series, between 2004 and 2008. *Justice League Unlimited: Jam-Packed Action! (2005-09-28): Adaptation of episodes 'Initiation' and 'For the Man Who Has Everything'.

Compilations

*Justice League Unlimited Vol. 1: United They Stand (2005-05-18): Includes #1-5. *Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2: World's Greatest Heroes (2006-04-19): Includes #6-10. *Justice League Unlimited Vol. 3: Champions of Justice (2006-04-19): Includes #11-15. *Justice League Unlimited: The Ties That Bind (2008-04-09): Includes #16-22. *Justice League Unlimited: Heroes (2009-04-08): Includes #23-29. *Justice League Unlimited: Galactic Justice (2020-08-25, /): Includes #4, 6, 18, 24, 34, 46. *Justice League Unlimited: Time After Time (2020-11-03, /): Includes Adventures in the DC Universe #10, Justice League Adventures #28, 30, 34; Justice League Unlimited #9, 19. *Justice League Unlimited: Girl Power (2021-07-06, //EAN-5 50999): Includes Adventures in the DC Universe #6, 9; Justice League Adventures #4; Justice League Unlimited #20, 22, 35, 42;

DC Super Hero Girls ''DC Super Hero Girls'', also released as ''DC Superhero Girls'', is an American animated superhero web series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network based on characters from DC Entertainment that launched in the third quarter ...

: Ghosting (preview). *Justice League Unlimited: Hocus Pocus (2021-01-27, /): Includes #11, 14, 25, 33, 37, 40. *DC Comics: Girls Unite!/DC Girls Unite (2021-11-02, /EAN-5 53999): Includes ''Batman Adventures: Cat Got Your Tongue?'', ''Supergirl Adventures: Girl of Steel'', ''Batman Adventures: Batgirl A League of Her Own'', ''Justice League Unlimited: Girl Power''

Justice League Infinity

It is a sequel comic to ''Justice League Unlimited'', written by James Tucker and

J.M. DeMatteis John Marc DeMatteis (; born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, television and novels. Biography Early career J. M. DeMatteis's earliest aspirations were to be a rock musician and comic book artist. He began playing in ban ...

with art by

Ethen Beavers Ethen Beavers is an American comic book artist from Modesto, CA. Beavers' comic industry work includes titles as ''Justice League Unlimited'', ''Teen Titans Go!'', '' Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century'', '' Six'', ''Noble Causes: Dista ...

. 7 numbered issues were published by DC Comics between 2021 and 2022.

Compilations

*Justice League Infinity (2022-07-05): Includes #1-7.

Notes

References

External links

* DC page
TV seriescomics (JLU)

comics (JLI2021)
*
Justice League Unlimited at The World's Finest
* {{Navboxes , list= {{DC Animated Universe {{Justice League in popular media {{Superman in popular media {{Stargirl {{DC Comics animated TV series {{Warner Bros. animation and comics {{Former Cartoon Network original programming 2004 American animated television series debuts 2006 American television series endings 2000s American animated television series 2000s American children's television series 2000s American science fiction television series 2000s American superhero television series Animated Batman television series Unlimited Animated Superman television series Animated television shows based on DC Comics American sequel television series American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated superhero television series American English-language television shows Wonder Woman in other media Flash (comics) television series Green Lantern in other media Cartoon Network original programming Crossover animated television series Television series by Warner Bros. Animation

Overview

Production

Episodes

Cast

Protagonists

Supporting cast

Antagonists

Reception

Home media

Soundtrack

Adaptations

Justice League Unlimited

Compilations

Justice League Infinity

Compilations

See also

Notes

References

External links