One of the biggest animation success stories of the past year was the X-Men ’97 reboot series. Picking up where the original Fox Kids’ X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997) left off 27 years ago, the new Disney+ exclusive show features a continuation of the original plot lines and the return of many actors from the original voice cast. Debuting to high ratings and critical acclaim, the series has already been renewed for a third season (Rahman). Finding the right blend of solid storytelling and arrested nostalgia, it will certainly be around for a long time.
With the popularity of X-Men ’97 came the envy of other fan communities, and with the reboot bug’s jaws still firmly sheathed in the skin of Hollywood it has caused some fans to ask if lightning could be coaxed to strike twice. According to an April 27, 2024 post on the website Bleeding Cool, they revealed that a fan on the social media platform Threads asked DCU guru James Gunn if there was a chance of a Justice League Unlimited ’07 series, to which Gunn replied with, “X-Men ’97 is fun because it’s unique and not desperately trying to follow the trends of everything around it. So, I’d rather just keep doing that” (qtd. in Flook). So, if I’m not mistaken, Gunn is saying that he’d rather do his own thing rather than copy Marvel Studios’ success. Understandable, but a little disappointing…
…But wait a minute. Even if James Gunn has that kind of integrity, we’ve recently learned that Warner Bros. Animation does not. In the press materials leading up to the release of Batman: Caped Crusader, we’ve learned that DCAU producer and co-creator Bruce Timm was initially approached to do a reboot of Batman: The Animated Series / The New Batman Adventures but turned it down in favor of the new show (Schedeen). So, had Timm been less resistant, we could have had a “BTAS ’95” series. And, to add some kerosene to this grease fire, it was further revealed in the August 2024 issue of Animation Magazine that, even if a BTAS reboot was off the table, Timm might have been more receptive to rebooting the aforementioned:
Our bosses at Warner Bros. basically pitched the idea to me and said, “Hey, how’d you like to go back and do some more Batman: The Animated Series?” I wasn’t too keen on the idea. If I was going to go back and revisit any of my previous shows, I was more interested in doing Justice League, because I felt there was a lot more stuff we could have done within that format. (qtd. in Spry)
Then, in a July 31st interview with Emmys, he continued:
[Producer] James [Tucker] and I had worked on a series called Justice League Unlimited, which was one of my favorite shows I’ve ever worked on, and that was a show that basically had Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and all those characters teaming up with every character in the DC Universe. So, I thought there were more possibilities and potential to do different stories. I suggested that to my bosses, and they went, “Well, we’re not as excited about that. But yeah, if you want to talk to James about it, if you want to work with James on it, that’d be great.” So, I called James up and told him what prompted the whole thing, and we started talking about Justice League, and then he kept swinging the conversation back to BTAS. (qtd. in Champagne)
For those of you who are unfamiliar (a leap, considering that you’re reading this website), Justice League—and its follow-up, Justice League Unlimited—was the culmination of a decade of DCAU storytelling, starting with BTAS. Beginning as a series with seven main characters featured in two-part and three-part stories, it evolved into a serialized arc told in one episode stories with a revolving group of heroes and villains. Basically, it was a sweeping narrative featuring a sprawling cast of hundreds. And, from 2001 to 2006, it worked like gangbusters.
Sadly, the series was cancelled after five seasons (two seasons of Justice League and three for Unlimited) due to corporate reasoning, leaving JLU at only 39 episodes (13 shy of the new standard of 52 for syndication). Since then, we have had some continuation in the form of direct-to-video / streaming animated films, including one that was a rewrite of a “bridge” film between the two series (2010’s Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths), a film that featured many of the original voice cast, but featured as story that wasn’t really in sync with the DCAU (2012’s Justice League: Doom), and one film that was in continuity, but only featured three of the original seven voice cast (2019’s Justice League vs. The Fatal Five). Also, in 2017, a Twitter page began calling for a Justice League reunion with the full cast reuniting of a film (this was before Fatal Five). Originating from @AnimatedJL, the movement’s “#JLReunion” drew attention from DCAU alums including retired voice director Andrea Romano, Susan Eisenberg (voice of Wonder Woman, cohost of the Justice League Revisited podcast), and Mark Hamill (voice of the Joker, Trickster, and Solomon Grundy; Friedman). Even years later, both series still have a strong and devoted fan following, including yours truly.
So, how about it, Warner Bros. Discovery? Why should X-Men fans have all the fun? Why not greenlight a Justice League Unlimited reboot series?
To Absent Friends…
Of course, there would be issues that need addressing before Justice League Unlimited ’06 could air (sorry, Threads guy, but JLU ended in 2006, not 2007), and the first one would be the inexorable march of time, as many of the original DCAU voice actors have passed away. The number of deceased BTAS cast alone is significant: Richard Moll (voice of Two-Face; died 2023), Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (voice of Alfred Pennyworth; died 2014); Arleen Sorkin (voice of Harley Quinn; died 2023), Bob Hastings (voice of Commissioner James Gordon; died 2014), John Vernon (voice of Rupert Thorne; died 2005), Ed Asner (voice of Roland Daggett [and Granny Goodness]; died 2021), Roddy McDowall (voice of the Mad Hatter; died 1998), Aaron Kincaid (original voice of Killer Croc; died 2011), Michael Ansara (voice of Mr. Freeze; died 2013), David Warner (voice of Ra’s al Ghul; died 2022), Henry Silva (original voice of Bane; died 2022), and—of course, Kevin Conroy (voice of Batman; died 2022). In addition, there are other actors who have passed, most notably Dennis Farina (voice of Wildcat; died 2013), Powers Boothe (voice of Gorilla Grodd; died 2017), Gilbert Gottfried (voice of Mr. Mxyzptlk; died 2022), and Glenn Shadix (voice of Stephen Mandragora; died 2010). Now, obviously these actors will always be fondly remembered for the roles that they made their own, but in a JLU ‘06 series it may become necessary to recast them. I can say with certainty that, at the very least, the reboot would require the presence of the Dark Knight. And again, Kevin Conroy himself can never be replaced as Batman, but he is one of many who have performed the role in the past 30 years so, with respect, the hypothetical show must go on.
In addition, there are some living actors who may need to be replaced, either due to retirement, unavailability, or other reasons. For example, Mark Hamill has gone on record stating that, following Conroy’s death, he has retired as the Joker (Warmann 71). It’s understandable, both as a tribute and because, unfortunately, recent outings suggest that he can no longer perform the voice at the same level as he did before. Thus, the Joker would need to be recast as well. That said, Hamill would still be welcome to reprise Trickster or Solomon Grundy if he so desired.
While difficult, it may be possible to recast the roles with actors who can successfully mimic the voices originally provided by the dearly departed (check out the job Rick and Morty did replacing the disgraced Justin Roiland in Season Seven, for example). Perhaps Andrea Romano could return to assist in the process.
The other elephant in the room would be absence of the man who, in my opinion, elevated Justice League and Justice League Unlimited to the institution it is today: writer, story editor, and producer Dwayne McDuffie. Even with his absence, however, there are still a significant number of writers, both new and old, that could contribute to the writing room in this proposed series.
What We Left Behind
When “Destroyer” aired on May 13, 2006, it left a DCAU significantly different than when the series started, with a victorious Justice League and a significantly depleted supervillain population. Grodd is dead, as is the Legion of Doom, following his attempted mutiny and his headquarters’ destruction in deep space. In addition, Darkseid and Lex Luthor, having learned the Anti-Life Equation, have both joined the Source Wall, though McDuffie suspected that they would both eventually escape (Yojimbo). Otherwise, we’ve been able to glean little tidbits of information as to how things have changed since then, such as the establishment of A.R.G.U.S., a federal agency (presumably replacing Project: Cadmus) that works with the Justice League (from 2017’s Batman and Harley Quinn) and Arkham Asylum’s newer, high-security location (hinted at in 2000's Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, seen in 2019’s Justice League vs. The Fatal Five). However, even with this sea change, a JLU reboot would still find plenty for the World's Greatest Superheroes to do.
Perhaps the first step could be a recruitment drive. A lot has changed in the eighteen years since JLU was on the air, and one of those changes is that many of the guest star restrictions that the series had to observe are no longer in effect. Characters such as Blue Beetle (formerly unavailable due to rights issues), Black Lightning (royalty issues with his creator, Tony Isabella), Captain Marvel (previously discussed), and Plastic Man (who was mentioned as part of the show in the episode “The Greatest Story Never Told,” but didn’t physically appear possibly due to his rights being tied up in a proposed film by the Wachowski siblings). These characters were forbidden from appearing on JLU (save for Captain Marvel, who was given a one episode pass for “Clash”), but in the years since these characters have made regular appearances in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice, Justice League Action, and various DC animated original movies. The same goes for characters who were formerly with DC’s more mature Vertigo line—Swamp Thing, John Constantine, the Spectre, and the Phantom Stranger—they appear to now be fair game as well. Also, let’s not forget Firestorm, a character who was originally to star in the aforementioned “Greatest Story,” but whose adaptation just “never worked out,” according to Bruce Timm (b.t.), and Dwayne McDuffie added “[w]e just never came up with a good script for him” (qtd. in Yojimbo). And then, finally, we have the Teen Titans, who were mentioned by Batman in the Static Shock crossover episode “Hard as Nails” and were subject to multiple unsuccessful attempts to cross Justice League over with their respective series (Yojimbo).
(In regard to Plastic Man and Firestorm, I would be fine just grandfathering them in based on their appearances on Justice League Action. I mean, c’mon, Dana Snyder as Plastic Man was perfect.)
Another consideration is that the Bat-Embargo, the fan-named policy that prohibited JLU from using Batman-related characters that were appearing on Kids’ WB!’s The Batman series (and prohibited them from using characters earmarked for Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy), is no longer an issue. As previously discussed, the policy preventing multiple interpretations of DC characters appears to have since been relaxed so, hypothetically, the cast of Gotham City would once again be fair game. Also null and void is the embargo against Aquaman, who was absent from the last two seasons of JLU due to his rights being tied up with the Mercy Reef pilot, which also prevented Black Manta from appearing, necessitating his adaptation into the variant villain Devil Ray.
Finally, as previously stated, it’s been nearly two decades since the end of Unlimited and in that time the comic books have continued to be released. One of the most noticeable aspects of 2019’s Justice League vs. The Fatal Five was the addition of characters that had become part of DC Comics since 2006, such as Green Lantern Jessica Cruz (from Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern and Justice League stories), Miss Martian (from Geoff Johns’ Teen Titans and the Young Justice television series), and Star Boy (specifically his characterization from Geoff Johns’ JSA series … I’m sensing a trend here). What other characters, teams, and story arcs would the creative team like to adapt next? Lantern Corps based on the other colors of the Emotional Spectrum? A superhuman arms race with other nations creating their own superhero teams (52, Doomsday Clock)? The possibilities are endless. Just no Flashpoint or New 52, please.
America’s Next Top Villain
In regard to the creative team's own plans for the proposed Season Six, there is little to go on. According to Dwayne McDuffie, the crew had talked a little about what to do next prior to cancellation, but there was nothing set in stone (Yojimbo). And Bruce Timm, in an August 2006 ToyFare interview, offered these tantalizing possibilities:
We had talked just briefly about doing 13 more episodes; we had an idea of doing something that would be a season-long journey through time. It would give us a chance to revisit a bunch of DC heroes from different [time] periods. We’d go to the far future and see the Atomic Knights, have an adventure with Enemy Ace during World War I, or do something again in the Old West. And there was also talk of possibly doing a whole season […] in the Batman Beyond universe. (qtd. in Rossen)
Also, according to a video from the YouTube channel Watchtower Database, James Tucker revealed his recollections on what could have been:
I remembered that one of the thoughts we had about continuing the show, before we were discontinued, was to send [the Justice League] out into space on a quest and explore. [...] It would be a smaller group of Leaguers, maybe the core seven, on some intergalactic quest or responding to a call for help in another galaxy, and that they would then encounter DC’s more space-specific heroes like Adam Strange. (qtd. in “Cancelled”)
However, of the residual scraps of series plans that have gradually surfaced in interviews, there is one that factors pretty heavily, one that would place Tala as the next major villain for the series.
Tala first appeared in Justice League Unlimited, with no fanfare whatsoever, during the Cadmus arc as Amanda Waller’s resident magic expert. A few episodes later, we find out that she served as the apprentice and lover of Felix Faust in “The Balance” (yet, somehow, she was powerful enough to enter Tartarus and retrieve his spirit without being detected by Hades). The following season, she just happened to become a key member of Grodd’s Legion of Doom, trading favors with both Grodd and Luthor as a potential power behind the throne. As the Question would say, this is highly suspect.
Tala’s actions and alliances begin to make sense if you consider her background from the comics. Making her first appearance in The Phantom Stranger #4 (December 1969), she is more than a simple witch and supervillain groupie. She is, in fact, a powerful demon and mistress of her own underworld who uses seduction to corrupt mortals and spread malevolent evil across creation. Suddenly, it makes since for her to cozy up with other male supervillains to push and prompt them to commit greater and greater atrocities for her pleasure.
In fact, when you consider her comic book origins, suddenly her appearances on JLU take on a new light. She elected to “help” Felix Faust to build his power to attack the Amazons of Themyscira and, later, get revenge on Hades and, in doing so, cause chaos among the Greek Pantheon and potentially overthrow the ruler of another underworld. She joined Project: Cadmus to 1) help Faust and 2) sow discord between the U.S. government and the Justice League. She joined with the Legion of Doom in attempt to seduce and assist the leaders of the organization in their villainy, but she grew frustrated when Luthor resisted her overtures. Finally, she allowed her physical body to be sacrificed by Luthor to resurrect the New God Darkseid. Dwayne McDuffie himself partially confirmed this last piece of business, saying in an August 1, 2010 post on his now-defunct message boards that, “Tala gave Brainiac’s powers to Darkseid as a final act of revenge against Luthor” (qtd. in Yojimbo).
As it turns out, Tala’s presence on JLU was sort of a happy accident. Said McDuffie on his now-defunct message boards:
I think James [Tucker] suggested [Tala], DC said okay for whatever reasons they say okay. I just needed a magician on Cadmus, or thought I did at the time and things just sort of developed after we had her. I remember Bruce [Timm] had a very definite take on her going back before her first speaking role, and [Stan Berkowitz’s] story laid all the track.
As for her characterization, where she targets and seduces dangerous men of great power, he added, “Tala […] is attracted to power. She doesn’t care who has it.” That doesn’t mean, however, that she was not in control of the situation. In fact, she often became physically involved with other characters from the comics as part of her plans, such as Phantom Stranger adversary Tannarak.
Considering the build-up and her comic book history, Tala would make a natural, formidable adversary for the Justice League in a reboot. The idea may have been considered by Producer James Tucker, as McDuffie revealed in a December 24, 2010 post on his now-defunct message boards that Tucker “had a pretty strong idea where he wanted to go if we continued, and I planted the seeds of his proposed season in ‘Alive!’” (qtd. in Yojimbo). This was followed up by writer and frequent McDuffie collaborator Matt Wayne, who made the following statement in a 2007 World’s Finest interview:
Writing the first draft [of “Alive!”], I had an eerie feeling that Tala might have pulled the switch to get back at Lex, and Dwayne has said as much too. She was such a wild character it’s easy to forget she’s the Queen of Evil, with motive, means, and opportunity. (qtd. in Hamilton)
And, finally, this was followed up by Wayne in a 2008 World’s Finest interview:
There wasn’t any serious discussion of what came after “Destroyer.” Although Dwayne McDuffie and I did speculate that Tala wasn’t as dead as she appeared to be in “Alive!,” and the big arc I’d planned for the comic [the Justice League Unlimited comic book series] would have revealed Tala as the Big Bad. But Bruce Timm and James Tucker certainly never weighed in on that. (qtd. in Harvey)
Her presence gradually established over multiple episodes of Justice League Unlimited, Tala could potentially show herself in full force in a new series, using her powers and seductive qualities to further an agenda of evil. In fact, she might have her hooks into at least one League member already, thanks to her body-swapped tryst with the Flash in “The Great Brain Robbery.” Only time would tell…
Getting the Band Back Together
As you can see, the time would be right for a Justice League Unlimited ’06 series—and there would be plenty to ground to cover—but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Sadly, I just don’t see this happening any time soon, and not because the DCAU was “destroyed” in the recent Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three movie. The truth is that Bruce Timm is busy with Batman: Caped Crusader, and I really want to see that play out without any distractions. Let's not get greedy.
Still, it is worth mentioning that we did get a sort of JLU reboot in the form of Justice League Infinity, the 2021-2022 limited series created by James Tucker and series writer J.M. DeMatteis. In addition to having the League interact with alternate Earths (which is unfortunately becoming as played out as post-apocalyptic stories were a few years back), the comics also provided a conclusion, of sorts, to the AMAZO storyline begun in the animated show. It’s not quite the three season deal that X-Men ’97 has, but it’ll do. For now.
Works Cited
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Spry, Jeff. “Holy Noirish Comeback, Batman! Bruce Timm and James Tucker Life the Cowl Over ‘Batman: Caped Crusader.’” Animation Magazine. Animation Magazine. 19 Jul. 2024. <https://www.animationmagazine.net/2024/07/holy-noirish-comeback-batman-bruce-timm-and-james-tucker-lift-the-cowl-over-batman-caped-crusader/>. Accessed 21 Jul. 2024.
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Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, and DC Comics. Image of Dwayne McDuffie courtesy of the estate of Dwayne McDuffie. YouTube video courtesy of the DC Kids channel.
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