The Wonder Twins (Zan and Jayna) are a fictional extraterrestrial twin brother and sister

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 ...

duo who first appeared in

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

's American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

television series ''

The All-New Super Friends Hour ''The All-New Super Friends Hour'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from September 10, 1977, to September 2, 1978, on ABC. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and is based on the Justice Le ...

''. The pair can activate their superpowers by touching their fists and saying the phrase "Wonder Twin powers, activate!" Jayna can transform into any animal, and Zan can become water in any state. The pair also have a pet monkey, Gleek, who assists in their crime-fighting activities. They subsequently appeared in comics based on the animated series and were later introduced into the main

DC Comics 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 ...

. They have since appeared in other media, including the animated series ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013, and is based on DC Comics' fictional superhero team the Teen Titans. The series ...

'' and the live-action TV series ''

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 ...

''.

Broadcast and publication history

The duo made their debut in ''

'' ("Joy Ride", September 10, 1977) and then appeared in '' The World's Greatest Super Friends'', ''

Super Friends ''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of Am ...

'', and '' Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show''. Zan (voiced by Michael Bell) and Jayna (voiced by Louise Williams from 1977-1983 and B. J. Ward in 1984) are siblings from the planet Exxor (also spelled Exor) who were being informally trained by the superheroes. Unlike their predecessors, Wendy Harris and Marvin White, this pair was able to participate in combat with abilities of their own. Hanna-Barbera animator

Darrell McNeil Darrell Tyrone "Big D" McNeil (November 26, 1957 - July 4, 2018) was an American animator, writer, editor, publisher, producer, and actor. He started at the age of eight performing as a background actor and bit player in various movies and televis ...

recalls the twins were created by

Norman Maurer Norman Albert Maurer (May 13, 1926 – November 23, 1986) was an American comic book artist and writer, and a director and producer of films and television shows. He is best known for his longtime professional and personal association with Th ...

, the ''

'' series developer/story editor. They were originally called Dick and Jane, and their sidekick was Mighty Monkey, before finally becoming Zan, Jayna, and Gleek. The names "Zan" and "Jayna" derived from the

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

characters

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

and his romantic interest Jane. According to McNeil: "Originally Zan (Dick) had '

Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero featured in American comic books first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole (artist), Jack Co ...

' powers and Jayna (Jane) could transform into anything, not just animals, but they were scaled back to their present powers as it made the other Super Friends (even

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 ...

) seem almost superfluous". Jayna's distinctive hairdo was based on that of an animation checker at Hanna-Barbera, while the pointed ears were inspired by the character

Spock Spock is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterpri ...

from the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' franchise. The twins' personalities were heavily based on Donny and Marie Osmond, who were extremely popular at the time and had their own show on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

as well. The Wonder Twins were the most prominently featured characters in their first season on ''Super Friends''. However, by the final seasons, the twins were largely marginalized in favor of well established DC Comics teenage superheroes like

Firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...

, and were wholly eliminated in the final season in favor of

Cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. The characters were introduced to comics in issue #7 of the ''Super Friends'' tie-in series (cover-dated October 1977, but published in July), by

E. Nelson Bridwell Edward Nelson Bridwell (September 22, 1931 – January 23, 1987) was an American writer for '' Mad'' magazine (writing the now-famous catchphrase, "What you mean...we?" in a 1958 parody of ''The Lone Ranger'') and various comic books published b ...

and

Ramona Fradon Ramona Dom Fradon (; October 2, 1926 – February 24, 2024) was an American comics artist known for her work illustrating Aquaman and ''Brenda Starr, Reporter'', and co-creating the superhero Metamorpho. Her career began in 1950 and lasted until ...

. The ''Super Friends'' comic book provided considerably more details of the Wonder Twins' background and how they came to join the team than was provided in the television series. Because of the different production lag times between animation and comics, the first comic book appearance is chronologically before the first television appearance. In the 1990s, they were introduced into the main

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 ...

in ''

Extreme Justice Extreme Justice is a monthly Justice League spin-off title in the DC Comics universe. It replaced the cancelled '' Justice League International'' (formerly '' Justice League Europe'') and ran for nineteen issues from 1994 to 1996. Overview Seve ...

'' #9 (October

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

), by Ivan Velez, Jr. and

Al Rio Álvaro Araújo Lourenço do Rio (19 May 1962 – 31 January 2012) – known professionally as Al Rio – was a Brazilian comic book artist, best known for his " good girl" illustration work, particularly on the American comic book se ...

. The series rewrote and updated their

origin story In fiction, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist. In American comic books, it also refers to how characters gained their superpowers and/or the circumstances ...

. Velez, an avowed die-hard fan of the Wonder Twins, intended to begin a revival of the characters, but was taken off the series after the first issue with the Wonder Twins. Though the twins remained with the series until its cancellation with #18, they were used only sparingly after Velez's departure. Following the cancellation of ''Extreme Justice'', the Wonder Twins showed up only sporadically in the DC Universe. After 2003, they made no significant appearance for sixteen years. In 2019, however, the characters enjoyed a revival when DC published a six-issue ''Wonder Twins'' miniseries, written by

Mark Russell Marcus Joseph Ruslander (August 23, 1932 – March 30, 2023), better known as Mark Russell, was an American political satirist and comedian. He is best known for his series of bimonthly comedy specials on PBS television between 1975 and 2004. H ...

and drawn by Stephen Byrne. The series was a critical and commercial success, and was extended into a 12 issue maxi-series. In November 2019, the first 6 issues of "Wonder Twins" were collected as a trade paper back, and released under the title "Wonder Twins - Activate". In the following August, the second six issues of the maxi-series were released in another trade paper back titled "The Fall & Rise of the Wonder Twins".

Fictional character biography

''Super Friends''

Little background is provided for the Wonder Twins in ''

'', save that they are superheroes-in-training that are friends of the Super Friends and were born on November 6. According to the 1977 ''Super Friends'' comic book by writer

and artist

, Zan and Jayna are Exxorian

metahumans In the DC Universe, a metahuman is a human with superpowers. The term is roughly synonymous with the terms ''mutant'', '' inhuman'' and ''mutate'' in the Marvel Universe and ''posthuman'' in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In DC Comi ...

, genetic throwbacks to an ancient race of Exxorian shapeshifters. Their parents died to a plague when they were young, and because of their origin, no Exxorians wanted to adopt them. They are adopted by the owner of a space circus who only wants to use them as

sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, traveling carnival, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. They historically featured human oddity exhibits (so-called “Freak show, freak shows”), pr ...

freaks. However, the circus' clown (or "laugh-maker") is a kind man and raises them. He also gives them Gleek as a pet. Eventually, as teens, the pair escapes the circus and hides on a planet where a space villain called Grax (an enemy of

) has established his headquarters. Spying on him, they learn that Grax is planning to destroy the Earth with hidden superbombs. The twins decide to travel to Earth and warn 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 ...

, which is how they come to replace Wendy and Marvin (who were planning on retiring as heroes anyway) as their sidekicks. The heroes arrange for the kids to live with an old scientist named

Professor Carter Nichols Nabu Nabu is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in ''More Fun Comics'' #67 in May 1941, he is a major supporting character in ''Doctor Fate'' titles. A fictionalized version of the Me ...

and they even take secret identities as Johan and Joanna Fleming. "Johan" and "Johanna" were supposedly transfer students from Esko,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, disguised with blonde hair (Zan wore a wig, while Jayna used her powers to transform into a human to change her hair color and ear shape), to allow them to attend

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Northeastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List ...

High School. Since the twins do not speak English well, they ask (in the comic book) whether they can speak the intergalactic language, interlac. In fact, it was professor's idea for them to pretend they are " from a small European country", to explain their difficulties in English. According to the twins' self-titled 2019 series, Zan is older by three minutes.

In comics

In 1996, the twins were introduced into post-''

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

'' DC continuity in the series ''

'' as escaped slaves of an alien overlord. Unable to speak

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, they inadvertently attack some civilians and the Justice League. During their fight with the JLA, Zan becomes an ice

golem A golem ( ; ) is an animated Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

, a water monster, and a demonic-looking

whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

, while Jayna becomes a

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

, a

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

, and a sea serpent. The pair are later emancipated by the Justice League and join

Captain Atom Captain Atom is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books, initially owned by Charlton Comics before being acquired in the 1980s by DC Comics. All possess some form of energy-manipulating abilities, usually relating to nuc ...

's team in issue #16 (May 1996). That same year, they appeared in the crossover storyline "

Final Night ''The Final Night'' is a 1996 comic book fictional crossover, crossover storyline published by DC Comics that ran through a weekly self-titled Limited series (comics), limited series and a score of tie-in issues spanning most of DC's ongoing titl ...

" and in the series ''Total Justice''. In a 2002–03 storyline by

Peter David Peter Allen David (September 23, 1956 – May 24, 2025), often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Grea ...

and

Todd Nauck Todd Nauck ( ) is an American comic book creator, comic book artist and writer. Nauck is most notable for his work on ''Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,'' ''Young Justice'' and his own creation, ''Wildguard (comics), Wildguard''. Career Nauck's ...

in ''

Young Justice Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team was formed in 1998 when DC's usual teen hero group, the Teen Titans, had become adults and changed their name to the Titans. Like the original ''Teen T ...

'', they help avenge the murder of

Empress The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

' parents, wearing uniforms which resembled T-shirts and jeans. In late 2003, they appeared in the fourth issue of the

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

-DC intercompany crossover miniseries ''

JLA/Avengers ''JLA/Avengers'' (issues #2 and 4 are titled ''Avengers/JLA'') is a comic book limited series and crossover published in prestige format by DC Comics and Marvel Comics from September 2003 to March 2004. The series was written by Kurt Busiek, wi ...

'', which was written by

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled '' Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts,'' and ''Superman.'' Early lif ...

and illustrated by

George Pérez George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' and ''The Avengers (c ...

. In 2007, they appeared in ''

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

'' vol. 3 #70, and in 2011, and in ''DCU: Legacies'' #9, a story by

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

and Rob Leigh. In "Smallville: Titans", a story arc in the series ''

Smallville season 11 ''Smallville'' is an American 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 produced by Millar/Gough ...

'', Zan and Jayna are members of the team with Conner Kent/Superboy,

Speedy Speedy refers to something or someone moving at high speed. Speedy may refer to: People * Speedy (nickname), a list of people * Speedy Long (1928–2006), American lawyer and politician * Speedy Mashilo (born 1965), South African politician * ...

Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three superheroes appearing in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the rights to the ...

and

Miss Martian Miss Martian (M'gann M'orzz; alias Megan Morse) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. An extraterrestrial, she is a White Martian who usually appears in stories as a member of the Teen Titans. Created by write ...

at Jay Garrick's school for the "gifted". In ''Superpowers'', a 2017 backup series in ''Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye'', cartoonist

Tom Scioli Thomas Scioli is an American comic book artist and comic book writer, writer best known for working in a style similar to Jack Kirby. Biography Scioli was born in Philadelphia and moved to Pittsburgh after studying at the University of Pittsburg ...

offers a slightly different version of the origin of the Wonder Twins, set on an alternate Earth. In February 2019, the first issue of a 12-issue mini-series was released on Wonder Comics, titled ''Wonder Twins''.

Powers and abilities

The Wonder Twins' powers are activated when they touch each other and speak the phrase, "Wonder Twin powers, activate!" Physical contact is required. If the two are out of reach of each other, they are unable to activate their powers. As they are about to transform, they would each announce their intended form. "Shape of...", "Form of..." Zan can transform into water at any state (solid, liquid, gas) and add to his mass by incorporating water in his immediate area. In the case of becoming solid ice, he can also become any form he chooses, from a humanoid ice giant to a cage for a criminal to complex machinery (such as a jet engine, as he did in the episode "Eruption"). In the episode "Pressure Point", he changes into a gelatinous form. In "Terror from the Phantom Zone", he was able to transform into

liquid nitrogen Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is nitrogen in a liquid state at cryogenics, low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, mobile liquid whose vis ...

. In addition, he can transform himself into atmospheric disturbances (usually very localized) involving water, such as a

blizzard A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...

, a

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

waterspout A waterspout is a rotating column of air that occurs over a body of water, usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud in contact with the water and a cumuliform cloud. There are two types of waterspout, each formed by distinct mechanisms. ...

or a

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

, as he did in the episodes "The Water Beast", "The Beasts are Coming", and "Stowaways". Jayna can transform into any animal, whether real, mythological, indigenous to Earth, or indigenous to some other planet like Exxor. Since she must vocalize her choice of form to assume, she must know the common name. As revealed in "The Mummy of Nazca," she will assume the form of whatever animal she names, even if she intended a different animal and erred on the common name. She has been known to take the form of anything from a mosquito to a whale, as in "The Water Beast" episode. In the ''Super Friends'' comic book, their powers were shown to be more extensive. By transforming into an animal of

Kryptonian Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race within the DC Comics universe that originated on the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman. The stories also use "Kryptonian" as an adjective to ref ...

origin, for instance, Jayna could gain both the creature's natural abilities and the super-powers that all Kryptonians possess under Earth-like conditions; she was even capable of overpowering

in the form of a Kryptonian animal. Similarly, Zan was able to transform into anything tangentially related to water or ice, including a

frost giant Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is similar ...

in the "Demons of Exxor" episode. In addition to their powers of transformation, the two share a telepathic link, enabling one to alert the other over a distance when in dire circumstances, as revealed in the episode "The Village of Lost Souls". The Wonder Twins have a pet Space Monkey named Gleek, who has a useful prehensile tail and who can act as a conduit for the twins to activate their powers should they be out of reach. Gleek also serves as a courier when the twins need to travel: Jayna will typically transform into a large

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

, and Zan will transform into

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

, "jumping" into a bucket which Gleek will hold while being clutched by Jayna in her eagle form. A rarely seen aspect of their powers is the ability to break mind control. On at least two occasions ("Pied Piper From Space" and "Circus of Horrors"), while the twins were under the influence of mind control, Gleek caused them to make contact and the activation of their powers freed them instantly from the mind control.

In other media

Television

* Jayna appears in the ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' episode "Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High", voiced by

Rachael MacFarlane Rachael Ann MacFarlane (born March 21, 1976) is an American voice actress. Her voice credits include Hayley Smith on the animated television show ''American Dad!'', the creator of which, Seth MacFarlane, is her older brother; Supreme Leader Nu ...

. Additionally,

Peter Griffin Peter Löwenbräu Griffin Sr. ( né Justin Peter Griffin) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is voiced by the series' creator, Seth MacFarlane, and first appeared on television, a ...

(voiced by

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orvill ...

) appears as a former member of the Wonder Twins. * Zan appears in the ''

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. The first season of ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney ...

'' episode "Very Personal Injury", voiced by Michael Bell. * A pair of characters inspired by the Wonder Twins called Downpour and Shifter appear in ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...

'', both voiced by

Grey DeLisle Grey DeLisle (; born Erin Grey Van Oosbree; August 24, 1973), sometimes credited as Grey Griffin, is an American voice actress and singer-songwriter. DeLisle is known for various roles in animated productions and video games. On September 27, ...

. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. They are genetically-engineered superheroes created by

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 ...

to serve as members of their

Ultimen ''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of Ame ...

and operate independently of the

, though the former group are led to believe that they are regular metahumans. In the episode "Ultimatum", the Ultimen discover the truth behind their creation and that they are suffering from cellular breakdown. They attack their manager

Maxwell Lord Maxwell Lord IV is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Justice League'' #1 (May 1987) and was created by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire (artist), Kevin Magui ...

in an attempt to find Cadmus member

Amanda Waller Amanda Belle Waller (née Blake), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional character featured in some American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in '' Legends'' #1 in 1986 and was created by John Ostrander, Len We ...

, but are defeated by the League and taken back into Cadmus' custody. In the episode "Panic in the Sky", Cadmus utilizes an army of Ultimen clones in their siege on the League's

Watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

. * Zan and Jayna appear in the ''

'' episode "Idol", portrayed by

David Gallagher David Lee Gallagher (born February 9, 1985) is an American actor and former model. He began his career as a child actor and model at the age of two, and is known for his roles as Mikey Ubriacco in '' Look Who's Talking Now'', Simon Camden in '' ...

and

Allison Scagliotti Allison Scagliotti (; born September 21, 1990) is an American actress, musician and director. Her television roles include appearing in ''Drake & Josh'', ''Warehouse 13'', and ''Stitchers''. She performs as a musician under the name La Femme Pend ...

respectively. This version of the pair are implied to be from another world and pass themselves off as humans of Swedish descent. Their origin is expanded upon in ''

Smallville Season 11 ''Smallville'' is an American 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 produced by Millar/Gough ...

'', where Zan and Jayna are shown to have been human children from an unidentified country on Earth who were evicted by their father for having metahuman powers. Additionally, the twins go on to join

Jay Garrick Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first character known as the Flash. The character first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (January 1940), created by writer Gardner Fox and ...

. * The Wonder Twins appear in the ''

'' episode "You're Fired", with Zan voiced by

Khary Payton Khary Payton (born May 16, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as King Ezekiel on the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' and Dr. Terrell Jackson on the soap opera ''General Hospital'', as well as voicing Cyborg acr ...

and Jayna by

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' The Fair ...

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 ...

'' and other projects, developed a pitch for an animated series based on the Wonder Twins. Despite the full pitch, the project ultimately did not come to fruition.

Film

* The Wonder Twins appear in ''

The Lego Batman Movie ''The Lego Batman Movie'' is a 2017 animated superhero comedy film, based on characters created by DC Comics and the Lego Batman toy line. It was directed by Chris McKay (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay that is based on a ...

''. * The Wonder Twins make a cameo appearance in ''

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies ''Teen Titans Go! To the Movies'' is a 2018 American animated superhero comedy film featuring the DC Comics superhero team, the Teen Titans. Based on the Cartoon Network animated television series ''Teen Titans Go!'', it was produced by Warner ...

''. * In February 2022, a

DC Extended Universe The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that appear in American comic books published by DC Comic ...

film centered around the Wonder Twins was in development, with

Adam Sztykiel Adam John Sztykiel is an American television and film producer and screenwriter known for such television series and films as '' Undateable'', which he also created based on the book, ''Undateable: 311 Things Guys do That Guarantee They Won't be D ...

writing and directing, in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

. Marty Bowen and

Wyck Godfrey Wyck Godfrey is an American film and television producer. He is best known for co-founding the production company Temple Hill Entertainment with Marty Bowen in 2006. He was also named President of Paramount Motion Pictures Group in 2017, but ret ...

were reported as producers on the film, which was to be a joint-venture production between DC Films and

Temple Hill Entertainment Temple Hill Entertainment or Temple Hill Productions is an American film and television production company, established in 2006 by producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen. The studio produced the ''Twilight'' film series. In 2020, the studio sig ...

, with

KJ Apa Keneti James Fitzgerald Apa (born 17 June 1997), known by his stage name KJ Apa, is a New Zealand actor. He gained recognition for playing Kane Jenkins in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' (2013–2015) and Archie Andrews in the C ...

and

Isabel May Isabel May (born November 21, 2000) is an American actress. She first gained attention as high school student Katie Cooper, one of the co-lead roles on the Netflix series ''Alexa & Katie'' (2018–2020), and gained further attention as co-lead ch ...

as Zan and Jayna. The film was developed with an intended

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

release, exclusively through

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

, though it was later canceled due to budget cuts at

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...

. * The ''Super Friends'' incarnations of the Wonder Twins make a cameo appearance in '' Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths''. This version of the duo come from Earth-508.

Video games

* The Wonder Twins appear as character summons in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''. * The ''Teen Titans Go!'' incarnations of the Wonder Twins appear in ''

Lego Dimensions ''Lego Dimensions'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure platform crossover video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Wii U. ...

''. Additionally, ''The Lego Batman Movie'' incarnations make cameo appearances in the film's eponymous DLC pack.

Miscellaneous

The Wonder Twins appear in the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

web series ''The New Adventures of the Wonder Twins''.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
This version of the pair are well-meaning but inept superheroes whose attempts at heroism always end in tragic failure.

References

External links

* * {{Superfriends series 2019 comics debuts Animated characters introduced in 1977 Animated duos Clone characters in comics DC Comics aliens DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics shapeshifters DC Comics superheroes Extraterrestrial characters in television Female characters in animation Fictional characters with ice or cold abilities Fictional characters with water abilities Fictional duos Fictional humanoids Fictional therianthropes Hanna-Barbera characters Male characters in television Super Friends characters Superhero duos Superheroes who are adopted Television characters introduced in 1977 Television duos Twin characters in comics