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Jacob-the-Fox-Critic — Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006) Review

Published: 2020-11-10 02:11:28 +0000 UTC; Views: 8834; Favourites: 21; Downloads: 1
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Description Lets continue the DC Animated Universe with the final series that serves as the ultimate culmination of what all of the previous shows have been building up to.

The series follows the original members of the Justice League(Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green lantern, Flash, and Martian Manhunter) expanding their team by enlisting new recruits and team members across the universe. With the League now much bigger than ever before, they fight super-villains and evil-doers across the galaxy as they eventually all unite to defend the Earth from Darkseid and his armies of Apokolips.

Pros:
1. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Supergirl, Captain Atom, Hawk, Dove, Zatanna, Black Canary, B'wana Beast, the Question, Booster Gold, Doctor Fate, Atom, Aquaman, Hawkgirl, Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Huntress, Captain Marvel(Shazam), Vixen, Vigilante, Spy Smasher, Stargirl, Mister Terrific, and Deadman are all great protagonists for the series and their respective episodes.
2. Awesome guest/minor appearances from the Ultimen(a tribute to the characters created for the Super Friends series), Jonah Hex, batman Beyond, Static Shock, Hippolyta, Steel, Etrigan, the Legion of Superheroes, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Fire, Ice, Wildcat, Warlord, Viking Prince, Orion, Speedy, Amazo, Jor-El, Emil Hamilton, Rick Flag, and Amanda Waller.
3. Great major and minor villains such as Lex Luthor, Darkseid, Mongul, Mordred, Morgaine le Fey, Ares, Circe, Galatea, Mordru, Solomon Grundy, Chronos, Deadshot, Plastique, Captain Boomerang, the Clock King, Felix Faust, Hades, Mandragora, the Thanagarians, Brainiac, Shadow Thief, Deimos, Metallo, Silver Banshee, Gorilla Grodd, the Fatal Five, Granny Goodness, Toyman, Mirror Master, Giganta, Killer Frost, Trickster, Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Sinestro, Bizarro, Cheetah, and Copperhead.
4. Just like all of the past DCAU shows, there's a great blend of action, adventure, comedy, drama, and suspense.
5. Excellent and intense action scenes.
6. The tone is just as well balanced as the other shows.
7. Amazing writing that's still very respectful to the source material, and leads to the absolute best episodes of the series.
8. Great music.
9. Very well handled comedy and somber moments.
10. Terrific voice acting.
11. The animation is still very spectacular with amazing character designs and well designed backgrounds.

Cons:
1. There are a few mediocre episodes.

Overall:
This is a spectacular conclusion the DCAU, and is a must watch series.

Rating:
9.5/10 (Amazing to Perfect)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. According to animator Bruce Timm, the series finale of Justice League, "Starcrossed", was originally planned to be the final episode of the series; however, Cartoon Network ordered the production of a successor, entitled Justice League Unlimited. Taking place shortly after its predecessor ended, it 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 from the DC Universe; in the first episode, well over 50 characters appear. A number of these were heroes who had made guest appearances in Justice League, 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 Justice League was originally planned to be explained in a planned direct-to-video feature film, but the project never materialized.
2. 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. Most episodes tell a self-contained story, but the series also features extended story arcs, the first involving the building conflict between the League and a secret government agency known as Project Cadmus. 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, Static Shock, and The Zeta Project), and has affected 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 (which is based on the Legion of Doom of the Challenge of the Super Friends season of Super Friends) as the main villains, a loose-knit organization formed to combat the increased superhero coordination of the first season. However, the Secret Society was never referred to as the Legion of Doom, although it was originally planned to use the original name used by the Flash as his comical way to refer the Society, but the idea was rejected.
3. The series, along with the entire DC animated universe, was originally planned to end after the second-season finale "Epilogue", but a third season was greenlighted 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". According with Matt Wayne, if the show had been renewed for a fourth season, he would have liked to write more episodes focusing on Superman and Wonder Woman.
4. Towards the end of the series, certain characters became off-limits to the show, like Blue Beetle and Hugo Strange. Characters associated with Batman and those who appeared in Batman: The Animated Series (aside from Batman himself) were restricted due to the unrelated animated series The Batman and Christopher Nolan's live-action theatrical The Dark Knight Trilogy to avoid continuity confusion. Aquaman and related characters were unavailable due to the development of a pilot for a live-action series featuring the character as a young man (planned to be a spin-off of Smallville), which wasn't picked up at the end. Characters from DC's "mature readers" Vertigo imprint were also not allowed, like Swamp Thing and Phantom Stranger. No characters from the Teen Titans animated series appeared in JLU until after that show had been canceled (when Speedy appeared in the third-season episode "Patriot Act", which referenced the Seven Soldiers of Victory). The Joker, Batman's archenemy, was restricted to appear in the series, unlike its predecessor, like Riddler and Scarecrow, which were supposed to be members of the Secret Society as a nod to the original Legion of Doom. To compensate for this, the producers focused some stories on previously overlooked DC Comics characters. These included characters like Deadman, Warlord, and an unnamed modern equivalent of The Seven Soldiers of Victory.
5. Justice League Unlimited, like the second season of Justice League, is animated in widescreen. The show also features new theme music and intro (nominated for an Emmy). The two-part series finale was aired in the UK on February 8 and 18, 2006, and in the United States on May 6 and 13, 2006.
6. Some romantic relationships develop as in Justice League. Some of these relationships are Question and the Huntress, Black Canary and Green Arrow, and the love-triangle between Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Vixen (further compounded with the later addition of Hawkman). Additionally, the series continuously hints at a mutual attraction between Batman and Wonder Woman. However, Batman is reluctant to develop a full romantic relationship due to his duty as a superhero, Diana's immortality, and his belief that a relationship within a team will bring issues and disaster. He nonetheless has admitted that he and Wonder Woman may have something special.
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