Young Justice (TV series)

Young Justice
Title sequence logo
Genre	Superhero fiction, spy fiction, teen drama
Created by	Greg Weisman Brandon Vietti
Written by	Greg Weisman Kevin Hopps Andrew Robinson Nicole Dubuc Jon Weisman Tom Pugsley Peter David
Directed by	Jay Oliva Michael Chang and others
Voices of	Stephanie Lemelin Jesse McCartney Danica McKellar Nolan North Khary Payton Jason Spisak
Composers	Kristopher Carter Michael McCuistion Lolita Ritmanis
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	46 (31 aired) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Sam Register
Producers	Greg Weisman Brandon Vietti
Editor	Jhoanne Reyes
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network
Release	January 7, 2011 (2011-01-07) – present

Young Justice (dubbed Young Justice: Invasion for the second season of the series) is an American animated television series created by Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti for Cartoon Network. Despite its title, it is not an adaptation of Peter David, Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck's Young Justice comic series, but rather an adaptation of the entire DC Universe with a focus on young superheroes. The series follows the lives of teenaged heroes and sidekicks who are members of a fictional covert operation group called the Team. The Team is essentially a young counterpart to the celebrity-level famous adult team, the Justice League. The main setting is the fictional universe of Earth-16, during a time period in which superheroes are a relatively recent phenomenon. The series debuted on January 7, 2011 with a two week reairing of the first two episodes, which originally aired as an hour long special on November 26, 2010. Young Justice premiered on September 9, 2011 on Teletoon, in Canada.

Plot

Young Justice focuses on the lives of a group of teenaged sidekicks and protégés attempting to establish themselves as proven superheroes as they deal with normal adolescent issues in their personal lives.

Pilot synopsis

Main article: List of Young Justice episodes

The show corresponds to the present time of our world, a time period Vietti has called "a new age of heroes".

The pilot episode (later re-broadcast as the opening two episodes of season 1) aired a month prior to the debut of the regular series and introduced four characters: Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Speedy. It established their desire for greater recognition and respect, namely, a promotion from sidekicks to full-fledged superheroes. Met with opposition from their respective mentors in the Justice League, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, and Green Arrow, the protégés react in different ways. Speedy resigns from being Green Arrow's partner and begins calling himself Red Arrow. The others seek to persuade their mentors of their worth by secretly taking on a Justice League mission to investigate the Cadmus building. During their infiltration of Cadmus' headquarters, the three heroes find a clone of Superman named Superboy. After the discovery, the team finds out Cadmus is creating living weapons called Genomorphs. The episode deals with this revelation, the origin of Superboy, and how this relates to a mysterious group of people called The Light (Cadmus's Board of Directors). In the end, Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Superboy negotiate with Batman to organize a covert operations team as a practical contrast to the Justice League whose celebrity status makes it difficult to maintain secrecy. After consulting with his colleagues, Batman establishes Young Justice in a secret cave on a secluded island. Here the teens are trained and mentored by the Justice League. Miss Martian makes an appearance at the end of the episode and joins as the fifth member.

Continuity

Although Young Justice follows a continuity considerably different from that of the mainstream DC Universe, Weisman has stated that the series covers its early stages. Earth-16 was chosen by DC Entertainment for the show because it was largely untapped, freeing the series and its franchise from established continuity restraints set by either the main DC Universe or other worlds in the Multiverse.

There are differences in the line-up of this Young Justice team as compared to the team in the comic series of the same name. Dick Grayson and Wally West were chosen over Tim Drake and Bart Allen/Impulse. Miss Martian, who was originally a White Martian in the comics, was added because the date of her arrival to Earth could still fit in the early DC Universe concept. Aqualad, as opposed to Robin, is established in the beginning as the leader of the team. Furthermore, the Aqualad presented in the show is an entirely new character created by Weisman and Vietti, with Bourassa responsible for the original character design. Arrowette was replaced by Artemis because of the producers' desire to focus on the latter's storylines. Some of the Young Justice characters' ages are tweaked from those of their original counterparts; however, the spirit and intent of the characters are said to be kept.

Characters who are a part of the line-up in the comic will also make an appearance in the show. This includes Garth, the first incarnation of Aqualad who later becomes the second Tempest in DC Comics; Arrowette, the archer of the team in the Young Justice comic book series; and Wonder Girl, whose legal issues originally prohibited the producers from using the character but later allowed her to be included. In the show, Garth features as the best friend of Aqualad/Kaldur'ahm.

Production

Conception and development

The series began development in March 2009, when Sam Register, Executive Vice President of Creative Affairs of Warner Bros. Animation (also attached to executive produce), wanted a show based on the concept of a cross between Teen Titans and Young Justice series of comics, but was not solely an adaptation of one or the other. The title chosen for the show by Register was Young Justice, as it was appropriately meaningful to the concept the creative team was looking for. Greg Weisman, whom Register sought immediately after the cancellation of The Spectacular Spider-Man animated television series, and Brandon Vietti, whose work in directing a DC Universe Animated original movie Batman: Under the Red Hood Register particularly noted, were hired to produce. Register jokingly described the two as being similar in appearance, in addition to being similar in thought. Peter David, who penned a majority of the comic book issues of Young Justice, was approached to write several episodes. Also attached to write are Greg Weisman, Kevin Hopps, Andrew Robinson, Nicole Dubuc, Jon Weisman, and Tom Pugsley—with Vietti heavily involved in the scriptwriting process.

The result of the collaboration of Weisman and Vietti was a show about young heroes based on a combination of the 1960s Teen Titans run and the 1990s Young Justice run, in addition to the recent Teen Titans and Young Justice comics, and revolved around the theme of secrets and lies. In drawing material from a variety of comic book sources, the creative team sought to differentiate the tone of the show from that of the Teen Titans animated television series, which the team believed resembled the tone of the Young Justice series of comics rather than that of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez's New Teen Titans series it was based on. The concept of a covert operations team has been compared to Impossible Missions Force, a fictional independent espionage agency in the Mission: Impossible series. Together, Weisman and Vietti came up with ideas, characters, and plot points for at least two seasons, although it is unknown as to how many season runs DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation are looking for the series. Although there were several characters the producers were not allowed to use in the first season (a list that has become shorter along the course of the development), they were usually in charge of the decisions determining which DC Universe character would or would not be used. Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment, and Phil Bourassa, lead character designer for the show, also played a role in the conception and development process.

Design

Costumes

The producers intended to create costumes based in reality to match the tone of the series while keeping consistent with traditional DC Universe continuity. A majority of the art direction was led by Vietti, who established that the costume designs should not only reflect the physical needs of the wearer, but also his or her personality, with Bourassa incorporating these ideas into his designs. In the case of Kid Flash's suit, for instance, the padding serves to reduce the force of impact experienced during skids and collisions, and the leathery texture stabilizes his "human cannonball" momentum.

Vietti cites the differences between the respective costumes of Aqualad and Robin to best illustrate what he calls "unique tailoring". Aqualad's costume is designed for the purposes of quick movement in water; Robin's costume provides bodily protection (even against bullets) in the streets of Gotham City. Aqualad's costume is composed of a "slick and textureless material", giving the costume its "nearly seamless and shiny" appearance. Robin's costume, on the other hand, is padded and stitched with seams and sewn-in materials. Batman's batsuit matches the extra stitching lines of Robin's outfit for similar functions, except that the batsuit is more military in style whereas Robin's costume is additionally influenced by athletic outfits to match his youthful energy.

Animation

MOI Animation, Inc. animates Young Justice. Warner Bros. subcontracted production to the international studio located in Seoul, South Korea. Artists at the U.S. animation studio in Los Angeles, Warner Bros. Animation, draw storyboards; design new characters, backgrounds, and props; draw character and background layouts; and make animatics. The overseas studio, MOI Animation, Inc., draws the key animation and inbetweens. However, Greg Weisman notes that some storyboards are done in Seoul. In the final stages, ink and paint and editing are done by Warner Bros. Animation.

File:Young Justice TV series.PNG

The original 6 members of the team. From left to right: Artemis, Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Aqualad.

Characters

The initial six main characters were chosen by the producers, from a list of 50 to 60 DC Comics teenaged superheroes, as potential candidates. The criteria consisted of age, powers, personality, cultural icon status, and dynamics. An additional regular, Zatanna, was introduced partway through the first season, and Rocket was added at the end of the season.

'The Team' original members

• Aqualad / Kaldur 'Ahm (voiced by Khary Payton) – Kaldur 'Ahm (or "Kaldur" for short) is the sixteen-year-old leader of the team. His powers, channeled through the tattoos on his arms, are a mixture of Atlantean sorcery and science. He displays the superior strength, durability as well as the ability to breathe and speak underwater typical of Atlanteans. He also possesses the ability to form hard water constructs through the use of his Atlantean water bearers and electrify them. He is selected as the initial leader for the Team, but states that he does not want to remain leader and wishes to turn the position over to Robin when he is ready, saying that it is his destiny to lead this team. In Season 2, set five years in the future, Aqualad has become an enemy of the Team after having discovered that Aquaman kept the identity of his father from him. As well, Aqualad apparently left the Team after his first love Tula was killed during a mission; he blames the Team for failing to save her. He currently works alongside his father Black Manta as a villain helping the Light, their alien partner, and the invading Kroloteans.

• Robin / Nightwing / Dick Grayson (voiced by Jesse McCartney) – Robin is, though only thirteen, the most experienced superhero on the team. He does not possess any superpowers. However, he is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, tactitian, and technological genius. He has a flippant personality, and can be heard laughing in combat or when sneaking up on villains in order to unnerve and startle them. He repeatedly plays with the English language, particularly with words which cease to function without prefixes, such as "disaster" ("aster"), "underwhelmed" ("whelmed"), and "distraught" ("traught"). Batman has forbidden Robin from revealing his secret identity to the team, though Kid Flash is aware of it. Robin acts as team leader when Aqualad is unable to. Aqualad sees Robin as reluctant to lead the team, feeling that he doesn't know enough. "Eventually he shows that he is a natural born leader. And that's just part of what you'll see from Dick Grayson". At the beginning of the second season, set five years later, Dick has assumed the identity of Nightwing while Tim Drake has assumed the mantle of Robin. Nightwing remains on the team as their leader, assigning and participating in missions. Dick encourages Tim to have confidence in his leadership skills, but the latter is apprehensive about doing so.

• Kid Flash / Wally West (voiced by Jason Spisak) – Kid Flash is the team's sixteen-year-old speedster. He has enhanced speed, although he has not fully mastered his abilities, often falling down while running at high speeds due to a misstep. Kid Flash cannot vibrate his molecules through solid objects like the Flash and gets a bloody nose if he attempts to. He is a flirt, beginning with M'gann and extending to any woman he comes into contact with. Kid Flash and Robin know each other outside the team, even knowing each other's secret identities. Wally likes to collect items he calls "souvenirs" from the team's missions, such as T. O. Morrow's robotic eye and Cheshire's mask. Ava Dordi, of the Palo Alto Voice notes that Jason Spisak "captures the lighthearted essence of Kid Flash well". In Season 2, after five years, Kid Flash is living with Artemis and attending college.

• Superboy / Conner Kent (voiced by Nolan North) – Superboy is a sixteen-week-old clone of Superman (later revealed to be a hybrid clone of Superman and Lex Luthor), made by Project Cadmus. Although he does not have all of Superman's abilities, he has super strength, invulnerability, enhanced hearing, and vision, which also allows him to see in infrared. Superboy is typically sullen, ill-tempered and hates being told what to do. His nonexistent relationship with Superman only adds to this anger. Lex Luthor gave Superboy a set of patches which suppresses Superboy's human DNA, giving him his full Kryptonian abilities (Superman's) abilities for a brief amount of time, although his aggression increases as well. He becomes romantically involved with M'gann while under cover in Belle Reve. However, sometime between Season 1 and Season 2, Superboy and M'gann have ceased their relationship and she is now romantically involved with Lagoon Boy. Connor states that, in part, the relationship ended due to the fact that he does not outwardly age. Greg Weisman notes that Nolan North provides "good separation" between the dual roles he portrays as Superman and Superboy. Five years after the events of Season 1, Superboy has remained with the Team and his formerly apprehensive relationship with Superman has improved.

• Miss Martian / M'gann M'orzz (voiced by Danica McKellar) – Miss Martian is Martian Manhunter's teenaged (by Martian standards, though she is in her 40's using earth years) niece, as well as being an inexperienced superhero. As a Martian, she has telekinesis, telepathy, and flight. Additionally, she can shape-shift to a limited extent. She has stated that she cannot become intangible as her uncle can, implying that this is an advanced skill. In later episodes, Martian Manhunter discovers that her raw abilities are potentially greater than his own. She pilots her own bio-ship, which transports the team and can become camouflaged with the surrounding area. She is kind and optimistic, but has a naive streak born of having learned about life on Earth through television shows. In line with this, she makes regular use of the catchphrase "Hello, Megan!" when suddenly realizing something. She becomes romantically involved with Superboy while working undercover with him in Belle Reve. While it is revealed to the viewer in the episode "Image" that she is concealing her identity as a non-humanoid White Martian, she finally reveals her true form to the team in the episode Usual Suspects. Superboy had known all along, since they had mind-bonded in the past. Danica McKellar thinks her character is "Awesome. Like most of the characters on the show, she's dealing with two very different but coexisting aspects of her life: she's a superhero and also an insecure teenager, all at the same time." Sometime in the five year lapse between Season 1 and Season 2, Superboy ended their romantic relationship, and she began dating Lagoon Boy. She has become more confident in her abilities and lost her naive streak. Garfield, from the episode Image, has become her adopted brother.

• Artemis / Artemis Crock (voiced by Stephanie Lemelin) – Artemis is the team's fifteen-year-old archer. Like Robin, she has no superpowers, but is very skilled with a bow and arrow. She is introduced as Green Arrow's "niece" but it is later revealed that this is not the case. Red Arrow, who knows she isn't, believes that there must be a good reason behind Batman and Green Arrow's decision to add her to the team, as well as their concealment of her real identity, and therefore agrees not reveal his suspicions about her to the rest of the group—but warns Artemis to not harm his friends. She is the daughter of the villain Sportsmaster and the now paraplegic ex-villain Huntress, as well as the sister of Cheshire.. In Season 2, set five years after the events of the previous season, Artemis has not appeared as a member of the Team. But rather she is seen in the end of episode "Salvage" that she's now living with Wally West (Kid Flash) and attending college with him.

• Zatana / Zatanna Zatara (voiced by Lacey Chabert) – The daughter of Justice League member Zatara, she first appears in "Humanity" and sporadically through the later episodes, mainly whenever her magic could be of use. She permanently moves into Mount Justice in the episode "Misplaced" after her father becomes the new Doctor Fate, and is now an official member of the team. Her powers, like her father's, are magical, and like her father's, her spells are spoken in reverse order. Sometime during the five year lapse between Season 1 and Season 2 she has joined the Justice League.

• Speedy / Red Arrow / Roy Harper (voiced by Crispin Freeman) – Red Arrow is the team's male archer. Like Robin and Artemis, he has no superpowers, but is very skilled with the bow and arrow. He is also the adopted son of Green Arrow. Originally Speedy, he left Green Arrow's side in "Independence Day" when he was told he was becoming an official Justice League member when he was still being treated as a sidekick and adopted the alias "Red Arrow". He refused to join the group in "Welcome to Happy Harbor"; however, he still assisted the team, such as in "Targets", and is convinced by Green Arrow to join the team in "Insecurity". In the episode "Usual Suspects", he becomes the first member of the Team to join the Justice League as a full member. However, in "Auld Acquaintance", Harper is told by a Vandal Savage-controlled Batman he is a Cadmus clone much like Superboy and was the "mole" implanted by The Light, while the real Roy Harper (missing his right arm from the elbow down) is in custody of the enemy. In Season 2, the clone is shown on the edge of a breakdown, still searching for the real Roy Harper. In the episode "Salvage", it is revealed that the cloned Roy married Cheshire and unknowingly fathered a daughter with her. She states that she is willing to help him find the real Roy so as to help the cloned Roy find some peace.

• Rocket / Raquel Ervin (voiced by Kittie) – Straightforward and bold, if inexperienced, Rocket is the apprentice of the superhero Icon. She uses a piece of alien technology called an inertia belt, allowing her to store and manipulate kinetic energy. She generally uses this to fly and grant herself some super-strength and a personal force field. She joins the team in the episode "Usual Suspects", the same episode her mentor joins the Justice League. At the end of "Usual Suspects", she and Aqualad kiss. In between the five year lapse between Seasons 1 and 2, she has joined the Justice League and isn't dating Aqualad.

'The Team' subsequent members

• Robin / Tim Drake (voiced by Cameron Bowen) – In the time between the events of Season 1 and Season 2, a new Robin has replaced Dick Grayson (who has since adopted the Nightwing persona). The former Robin seeks to have the newer Robin develop his own leadership skills, despite the latter's apprehension.

• Bumblebee / Karen Beecher (voiced by Masasa Moyo) – A young scientist and partner of Mal Duncan. She and Mal were classmates of Superboy and Miss Martian at Happy Harbor High School. Her suit acts as armor and imbues her with bee-themed powers including shrinking and flight. Karen has also become a student of Ray Palmer.

• Beast Boy / Garfield Logan (voiced by Logan Grove) - In the Season 1 episode "Image," Garfield lives with his mother Marie who runs the Logan Reserve around the boarders of Bialya and Qurac. In this episode, it is revealed that Marie Logan once starred in a television show called "Hello Megan!" that inspired Miss Martian's human guise and her catchphrase. Garfield is hurt when Queen Bee's jets attack and needs a blood transfusion to survive following him freeing the sick oryx and an injured wildebeest from the barn. Miss Martian changes her blood type to O negative in order to save Garfield's life. He is saved, but his blue eyes at the time turned green. Sometime before the events of Season 2, Garfield's skin turned green and he developed the ability to shape-shift into animals (ergo, the name Beast Boy). In "Earthlings" it is revealed that Queen Bee caused the car accident that killed Garfield's mother.

• Blue Beetle / Jaime Reyes (voiced by Eric Lopez) – Sometime during the five year lapse between Seasons 1 and 2, he joined the Team. A device called the Scarab is permanently attached to his spine. The Scarab provides Jaime the battle suit and advises him on what it feels is the best course of action in many situations. Jaime frequently ignores this advice, as the advice is often aimed at violent solutions to problems.

• Mal Duncan (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - A partner of Karen Beecher and a classmate of Superboy and Miss Martian at Happy Harbor High School. He serves the team as a mission coordinator.

• Lagoon Boy / La'gaan (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) – A student at Atlantis' Conservatory of Sorcery. Sometime during the five year lapse between Seasons 1 and 2, he joined the Team. He and Miss Martian also became romantically involved.

• Wonder Girl / Cassie Sandsmark (voiced by Mae Whitman) – Wonder Woman's sidekick. She joined the team sometime between the events of Season 1 and Season 2 and is a member of the Team.

• Batgirl / Barbara Gordon (voiced by Alyson Stoner) – Originally a classmate of Dick's at the Gotham Academy. In the time between Seasons 1 and 2, she assumed the identity of Batgirl and becomes a member of the Team.

Justice League

• Aquaman (voiced by Phil LaMarr) – Member and founder of the Justice League and King of Atlantis. Aqualad served as his sidekick ever since he and Garth helped him defeat Ocean Master.

• The Atom - He was inducted into the Justice League on December 30, 2010.

• Batman (voiced by Bruce Greenwood) – Batman is a member and founder of the Justice League and the elected leader of the group. He gives out the missions for the Justice League. In an interview at Comic Con, Greenwood differentiates the portrayal of the Caped Crusader in Young Justice: "He's younger, more of a father figure. He's tough, but not as broken (as the previous portrayal)."

• Black Canary (voiced by Vanessa Marshall) – She serves as the trainer of the Team. Series co-creator Greg Weisman has said Black Canary's role on the show was in part because she is his favorite character in the DC universe.

• Black Lightning - He became a member of the Justice League during the five year gap as seen at the beginning of Season Two.

• Captain Atom (voiced by Michael T. Weiss) – Member of the Justice League and in season 2 (set after five years) he seems to be the new leader of the Justice League.

• Captain Marvel (voiced by Rob Lowe in the first appearance, Chad Lowe in the third appearance; Robert Ochoa as Billy Batson) – Member of the Justice League. He once served as the substitute den mother when Red Tornado was missing. Considered by IGN to be "the best superhero guest-voicing turn in some time. (Lowe) plays him like your goofy uncle (or little cousin?) who's trying way too hard to fit in with the cool kids. 'I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys,' he blurts out with unabashed enthusiasm". Weisman notes that the character "will be an important recurring character in the series, so this could ultimately involve multiple episodes for Lowe." The character was voiced by Lowe's brother Chad Lowe, in later episodes.

• The Flash / Barry Allen (voiced by George Eads) – Member and founder of the Justice League. Kid Flash served as Flash's sidekick.

• Green Arrow (voiced by Alan Tudyk) – Member of the Justice League. He had Speedy as a sidekick and later Artemis as a sidekick.

• Green Lantern / Hal Jordan - Member and founder of the Justice League.

• Green Lantern / John Stewart (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - Member of the Justice League. One of the 6 Justice League members to go missing for 16 hours.

• Hawkman - Member of the Justice League and husband of Hawkwoman.

• Hawkwoman - Member of the Justice League and the wife of Hawkman. She was one of the six Justice League members to be missing for 16 hours.

• Icon (voiced by Tony Todd) – An alien superhero who joined the Justice League on December 30, 2010. Rocket is Icon's sidekick.

• Martian Manhunter (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) – Member and founder of the Justice League and uncle of Miss Martian.

• Plastic Man - He was inducted into the Justice League on December 30, 2010.

• Red Tornado (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. He serves as the den mother for the Team.

• Superman (voiced by Nolan North) – Member and founder of the Justice League. His DNA was used by Project Cadmus to help make Superboy. He was originally apprehensive to Superboy but in the five years since the Season one finale, Superman now considers Superboy to be his little brother.

• Wonder Woman (voiced by Maggie Q) – Member and founder of the Justice League and princess of the Amazons. Also one of the 6 Justice League members to be missing for 16 hours.

• Zatara / Doctor Fate (voiced by Nolan North) – Member of the Justice League and father of Zatanna. He was the second substitute den mother when Red Tornado was missing. Due to Nabu stating that the world would always need Doctor Fate, Zatara offers himself to become the new Doctor Fate. His Doctor Fate persona was officially inducted into the Justice League on December 30, 2010. In season 2, set five years after the end of season 1, Zatara is still possessed by Nabu.

Villains

• The Light – The primary antagonists of the first season who plotted and engineered various events throughout the series. They also served as Project Cadmus' Board of Directors. The group was conceived by Vandal Savage who isn't the leader, but rather the first among equals. The identities of the leaders are known only to a very select group of individuals that work with them.
  • Vandal Savage (voiced by Miguel Ferrer) – Member of The Light under the designation of L-1. As mentioned above, he isn't the leader, but had conceived the group.
  • Ra's al Ghul (voiced by Oded Fehr) – Member of The Light under the designation of L-2 and leader of the League of Shadows.
  • Lex Luthor (voiced by Mark Rolston) – Member of The Light under the designation of L-3 and CEO of LexCorp. He played a part in the creation of Superboy by donating his DNA.
  • Queen Bee (voiced by Marina Sirtis) – Member of The Light under the designation of L-4 and dictator of Bialya.
    • Psimon - The right hand of Queen Bee who has telepathic powers. He often faces Miss Martian is telepathic battle, and was once put into a catatonic state by her.
  • Ocean Master (voiced by Roger Craig Smith) – Member of The Light under the designation of L-5 and the half-brother of Aquaman. Sometime after the events of season 1, he was somehow disgraced and was replaced with Black Manta.
  • Brain (voiced by Nolan North in the first unofficial appearance, Corey Burton in the first official appearance) – Member of The Light under the designation of L-6.
    • Monsieur Mallah (vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker) – Brain's gorilla sidekick.
  • Klarion the Witch Boy (voiced by Thom Adcox-Hernandez) – Member of The Light under the designation of L-7. According to Greg Weisman, Klarion joined The Light mostly because it seemed like fun.
  • Black Manta (voiced by Khary Payton) – An associate of The Light and Aqualad's father. In Season 2, Black Manta has replaced Ocean Master on The Light.

• Mister Twister / Bromwell Stikk (voiced by John de Lancie) - The first villain the original six of the Team fought. Mister Twister wore a robotic suit that alowed him to generate tornados and thunderstorms. Bromwell Stikk is later shown to be working with T.O. Morrow where he used a robot version of himself to operate the Mister Twister armor on The Light's behalf.

• T.O. Morrow (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - The scientist responsible for creating Red Tornado and an operative of The Light. He also created Red Torpedo and Red Inferno to infiltrate the Justice Society of America, both of which failed. He worked with Bromwell Stikk to test out the Mister Twister armor. It is later revealed that T.O. Morrow was in a coma and that he built an android in his place.

• Shimmer - The twin sister of Mammoth and a recurring agent of The Light. She originally debuted as a member of The Cult of Kobra. While Shimmer has not displayed any powers, she is shown to be an expert fighter and tech savvy.

• Mammoth- A super-stong agent of the Light. He is the twin brother of Shimmer and was a member of The Cult of Kobra. After being injected with a hybrid strain of the Venom Drug and the Blockbuster Formula, he developed super strength and became very deformed.

• Sportsmaster (voiced by Nick Chinlund) – A sports-themed agent of The Light. He is the ex-husband of Paula Crock and the father of Artemis and Cheshire.

• Professor Ivo (voiced by Peter MacNicol) - A mad scientist and associate of The Light. He was the one who created Amazo and helped Brain and Klarion the Witch Boy weaponize the Starro-Tech.
  • Amazo (voiced by Peter MacNicol) - An android created by Professor Ivo. He has the ability to copy the powers of the Justice League.
  • M.O.N.Q.I.s (vocal effects provided by Peter MacNicol) - Short for Mobile Optimal Neural Quotient Infiltrators, the M.O.N.Q.I.s are robotic monkeys that serve as the foot soldiers for Professor Ivo. Professor Ivo mentioned that it took him ages to figure out an acronym for "monkey."

• League of Shadows – A group of assassins that are led by Ra's al Ghul and carry out the bidding of The Light.
  • Black Spider (voiced by Josh Keaton) – A spider-themed assassin.
  • Cheshire (voiced by Kelly Hu) – The sister of Artemis and the daughter of Sportsmaster. Five years later, Cheshire is shown to be married to Red Arrow and has a child. She does inform Red Arrow on where the real Roy Harper may be located.
  • Hook – An assassin with a hook for a hand.
  • Professor Ojo (voiced by Nolan North) – A scientist who wears a special helmet to see.
  • Sensei (voiced by Keone Young) – A high-ranking member of the League of Shadows.

• Psimon (voiced by Alan Tudyk) - A psychic supervillain who is an agent of The Light. He would always be seen working with Queen Bee.

• Hugo Strange (voiced by Adrian Pasdar) – Warden of supervillian prison Belle Reve who is also an operative of The Light. He is responsible for Professor Ivo's temporary breakout on behalf of The Light so that Professor Ivo can weaponize The Light's Starro-Tech.

• Riddler (voiced by Dave Franco) - An enemy of Batman who specializes in riddles. He was an inmate at Belle Reve and the only one to escape during Icicle Sr.'s failed breakout attempt. Riddler is also shown to be an agent of The Light as he was seen helping Sportsmaster secure a part of Starro from S.T.A.R. Labs.

• The Injustice League – A small group of villains who used plant-like creatures to attack the Earth in "Revelation." They seemed to play as the masterminds behind the first season but in reality they were scapegoats to distract the Justice League from uncovering the true masterminds: The Light.
  • Atomic Skull – A S.T.A.R. Labs scientist turned supervillain and enemy of Superman.
  • Black Adam – The main antagonist of Captain Marvel.
  • Count Vertigo (voiced by Steven Blum) – Member of the royal family of Vlatvia obsessed with seizing power from his niece Princess Perdita.
  • Joker (voiced by Brent Spiner) – The main antagonist of Batman.
  • Poison Ivy (voiced by Alyssa Milano) – A plant manipulator and enemy of Batman.
  • Ultra-Humanite (vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker) – Supervillan primate with super-human strength and intellect.
  • Wotan (voiced by Bruce Greenwood) – Immortal sorcerer and main antagonist of Doctor Fate.

• Kroloteans – An alien race that are recurring enemies in Season Two. One Krolotean used a special suit to masquerade as General Tseng only to be exposed and taken away by Lobo. Another one tried to masquerade as Bibbo Bibbowski only to be stopped by Blue Beetle, Bumblebee, and the real Bibbo.

• The Partner (voiced by Kevin Grevioux) - An as-yet-unidentified partner of the Light who has only been seen in silhouette and is feared by the Kroloteans.

Other characters

• Wolf (vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker) – A genetically-altered White Wolf that Superboy adopted following the fight with Brain in India.

• Sphere – A machine from New Genesis picked up from one of the Team's missions to Bialya after it was transferred there by the Light's as-yet-unidentified intergalactic partner. Ever since it was rescued from the Bialyans, Sphere is a loyal companion to Superboy. She can transform into assorted machinery, including a motorcycle-like vehicle which Wally has dubbed "the Super Cycle". pill bug mode, where it can control certain thing like one of it own race.

• Snapper Carr (voiced by Greg Weisman) – A teacher at Happy Harbor High School. Carr privately teaches at the cave.

• Cat Grant (voiced by Masasa Moyo) – A female reporter who reports on the various battles of the Justice League.

• Catherine Cobert (voiced by Stephanie Lemelin) – A woman who is a public relations liaison to the Justice League.

• Nabu (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - The entity behind the powers of Doctor Fate.

Episodes

Main article: List of Young Justice episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired (U.S. dates)		DVD and Blu-ray release date
			Season premiere	Season finale	Region 1		Region 2		Region 4
	1	26	January 7, 2011	April 21, 2012	Vol. 1	July 19, 2011	Vol. 1	—	Vol. 1	—
					Vol. 2	October 25, 2011	Vol. 2	—	Vol. 2	—
					Vol. 3	February 21, 2012	Vol. 3	—	Vol. 3	—
					Vol. 4	July 24, 2012	Vol. 4	—	Vol. 4	—
	2	20	April 28, 2012	TBA	N/A		N/A		N/A

Cast

• Thom Adcox-Hernandez – Klarion the Witch Boy
• Edward Asner – Kent Nelson
• René Auberjonois – Blockbuster/Dr. Mark Desmond
• Dee Bradley Baker – Wolf, Monsieur Mallah, Mr. Tawny, Teekl, Ultra-Humanite, Serifan, Desaad, Felix Faust
• Adam Baldwin – Parasite
• Irene Bedard - Shelly Longshadow
• Robert Beltran - Maurice Bodaway
• Jeff Bennett – Red Tornado, Abra Kadabra, Alfred Pennyworth, General Wade Eiling, Red Torpedo, Red Volcano, T.O. Morrow, Nudis Vulko
• Steve Blum – Count Vertigo, Rudy West
• Cameron Bowen – Robin/Tim Drake
• Clancy Brown – King Faraday
• Corey Burton – Brain, Mayor Hamilton Hill, Dudley H. Dudley, Commissioner James Gordon, Wizard
• Lacey Chabert – Zatanna
• Nick Chinlund – Sportsmaster
• Tim Curry – G. Gordon Godfrey
• John de Lancie – Mister Twister/Bromwell Stikk
• Diane Delano - Devastation
• Grey DeLisle – Beautiful Dreamer, Whisper A'Daire
• Benjamin Diskin – Harm
• George Eads – Flash
• Bill Fagerbakke – Big Bear
• Oded Fehr – Ra's al Ghul
• Miguel Ferrer – Vandal Savage, Bibbo Bibbowski
• Dave Franco – Riddler
• Crispin Freeman – Red Arrow, Guardian
• Bruce Greenwood – Batman, Wotan
• Kevin Grevioux – Competitor
• Logan Grove – Beast Boy
• Michael Horse - Holling Longshadow
• Kelly Hu – Cheshire, Paula Crock
• Josh Keaton – Black Spider
• Kittie – Rocket
• Phil LaMarr – Aquaman, Dubbilex
• Stephanie Lemelin – Artemis Crock, Justice League Computer, Catherine Cobert
• Eric Lopez – Blue Beetle
• Chad Lowe – Captain Marvel (3rd Time)
• Rob Lowe – Captain Marvel (1st Time)
• Yuri Lowenthal – Icicle Jr., Garth, Lagoon Boy
• Peter MacNicol – Professor Ivo, Amazo, M.O.N.Q.I.
• Vanessa Marshall – Black Canary, Dr. Amanda Spence, Noor Harjavti
• Jesse McCartney – Robin/Nightwing
• Danica McKellar – Miss Martian, Marie Logan
• Alyssa Milano – Poison Ivy
• Masasa Moyo – Bumblebee, Secret, Cat Grant, Wendy Harris
• Nolan North – Superboy, Superman, Zatara, Clayface, Professor Ojo, Match, Marvin White
• Jacqueline Obradors – Alanna
• Robert Ochoa – Billy Batson
• Adrian Pasdar – Hugo Strange
• Khary Payton – Aqualad, Black Manta, Brick
• Maggie Q – Wonder Woman
• Gregg Rainwater - Tye Longshadow
• Sheryl Lee Ralph – Amanda Waller
• James Remar – Icicle Sr.
• Kevin Michael Richardson – Martian Manhunter, Mal Duncan, Nabu, Vykin, Bruno Mannheim, John Stewart, Blackbriar Thorn, Paul Sloane
• Mark Rolston – Lex Luthor
• Stephen Root – Jack Haly
• Sarah Shahi – Killer Frost
• W. Morgan Sheppard – Sardath
• Marina Sirtis – Queen Bee
• Roger Craig Smith – Ocean Master/Prince Orm
• David Sobolov – Lobo
• Kath Soucie – Queen Mera
• Brent Spiner – Joker
• Jason Spisak – Kid Flash
• Alyson Stoner – Batgirl, Bette Kane
• Cree Summer – Tula, Madame Xanadu
• Keith Szarabajka – Mr. Freeze
• Tony Todd – Icon
• Danny Trejo – Bane
• Michael Trucco – Adam Strange
• Alan Tudyk – Green Arrow, Psimon
• Arnold Vosloo – Lord Kobra
• Greg Weisman – Snapper Carr
• Michael T. Weiss – Captain Atom
• Mae Whitman – Wonder Girl/Cassie Sandsmark
• Ariel Winter – Princess Perdita
• Keone Young – Sensei

Crew

• Greg Weisman – Creator, Producer, Story Edtior
• Brandon Vietti – Creator, Producer, Art Director
• Matthew Benzinger – Animation Coordinator
• Phil Bourassa – Lead Character Designer
• John Diaz – Production Manager
• Sam Register – Executive Producer
• Casey Sandin – Assistant Production Manager
• Jamie Thomason – Casting and Voice Director

Other media

Young Justice has an official tie-in comic book series outside the television broadcast, expanding on the show's coverage of the continuity. It will be written by Greg Weisman and Kevin Hopps, who are a part of the show's writing team, with Mike Norton providing the art. Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani will substitute in place of Weisman and Hopps for issues #1–6, due to the latter duo's conflicting schedule and workload. Along with Brandon Vietti, Weisman and Hopps will still oversee the issues for the maintenance of continuity. While children of all ages are said to be able to enjoy the series, it is specifically aimed at teenagers.

The comic series largely takes place in-between the episodes of the show, and often expands upon events alluded to or mentioned in the series. For instance, issue No. 0 follows Kid Flash and Superboy as they attempt to kill time while the members of the Justice League set up Mount Justice for their arrival at the end of the pilot episode. In the episode "Welcome to Happy Harbor", Robin mentions that the Justice League had been forced to abandon their headquarters in Happy Harbor after its location was compromised by supervillains, which is revealed in issue No. 2 of the comic book series to have been orchestrated by the Joker. In addition, Baltazar and Aureliani confirmed that they were asked to introduce the Joker in the comic in order to set up his eventual appearance on the show.

Geoff Johns took a liking to Kaldur'ahm as Aqualad, who was consequently introduced to mainstream continuity altered in comic book issue No. 4 of Brightest Day as the second incarnation of the mantle. In Brightest Day, he is introduced as a teenager from New Mexico by the name of Jackson Hyde who is largely unaware of his Atlantean roots. In addition to his design, many aspects of the new Aqualad's back-story had to be altered to fit within the established continuity of the DC Universe.

A video game based on the show called Young Justice: Legacy is set to release in 2013, for Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. The game is currently being developed by Little Orbit, and will feature 12 playable characters and 12 bosses.

Licensed merchandise

Additionally, several products based on the series have been licensed for release. Mattel will release lines of character action figures and accompanying playsets, among other toys and games. In addition to toys for the six lead characters, figures of Cheshire, Icicle Jr., Black Canary, Batman, Aquaman, the Flash and Ra's al Ghul have been confirmed as well. Starting March 13, 2011, McDonald's restaurants began featuring Young Justice toys in their Happy Meals. Figures include Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Superman, Batman, and the villains Captain Cold and Black Manta.

The Flaming C

On the program Conan, Conan O'Brien visited Bruce Timm during one of his segments and they developed a super hero named The Flaming C. However, on several occasions, their original creation would be animated in preexisting sequences from Young Justice using the voice acting of whichever character Flaming C was placed over. These scenes were taken from "Fireworks", "Welcome to Happy Harbor", "Schooled", and "Denial".

Home media

Warner Brothers released Young Justice: Season One, Volume One on DVD on July 19, 2011, and features the first four episodes of the series. The first four episodes were also included in the Justice League: 3-Pack Fun box set, which contained the two-part Justice League episodes "The Brave and the Bold" and "Injustice For All", as well as the Justice League Unlimited episodes "For The Man Who Has Everything", "The Return", and "The Greatest Story Never Told".

Young Justice: Season One, Volume Two and Season One, Volume Three, containing the following episodes have also been released.

The first 3 volumes will be released together in a fun-pack, containing the first 12 episodes.

DVD title	Release date	Episodes Included	Number of Discs
Young Justice: Season One, Volume 1	July 19, 2011	1. Independence Day 2. Fireworks 3. Welcome to Happy Harbor 4. Drop Zone	1
Young Justice: Season One, Volume 2	October 25, 2011	5. Schooled 6. Infiltrator 7. Denial 8. Downtime
Young Justice: Season One, Volume 3	February 21, 2012	9. Bereft 10. Targets 11. Terrors 12. Home Front
Young Justice: Season 1 Part 2: Dangerous Secrets	July 24, 2012	13. Alpha Male 14. Revelation 15. Humanity 16. Failsafe 17. Disordered 18. Secrets 19. Misplaced 20. Coldhearted 21. Image 22. Agendas 23. Insecurity 24. Performance 25. Usual Suspects 26. Auld Acquaintance	2

Reception

Awards and nominations

Phil Bourassa's character design work for "Independence Day" won an Emmy in 2011 for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.

See also

• Justice League (TV series)
• Justice League Unlimited
• Teen Titans (TV series)
• Batman: The Animated Series
• Superman: The Animated Series
• The Batman (TV series)
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold

External links

• Official website
• Young Justice @ The World's Finest
• Young Justice at IMDb
• Template:Bcdb
• Template:Tv.com
• Young Justice Wiki, an external wiki