Characters appearing in DC animated universe stories

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A Justice League Unlimited promotional image.
A Justice League Unlimited promotional image.

The 2004-2006 television series Justice League Unlimited is notable for featuring dozens of characters from the DC Comics roster (possibly more than any other series related to the DC Universe). While many characters played important or ongoing roles in the series, many more appeared only in the background. This is a list of characters appearing in Justice League Unlimited comic books concerning the DC comics shows, such as comics with animation drawings, and other DC shows.

Contents

[edit] Heroes

[edit] Justice League

The seven founding members listed were the original regular lineup of the Justice League the previous two seasons (see Justice League).

Many of these members only made small appearances in the series while others were featured prominently in episodes.

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.

[edit] Founding members


[edit] Other members

   

[edit] Future members

These are the members of the Justice League around fifty years in the future, as seen in "The Once and Future Thing" and "Epilogue", as well as the Batman Beyond episode "The Call" and mentioned in the Static Shock Episode "Future Shock." At different times, they were shown being led by either an aged Superman or an aged Bruce Wayne.

   

[edit] Guest heroes

Other DC heroes appear, but not as JLU members:

[edit] Batman Family

[edit] Green Lantern Corps

[edit] Legion of Super-Heroes

[edit] New Gods of New Genesis

[edit] Western Heroes

[edit] World War II heroes

[edit] Other guest characters

[edit] Villains

     


[edit] Apokolips

 

[edit] Arkham Asylum and Stonegate Penetentiary Inmates

[edit] Batman Beyond-era villains

[edit] Cadmus

Board of Directors:

Benefactors:

  

Assassin for Hire:

Staff:

Agents:

  

[edit] Central City Rogues

   

[edit] The Extremists

[edit] Fatal Five

[edit] Injustice Gang

Injustice Gang I:

  

Injustice Gang II:

[edit] Meta-Brawlers

Owned and operated by Roulette

[edit] Secret Society

Original members:

Legion of Doom:

   

[edit] Characters who could not appear

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A few characters have been cited by writers and producers as "off-limits", though they are allowed to appear in the comics based on the show:

  • Black Lightning could not appear due to DC Comics' refusal to pay royalties to his creator, Tony Isabella. This resulted in the character Black Vulcan being created for the show Super Friends. The character Juice is a pastiche of Black Vulcan, and "Soul Power" in Static Shock is also a pastiche Black Lightning/Black Vulcan.[citation needed]
    • He makes comic book appearances in Justice League Unlimited #15 and #27.[1]
    • Also, several characters connected to him could not be used. The original idea for "Double Date" was for Tobias Whale to be the man who murdered Huntress' parents. He was replaced with a villain called Steven Mandragora, who shares his last name with the man who arranged their deaths' in the comics.[citations needed]
  • Blue Beetle could not appear due to rights being tied up until 2007 because of his 1940s radio show and 1980s cartoon proposals.[2]
    • He appears as a League member in the comic book series Justice League Unlimited.
  • Firestorm could not appear as DC Comics did not allow the producers to include the Ronnie Raymond version of Firestorm in the show.[citation needed]
    • He was, however, going to be the main character spotlighted in "The Greatest Story Never Told".[3] He does appear as a League member in Justice League Unlimited #3 & 16.
  • Adam Strange, was originally supposed to appear in "Hunter's Moon", but legal rights prevented that from happening.[4] The episode's original title was "Mystery In Space", the name of the monthly comics of the same name that Adam starred in.
    • Adam Strange appears in Justice League Unlimited #4.
  • Plastic Man was stated by Dwayne McDuffie to be unusable in the show despite being mentioned as a League member by John Stewart in one episode, but he did not explain why. [5] In the episode "The Greatest Story Never Told", Elongated Man complains longly and loudly to Booster Gold about feeling left out in comparison to Plastic Man, given the two's very similar powers (although Plastic Man can change into objects, Elongated Man is also one of the premiere detectives of the DC Universe).
  • Sandman and other Vertigo characters were said by Bruce Timm in a Wizard interview to be considered, featuring an appearance of Neil Gaiman's Sandman character, but they weren't sure how to incorporate it into the tone of the show. He went on to say "But now, it's not even an issue. The whole Vertigo universe is closed off for us." (Wizard #173. Mar. 2006. pg. 69). In the same interview, Bruce Timm also states that they did attempt to use the Phantom Stranger and the Spectre but were told they could not use those characters.
    • Neil Gaiman on the subject[6]: "I always loved the idea of doing a Sandman/Batman Animated cartoon episode, and we were definitely talking about it in '93, after Vertigo came into existence...I'd assumed that they lost interest. But there was definitely some kind of Vertigo/DC divide that came into existence in there somewhere, imposed from DC/Vertigo editorial and above, worried, I was told, that a kid would feel pressured by continuity to pick up a "For Mature Readers" title and the world would end."
    • The Phantom Stranger appears in comic form in Justice League Unlimited #14 and #28. [7]
    • Spectre will be appearing in comic form in Justice League Unlimited #37.[8]
  • Characters exclusively reserved for other TV shows and movies in development or production include most characters from the Batman comics due to the "Bat-Embargo" that reserved those characters for the new Batman cartoon The Batman and the new Batman movies. Only Batman could appear, although Nightwing makes an uncredited cameo as a silhouette atop a building in Blüdhaven in the episode "Grudge Match". Characters from Aquaman comics could not appear due to character rights being reserved for a potential live-action TV series.[9] This resulted in Black Manta's being renamed "Devil Ray" for the series, the character first appearing in an episode that was originally written to feature Aquaman. The Teen Titans and related characters were off-limits due to the eponymous series. Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy appears in the episode "Patriot Act" following the finale of Teen Titans.
    • Originally, Barbara Gordon was to appear in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Double Date". The episode would have her getting injured during a case as Batgirl. Since Bruce forbids her from participating she would recreate herself as Oracle, and get in touch with Black Canary and Huntress to finish her case. Neither of them would meet her in person. Due to the Bat Embargo, the story replaced Batgirl with Green Arrow and the Question. However, this would interfere with the Batman Beyond story line.[10]
  • When the Justice League episode, "Hereafter" was being produced, Captain Marvel was set to appear as the temporary 7th member. As the rights to the character and the Marvel Family were unavailable to the show, a self-appointed Lobo took the position instead. Captain Marvel later appeared in "The Clash." [11]
    • Doctor Sivana appears in Justice League Unlimited #15, where he rebuilds Mister Atom.
    • Mary Marvel makes an appearance and becomes a member in Justice League Unlimited #20.
    • In the episode "Patriot Act", one of Captain Marvel's enemies, Captain Nazi is seen in flashback.
    • In "Ancient History", another Captain Marvel villain, Black Adam as Teth-Adam, is mentioned.

[edit] External links

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The Bruce Timm DC animated universe
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