'' (or '''''JLU''''') is an .
The series is a continuation of its predecessor, taking up soon after ''Justice League'' ended. It is sometimes considered to be the same series as the original; the first season of ''Justice League Unlimited'' is referred to by the producers as the third season of '' Justice League ''. However, seasons referred to below treat ''Justice League Unlimited'' as a separate series; the series has finished after five seasons.
It features a greatly-expanded League, in which the characters from the original series are joined by a number of superheroes (in the first episode, well over 50 characters appear), as well as a number of DC heroes who had made guest appearances in the first two seasons of ''Justice League''.
Also unlike ''Justice League'', ''Justice League Unlimited'' features ongoing story arcs, the first involving the building conflict between the league and a secret government agency known as Project Cadmus . This plot line heavily builds upon events that occurred during the second season of ''Justice League'', 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 season story arc focuses on the Legion Of Doom as the main villains, a loose-knit organization formed to combat the increased superhero coordination of the first two seasons.
Besides the addition of dozens of new League members, the show has changed format somewhat, though keeping the same Bruce Timm style artwork. ''Justice League Unlimited'' stories are mostly half-hour episode in length, unlike stories for ''Justice League'' which almost all ran for a full hour. The stories in the second and third seasons of ''Unlimited'' have, however, tended to align along a season-long story arc.
''Justice League Unlimited'', similar to the second season of ''Justice League'', is animated in has already appeared in the UK on Toonami, and is scheduled to air in the United States on May 6 and May 13 2006 .
See Also: Episodes of Justice League
See Also: Characters appearing in Justice League Unlimited
The seven founding members on ''Justice League Unlimited'' consist of the League's members during the original two ''Justice League'' seasons; these members continue to have greater authority and responsibility in the League.
The term "Justice League Unlimited" was used first in the two-part episode ("The Call") of the animated series '' Batman Beyond '' that aired more than a year before the first ''Justice League'' series began. Decades into the future of the DC Animated Universe, the Justice League still exists, and is referred to as the "Justice League Unlimited". This future League consists of Superman , a new Green Lantern , Big Barda , Warhawk , Aquagirl , and Micron . Like his predecessor, the new Batman becomes a part-time member of the League.
''Justice League Unlimited'''s first season two-part finale ("The Once and Future Thing") again features the league of the future, with a reduced lineup. Villain David Clinton and the Jokerz killed most of the future members of the league, leaving only the original Batman, the second Batman (Terry McGinnis), Warhawk and Static alive. This episode also features the revelation that Warhawk is the son of John Stewart and Shayera Hol. Some of these members appear again, along with the rest of the now-restored future heroes, in the season two finale, " Epilogue ".
- (released February 15 , 2005 ) - Contains Season One episodes "Initiation", "Hawk and Dove", and "Kid Stuff".
- (released September 20 , 2005 ) - Contains Season One episodes "For the Man Who Has Everything", "The Greatest Story Never Told", and "The Return".
Fans of the series have been lobbying for the release of complete seasons (along with the original ''Justice League'' episodes) rather than collected editions such as those above, and with the announced first season box which was released on March 21 , 2006 for ''Justice League'' it seems likely ''Justice League Unlimited'' will receive similar treatment. There are tentative reports that there will be 2 more single-disc releases, and '''Once and Future''', after which the complete first season will be released; there is at present no information on release dates. {Link without Title}
- The final scene in "Epilogue" is an homage to "On Leather Wings", the opening scene in the very first episode of the first Batman animated series that the Timm/Dini team collaborated on. It is the same scene but reversed shot by shot, with the original Batman theme.
- Hawk And Dove were voiced by Fred Savage and Jason Hervey , who played the bickering brothers Kevin and Wayne on the TV series '' Wonder Years ''. Ironically, Fred voiced the older, more aggressive brother Hawk/Hank Hall while Jason voiced the younger, more docile brother Dove/Don Hall, which was a complete reversal of their roles on Wonder Years. It was originally intended for Jason to voice Hawk and Fred to voice Dove, mirroring the ''Wonder Years'' relationship, but during the voice over readings they unexpectedly swapped parts and it was left that way for the episode.
- Dwayne McDuffie stated that the golden shield on the back of Superman's cape would never appear in ''Justice League Unlimited''
- Supergirl received a redesign because they said that the white-T design was "too 90s". The new design is described as being partially based on the new Supergirl from the Loeb/Churchill series
- All characters except for Superman and Batman received minor redesigns following the end of ''Justice League'' and start of ''Justice League Unlimited''. Some, like Green Lantern, were redesigned with new haircuts, or (in the case of Hawkgirl and Supergirl) completely redesigned wardrobes. Others like the Flash had some of their lines changed, while Wonder Woman got a more feminine face and her lines softened in general.
- The Justice League's Metro-Tower in Metropolis at the start of the third season is the former site of Lexor City and the future site of the Justice League Watchtower in ''Batman Beyond's'' time. Its current design is based a homage of the Hall of Justice from the television series ''Superfriends'', with its shape extrapolated as a tower and pavilion rather than a hall.
- During the production of the '' Teen Titans '' animated series, the idea of the show crossing over with ''Justice League Unlimited'' was discussed several times, though no such crossover ever occurred. However, each show has referenced the other several times. In the ''Teen Titans'' episodes "Lightspeed" and "Titans Together", Kid Flash appears and is voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, indicating that the ''Teen Titans'' incarnation of Kid Flash is Wally West. The same Kid Flash costume from that show appears in the ''Justice League Unlimited'' episode "Flash and Substance". In addition, Green Arrow's ex-partner Speedy appears in "Patriot Act". His costume and look are nearly identical to the one he had in ''Teen Titans'' (though his ''Justice League Unlimited'' incarnation appears to be older), and he is also voiced by Mike Erwin in both ''Teen Titans'' and this episode.
- The cast of the TV show , Hal Jordan , and Rick Flagg , Jr.
- Two actresses and one actor from '' Buffy The Vampire Slayer '' and '' Angel '' have made several appearances. Amy Acker does the voice of Huntress while Juliet Landau has done Tala and Plastique and Alexis Denisof has appeared as Mirror Master . In addition, Giselle Loren , the voice of Stargirl , was the voice of Buffy in video games.
- In the episode "Eclipsed", near the end of the episode when ". "Cousin Spunky" can also be seen in Superman: The Animated Series.
- In the episode "Double Date", the flashback of the assasination of Huntress' father Franco Bertinelli shows him to appear very similar to another famous gangster, Scarface .
- Also in "Double Date", Tommy Monaghan is mentioned in passing. In the comics, Monaghan was a superpowered hitman and star of the comic series " Hitman " by Garth Ennis and John McCrea .
- In the episode "The Great Brain Robbery," Luthor and Flash switch bodies and their voice actors trade roles. Clancy Brown , Luthor's original voice, becomes the Flash and Michael Rosenbaum , the Flash's original voice, becomes Luthor. Ironically, Rosenbaum also plays Lex Luthor on ''Smallville'' .
- In the final episode of the third season, "Destroyer," there is a scene at the end where the league descends down a flight of stairs at the Metro Tower. The rows of heroes and the order in which they descend are indicative of generations of the League in the comics: The first row is the Brave and the Bold characters ( Metamorpho , B'wana Beast , and The Creeper ) and Steve Ditko's contributions (The Question and Captain Atom, and Hawk & Dove), the 7 Soldiers of Victory ( Stargirl and STRIPE , Crimson Avenger , Vigilante, and Shining Knight ), the JSA ( Hourman , Dr. Midnite , Dr. Fate , and Wildcat ) the " Detroit " JLA ( Vibe , Steel II , Gypsy , and Vixen), the "Giffen era" JLA ( Fire , Ice , Booster Gold , and Elongated Man ), the "Satellite era" JLA ( Red Tornado , Zatanna , Green Arrow, and Black Canary) and finally the seven mainstays (Flash, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and the "holy trinity" of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman in the middle). This was the ideal final visual for the show paying homage to every generation of the DC hero teams that were incorporated into the JLU cartoon.
- It should also be noted that as Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman run toward camera, Batman is the last image before fading to black, which pays homage to the Dini/Timm era which began with Batman: The Animated Series.
During production of the ''Justice League Unlimited'' series, a decision was made to limit appearances of Batman's Rogues' Gallery due to the new '' The Batman '' animated series and the '' Batman Begins '' film franchise. Since that time, only obscure Bat-villains would appear in the current animated continuity. The Joker , foremost villain to Batman, has not appeared since this decision, despite several prior appearances in the first and second seasons of "Justice League" (episodes entitled "Injustice For All", "A Better World", "Only a Dream", and "Wild Cards"). Fans have named this change in the show the "Bat-Embargo".
This Embargo may also be attributed to a Batman Beyond movie, "The Return of the Joker". In this movie we see the Joker die during the Batman Gotham Knights time period.
A similar restriction appears to exist due to the announcement of an Aquaman television series, and therefore DC Comics has proscribed the use of Aquaman or associated characters in ''Justice League Unlimited'' {Link without Title} .
For more details on specific characters prevented from appearing in the animated series ''Justice League Unlimited'', see Characters Who Could Not Appear .
Paul Dini, writer and producer of the show, announced on Janurary 25, 2006 via a reply to a blog entry that the show has been cancelled.
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