Justice League: This animated series that packs more compelling tales than modern superhero films

Since the 2010s, superhero films have dominated global box offices for over a decade, with Marvel's highly profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe becoming the highest-grossing film franchise of all time – grossing a combined total of nearly $12 billion! Despite their remarkable success at the global box office, and having a significant impact on pop culture, Marvel Studios have faced criticism from renowned filmmakers for their templatised popcorn films. However, there was a time when compelling superhero stories in films and TV shows were part of pop culture. It began in the ‘90s with Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s legendary Batman the Animated Series, which is widely regarded as the most definitive version of Batman. Timm would later release a spin-off series in 2001 featuring more superheroes from the DC universe titled the Justice League – which happens to be our pick for today’s episode of Lost and Found.

Justice League is widely regarded as one of the greatest American animated shows of all time, a sharp contrast to the ill-fated 2017 film adaptation which was dismissed by fans and critics alike at the time of release. The animated series, although originally intended for children, features mature socio-political themes focusing on freewill, imperialism, authoritarianism, and class disparity. It also explored various scientific theories such as ‘wormholes’ in some of the episodes that focused on science fiction. On the surface, the series might give one the impression of being just another animated series produced essentially for children. However, just like Batman the Animated Series, Justice League is rich with subtext featuring philosophical undertones. Some of the stories have also gone on to inspire Marvel’s films and TV shows. For instance, the MCU TV series WandaVision may have been marketed as a loose adaptation of the iconic Marvel comic book House of M, but the TV show’s similarity to the storyline in Justice League episodes 16 and 17 titled Legends is undeniable. Similarly, time-travelling superheroes were introduced to the mainstream consciousness by Justice League long before Avengers: Endgame.

The Justice League remains one of DC's most crowning achievements of all time. With a stellar voice cast featuring Kevin Conroy, George Newbern, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Michael Rosenbaum, Carl Lumbly, and Maria Canals-Barrera, the series set a new benchmark for animated shows. It is astounding that live-action filmmakers at Warner Bros and DC failed to replicate the quality and success of this wonderfully-crafted show.

Justice League has recently dropped on Netflix, nearly 20 years after it first aired on television in India, and it could introduce a new generation of audiences to one of the most well-crafted superhero adaptations of all time.

Well that's all we got for today's episode, until the next time it's your host Nikhil signing out.

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• Written by Ryan Gomez

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