A group of Young Justice members standing together in season 3
By
Kyle McLeod
Published 18 minutes ago
Kyle is a senior writer at ScreenRant and has been part of the team for over two years. Having led coverage on The Walking Dead projects alongside Rick & Morty, Kyle is well versed in numerous genres.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Kyle is a passionate journalist who has a keen interest in TV and film. He has six years of experience studying journalism including a HND in Practical Journalism and a BA Honours in Journalism, Media and Communication and History. Alongside his love for TV and film, Kyle enjoys video games, football and Formula 1.
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Young Justice is easily one of DC's most complicated shows. It seemed to go under the radar when it first premiered before slowly building a cult following as the years went on. However, despite those early seasons being some of DC's best animated work of all time, the show's reputation eventually started to dwindle, leaving it with a very divided fanbase.
Some viewers will understandably remember the project very fondly, as this ambitious, risk-taking series offered a truly unique story, with Young Justice even offering lessons for James Gunn's DCU to follow. Still, despite the countless highs that made people fall in love with these plucky heroes, the show was far from flawless, as evidenced by its multiple cancellations.
As a result, alongside celebrating this four-season adventure, it's also important to be honest about its shortcomings, as there are plenty of harsh realities to be found when watching Young Justice ten years later.
The Show Got Weaker With Each Season
After such an incredible first season, the future seemed very bright for Young Justice, but the show never quite managed to match this quality. Season 2 was still great, but it was still a step down from season 1, and that trend continued with the final two installments having pretty sizable drop-offs in terms of storytelling.
It wasn't necessarily a case of running out of ideas, but the themes of seasons 3 and 4 simply didn't feel as interesting as the first two, and the execution also lacked. Each outing still has some really captivating moments, but they become significantly less common as the series goes on, which explains the split opinions on Young Justice.
Young Justice Completely Fumbled Its Red Hood Storyline
Jason Todd as the red hooded ninja in Young Justice
Considering Young Justice featured many of DC's most popular young heroes, including various versions of Robin, the lack of Jason Todd was a surprise. However, he did actually appear in the show, although viewers can be forgiven for not remembering, as he was one of Ra's Al Ghul's ninjas, having very infrequent appearances throughout the series.
When he was first teased as part of the League of Shadows, it seemed like his resurrection would be a big deal, especially as he appeared to have a deep history with Nightwing. Sadly, Young Justice barely expanded on this, giving him some brief screen time without ever establishing a proper story for him or diving into his past.
Red Hood is arguably one of DC's more divisive characters, but there was a real opportunity to do something different with him here. Sadly, the show dropped the ball, making his inclusion feel like little more than wasted potential.
The Darkseid Cliffhanger Will Never Be Resolved
Darkseid looking menacingly as Vandal Savage in Young Justice
When Darkseid was introduced in Young Justice, it seemed inevitable that he'd take over as the show's main villain, yet this never really transpired. Season 3 put a heavy focus on Apokolips, setting up a big battle with Darkseid, yet it was Granny Goodness who ended up becoming the main threat, with some emphasis also being put on Markovia.
The Furies then appeared in season 4, reinforcing the idea that the show would build to a battle against Darkseid, yet it was all left on a bit of a cliffhanger. DC has made plenty of mistakes regarding Darkseid in the past, but not resolving his story in Young Justice was a particularly big letdown that may never be rectified.
No Other Villains Matched The Light
Young Justice Vandal Savage Lex Luthor Ra's al Ghul and Deathstroke
Just like how Darkseid failed to deliver, the same could be said for most of Young Justice's villains outside The Light. Throughout the first season, this criminal faction was perfectly built up, with each villain the heroes defeated subtly having connections to Vandal Savage, resulting in this organization expanding and becoming more dangerous.
Even when their plans were thwarted, they remained intact and recruited other menacing foes to become even bigger. However, this made every other villain feel underwhelming in comparison, as the likes of the Reach and the Furies felt flat in comparison, while even DC staples such as Darkseid didn't feel anywhere near as interesting as The Light.
To make matters worse, the Injustice League, consisting of A-list antagonists such as The Joker, Poison Ivy, and Black Adam, was nothing in comparison to their more interesting counterparts, proving that Young Justice's villains peaked early.
The TV Show Is Nothing Like The Comics
The members of Young Justice together
Naturally, many TV adaptations tend to take some steps away from their comic source material, but Young Justice is very different. Not only are the characters completely different in the 2010 show, but the tone is somewhat darker and more mature, while the storylines themselves feel very separate from what was happening in the comic books.
With DC's Young Justice team in the comics centering around different characters, it made the show feel almost unrecognizable, and while a lot of fans still took to this grittier new version of the roster, it naturally caused division. Therefore, those looking for a faithful adaptation were justifiably disappointed, despite the animated series still being fantastic in its own right.
Animation Quality Lowered As Time Went On
Forager, Superboy, Tigress, and Halo looking into the distance with concerned expressions in Young Justice
Throughout all four seasons, Young Justice had beautifully animated scenes that helped emphasize why the project became so popular. However, the earlier seasons were much more consistent. Although there were still some shortcuts back in season 1, it became apparent around season 3 that Young Justice was using methods to save time and money on animation.
Some episodes finished with essentially a montage of images depicting certain events, rather than showing them in full. Likewise, the original studio the show used closed, and despite having a higher budget, characters and the overall style were changed, which unfortunately didn't quite maintain the standards and charm of the original seasons.
Young Justice Struggled To Get Its Romances Right
Young Justice Season 4 Phantoms Superboy and Miss Martian Married by Snapper Carr
Romantic storylines were a key part of Young Justice, as it showed how these heroes matured and changed as they grew older, but the writers didn't always stick the landing. While Artemis and Wally had a really touching and emotional relationship, others simply ended off-screen and never returned, completely wasting any investment the audience had in them.
Superboy and Miss Martian's romance was the one Young Justice arguably put the most time into developing, and while it did get better in the later seasons, their off-screen break-up between seasons 1 and 2 added unnecessary drama.
While some couples worked and had sweet moments together, a lot of these love stories became far more complicated than they needed to be, which is even more obvious when watching them back all these years later.
The Time Jumps Killed A Lot Of Story Potential
Kid Flash running in the snow in Young Justice season 2
Season 1's incredible run set up a huge future for Young Justice, but the decision to have a five-year time jump heading into season 2 killed a lot of story potential. The group expanded massively while plenty of other events happened between Young Justice seasons 1 and 2, denying fans a chance to spend longer with the original group.
This trend continued with more time skips between seasons, and while this did provide a natural way for the original group to become leaders while bringing in new heroes, it still denied so many opportunities to further explore each iteration of the team.
For better or worse, every new installment felt like a complete reset, meaning that while new heroes and villains could take center stage, it came at the expense of characters that fans had grown to love, which is one of the show's biggest flaws.
Young Justice Never Had An Ending
Miss Martian attacks Aqualad's mind in Young Justice
Although Young Justice hasn't been officially cancelled, it doesn't seem likely to return for a fifth season any time soon, leaving it without a proper ending. Having returned after a six-year gap for season 3, it's impossible to rule out Young Justice ever returning, but even if it does, the show's creator, Greg Weissman, doesn't plan on ever concluding it.
He wants it to be a universe that can always be revisited, which is a huge frustration in retrospect. While it's nice to know the door is always open for such a great series to return, Young Justice deserves a definitive ending after 15 years, and knowing it will never happen makes following it for so long feel almost meaningless.
Young Justice Worked Best When The Group Was Smaller
The hereos of Young Justice huddled together
Perhaps the biggest harsh reality when watching Young Justice 15 years later is that the show was at its peak with the smaller group. Season 1 added members slowly throughout the season, allowing each new recruit to have their own story and build upon the already great rapport built between the characters.
Season 1 contains some of Young Justice's most rewatchable episodes, as the chemistry between the tight-knit group always made for some great adventures. Unfortunately, it became harder to care for each individual from season 2 onward as the roster became so bloated, and despite still featuring some great action and episodes, the latter installments simply don't compete with season 1.
9.1/10
8/10
Young Justice
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-PG Animation Action Adventure Superhero Release Date 2010 - 2022-00-00 Network Cartoon Network, HBO Max Showrunner Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman Writers Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman Franchise(s) DC Animated UniverseCast
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