Legion of Doom

Legion of Doom
From left to right: Black Manta, Giganta, Toyman, the Riddler, Bizarro, the Scarecrow, Lex Luthor, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, Gorilla Grodd, Brainiac, and Sinestro.
Publication information
First appearance	"Wanted: The Super Friends" (Challenge of the Super Friends, Episode 1 - September 9, 1978)
In-story information
Base(s)	Hall of Doom
Member(s)	Bizarro Black Manta Brainiac Captain Cold Cheetah Giganta Gorilla Grodd Lex Luthor Riddler Scarecrow Sinestro Solomon Grundy Toyman

The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains that originated in Challenge of the Super Friends, an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Universe, appearing in comics, as well as further animated and live-action adaptations.

History

In each episode of Challenge of the Super Friends that they appeared, the Legion of Doom would enact a plot against the Super Friends and a plot to take over the world only to be met with defeat by the end of the story. In some episodes, they would escape capture through a last-minute escape plan often contrived by Luthor. Other times, the Legion of Doom would end up apprehended.

The episode "History of Doom" showed that Lex Luthor assembled 12 supervillains in order to form the most powerful and sinister group the world has ever seen.

Development

When the Challenge of the Super Friends season was originally conceived, it was named Battle of the Superheroes and featured the introduction of Captain Marvel to the Super Friends. The group that challenged the heroes was to be called the "League of Evil", led by Captain Marvel's nemesis Doctor Sivana. However, Filmation was producing Shazam! and The New Adventures of Batman which prevented the use of characters such as Mister Atom, King Kull, Beautia Sivana, Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and Catwoman. Early conceptual art drawn by Alex Toth also included Heat Wave, Poison Ivy, and Abra Kadabra.^[1]

The Hall of Doom

The Legion of Doom's headquarters was the Hall of Doom that was located in Slaughter Swamp (just outside Gotham City). The facility, which has a close resemblance to Darth Vader's helmet, could be lowered or raised above the swamp water's surface. It could fly or enter space using rockets. The Hall of Doom's mobility could be controlled through remote control helping the Legion to escape on several occasions. Its defenses included laser weapons and the ability to time travel.

In "Doomsday" after Sinestro, Black Manta and Cheetah are abandoned by the rest of the Legion after they take control of a mental device, they use it to create another Hall of Doom, which attacks the original one and enables the Legion to be captured.

In "History of Doom," the Hall is shown being constructed in a barn just after the Legion formed. Black Manta proposed that they have it in the ocean, Captain Cold proposes to have underneath the polar ice caps, and Gorilla Grodd proposes that they have it in the jungle. As a compromise, Lex Luthor decides to have it within the waters of Slaughter Swamp as it is then flown to that location.

Members

There were thirteen members of the Legion of Doom:

Member	Alter ego	Description	Powers	Traditional enemy	Voice actor
Bizarro	Bizarro	Twisted doppelganger of Superman from Bizarro World	Same as Superman, but often behaves in an erratic and irrational manner	Superman	William Callaway
Black Manta	David (Last Name Unknown)	Deep sea diver and would-be ocean conqueror	Enhanced strength, water breathing ability (through artificial gills), high tech equipment, laser beams	Aquaman	Ted Cassidy
Brainiac	Vril Dox	Evil android	Super-intelligence, advanced technology	Superman	Ted Cassidy
Captain Cold	Leonard Snart	Blue-suited master of low temperatures	Absolute zero ray guns	Flash	Dick Ryal Michael Bell (additional dialogue)
Cheetah	Priscilla Rich	Cat-suit-wearing woman	Cat-like reflexes, claw-tipped gloves	Wonder Woman	Marlene Aragon
Giganta	Doris Zeul	Stole Apache Chief's magic powder to duplicate his powers	Ability to grow, super strength	Wonder Woman[2] and Apache Chief	Ruth Forman
Gorilla Grodd	Grodd	Megalomaniacal exile from Gorilla City	Super-intelligence, super strength	Flash	Stanley Ralph Ross
Lex Luthor	Lex Luthor	Mad scientist and founder/leader of the Legion of Doom	Evil genius, highly advanced weaponry	Superman	Stanley Jones
Riddler	Edward Nygma	Uses riddles to taunt and confuse adversaries while committing crimes	Puzzle creation, problem solving, super intelligent evil genius, puzzle themed traps and gadgets.	Batman and Robin	Michael Bell
Scarecrow	Jonathan Crane	Uses his fear gas to bring peoples' worst fears to life	Fear gas	Batman and Robin	Don Messick
Sinestro	Thaal Sinestro	Renegade ex-Green Lantern	Yellow power ring	Green Lantern	Vic Perrin Don Messick (additional dialogue)
Solomon Grundy	Cyrus Gold	A super-powered gangster revived as a zombie in Slaughter Swamp	Great strength, invulnerability	Green Lantern, Batman, and Superman	Jimmy Weldon
Toyman	Jack Nimball	Dresses as a jester; uses toy-based tactics to commit crimes	Creates destructive toys	Superman	Frank Welker

• Despite the opening sequence for Challenge of the Super Friends claiming that the Legion's members had "banded together from remote galaxies", ten out of the thirteen are native to Earth; only Bizarro (from Bizarro World), Brainiac (from Colu), and Sinestro (from Korugar) are extraterrestrials. In certain versions in the character's history, Bizarro is native to Earth. He later emigrated to Bizarro World which Superman created for him.
• The episode "Super Friends: Rest In Peace" makes a reference to a former unseen member of the Legion of Doom, the only time such a reference has been made. This was Doctor Natas (Satan spelled backwards), the inventor of the Noxium crystal that had the power to destroy all of the Super Friends like mimicking Kryptonite for Superman and mimicking a yellow energy for Green Lantern. The Super Friends knew of this crystal and tricked the Legion of Doom into thinking that it had killed all of them using android doubles of the Super Friends while the real ones hid in their space station. They anticipated that the Legion of Doom would throw away the crystal when they no longer needed it. The crystal was retrieved by Apache Chief in a hazmat suit and launched into deep space. It was not explained what happened to Doctor Natas.
• Prior to the first televised appearance of the Legion of Doom, a group called the Super Foes appeared in the first issue of the Super Friends comic book (Nov 1976). Its membership featured Toyman, the Penguin, Poison Ivy, the Cheetah, the Human Flying Fish, and their protégés Toyboy, Chick, Honeysuckle, Kitten, and Sardine respectively in keeping with the theme of trainees ala Wendy and Marvin.

Other Legion episodes

While Challenge of the Super Friends was the series spotlighting the Legion of Doom, they appear in a few Super Friends shorts.

• The Krypton Syndrome: After Superman saves Krypton in the past, he returns to an alternate present. Robin mentions that the Super Friends were defeated by the Legion of Doom.
• Two Gleeks are Deadlier Than One: Though only Giganta and Gorilla Grodd appear, the Legion of Doom is mentioned where the Super Friends investigate rumors that the Legion of Doom are getting back together. Like in "Super Friends: Rest in Peace", the Super Friends used androids to trick Giganta and Gorilla Grodd into thinking they were destroyed.
• The Revenge of Doom (Super Friends short): All 13 members of the Legion of Doom appear after getting back together, but only Lex Luthor, Sinestro and Solomon Grundy have dialogue. In this appearance, they salvaged the Hall of Doom disguised as construction workers with the cover-up that they were going to turn it into a museum. Batman and Robin came upon the "construction workers" and demanded to see their permit which they did having been obtained by the Department of Parks. When there was a mentioning that the Ion Engines were removed by the Super Friends which would've made it the first flying museum, the Dynamic Duo gets suspicious about the construction workers learning about the top secret operation as the lead construction worker claims that the info of that might've been leaked to the news. With the plot exposed, Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom shed their disguises and capture Batman and Robin. After refurbishing the Legion of Doom and equipping it with new weapons, they have developed a crystallizing ray to immobilize Superman and Wonder Woman. Batman and Robin eventually escape, reverse the effects of the crystallizing ray on Superman and Wonder Woman, and apprehend the Legion of Doom.

Members of the team have solo appearances in later episodes.

Lex Luthor appears in:

• Lex Luthor Strikes Back (The World's Greatest Super Friends) – Using a special camera that would enable him to assume the disguise of everyone, Lex Luthor escapes from prison.
• No Honor Among Thieves Super Friends (Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show) – Lex Luthor collaborates with Darkseid in order to steal the powers of the Super Friends.
• The Case of the Shrinking Super Friends' (Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show) – Lex Luthor uses a shrink ray to shrink the Wonder Twins, Gleek, Robin, Ronnie Raymond, and Professor Martin Stein.
• The Mask of Mystery (Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show) – Lex Luthor steals data that the incompetent superhero wannabe Captain Mystery had tapped from the Hall of Justice's computers in order to trap the Super Friends.
• The Seeds of Doom (The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians) – Lex Luthor attacks the city in a giant mechanical spider before he is defeated by the Super Powers Team and Cyborg.

Brainiac appears in:

• Superclones (Super Friends short) - Brainiac clones Aquaman and El Dorado creating supervillain counterparts of them as part of a plot to discredit the Super Friends.
• The Wrath of Brainiac (Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show) – Brainiac collaborates with Darkseid to create android versions of Superman and Wonder Woman. Starting here, Brainiac takes up a more robotic form from this appearance to Brainchild matching his current comic counterpart at the time.
• The Village of Lost Souls (Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show) – Brainiac brainwashes a village of people to serve him and help him rebuild his ship.
• Brainchild (The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians) – Brainiac kidnaps Cyborg for an evil "mind-blowing" plan.

Bizarro appears in:

• Revenge of Bizarro (Super Friends short) – Bizarro makes the Super Friends his slaves. He also uses Red Krytonite on Superman causing him to sprout many arms and legs.
• Bazarowurld (Super Friends short) – Bizarro tricks Superman and Black Vulcan into going to Bazarowurld where Black Vulcan is placed in a maze of mirrors and Superman is placed in a Red Kryptonite Mine where he becomes a skinny figure.
• Video Victims (Super Friends short) – Bizarro zaps some of the Super-Friends into a Pac-Man-like video game with him controlling the Pac-Man-like creature.
• The Bizarro Super Powers Team (The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians) - Mister Mxyzptlk brings Bizarro #1 to Earth where he uses an invention that makes Bizarro versions of Wonder Woman, Firestorm, and Cyborg. He later accidentally creates a Bizarro version of Mister Mxyzptlk called Mister Kltpzyxm.

Riddler appears in:

• "Around the World in 80 Riddles" (Super Friends short) – Riddler infiltrates the Batcave and sprays Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin with Stupid Spray that would decrease their intelligence and had to solve each riddle that would lead to the location of the antidote.

Scarecrow makes an appearance in "The Fear", also introducing his real name Jonathan Crane (as seen in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians).

Appearances in comics

• Members of the Legion of Doom made some appearances in the Super Friends spin-off comic title based on the TV series.
• A version of the Legion of Doom appeared in Extreme Justice #s 17–18 (June–July 1996), led by Brainwave Jr, during a time when he had become a villain. The other members were Killer Frost, Houngan, Major Force, the Madmen and a robot duplicate of Gorilla Grodd.^[3][4]

• The 2006 DC comic miniseries Justice features a version of the Legion of Doom. Series plotter/artist Alex Ross is a passionate Super Friends fan. In addition to Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Black Manta, Brainiac, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Giganta, Gorilla Grodd, Riddler, Scarecrow, Sinestro, Solomon Grundy, and Toyman, this version of the Legion of Doom also counts Black Adam, Metallo, Clayface, Parasite, and Poison Ivy as members. Joker and Doctor Sivana also make appearances. Sivana employs microscopic robots that resemble Mister Mind.^[6]
• The Hall of Doom serves as the headquarters for the Injustice League in Justice League of America: Injustice League Unlimited (though, this Hall is located in the Florida swamplands).^[7]
• The headquarters of the Justice League in the future of the Sorcerer Kings arc in Superman/Batman is the Hall of Doom.^[8]
• An alternate version of the team appeared in the mini-series Flashpoint: Legion of Doom, part of the company-wide Flashpoint event. This iteration of the team consisted of supervillains interred in Doom Prison, which is based on the Legion headquarters from Super Friends. The membership consisted of Heat Wave, Plastic Man, Sportsmaster, Killer Wasp and Cluemaster.^[9][10][11]
• A new Legion of Doom led by Superboy-Prime appeared in a Teen Titans storyline that ran from issues #98–100.^[12] The roster consisted of Sun Girl, Headcase, Persuader (Elise Kimble), Indigo, Zookeeper, three Superboy clones, and an imposter Inertia.^[13]
• In the mini-series Super Powers, Lex Luthor introduces a Legion of Doom featuring Bizarro, Black Manta, Brainiac, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Gorilla Grodd, Pryme, Riddler, Scarecrow, Sinestro, and Starro. Rather than meet in the Hall of Doom, they have a Kryptonite fortress based upon the Fortress of Solitude and set upon the ocean.^[14]

In other media

Television

Legends of the Superheroes

The two NBC televised specials of Legends of the Superheroes was based largely on Challenge of the Super Friends while featuring Adam West, Burt Ward, and Frank Gorshin of the 1966 Batman television series fame. The Legion of Doom featured Mordru leading Doctor Sivana, Riddler, Giganta, Sinestro, Weather Wizard, and Solomon Grundy (Superman, Wonder Woman, and their associate characters were absent due to the Superman film and Wonder Woman television series licensing the rights, respectively).

The Aquaman & Friends Action Hour

In 2003, Cartoon Network Latin America aired the spoof series The Aquaman & Friends Action Hour that starred Aquaman as a children's television show host and the Legion of Doom as his bankrupt villains.

Justice League Unlimited

An expanded version of the Secret Society is the primary focus of Season 3 of the 2000s animated series Justice League Unlimited. Although their swamp based headquarters is clearly based on the original Hall of Doom, the group is never called the Legion of Doom in the series, and is treated simply as an expanded version of the Secret Society previously formed by Gorilla Grodd in an earlier season and on camera referred to as such. Grodd is the leader of this "Legion," who refers to the group as a co-operative, a loose organization of super-villains that primarily work on their own, but back each other up when a member is challenged by the Justice League for a 25% portion of the requesting member's take of the crime commissioned at that time.

After the revelation that Grodd's ultimate plan in the creation of the new Secret Society was the ludicrous transformation of humanity into apes, Lex Luthor ousted him and assumed the position as leader with no objections from the membership (Luthor states he had planned this for a later time anyway). Solicitations for future episodes indicated that the team had a secret backer, but have turned out to be incorrect. Timm had also said he wanted to include Riddler and Scarecrow as villains in the group as a nod to the original Legion,^[15] but was prevented from doing this by the Bat-Embargo.

Confirmed members of this "Secret Society" (the DCAU take on the Legion) are as follows:

During the two-part series finale, Lex Luthor tried to resurrect Brainiac by ordering the crew to transform the base into a spaceship, so that they could travel to the site of Brainiac's ruined asteroid base. With Tala's help, Grodd attempted a coup to retake control of the Secret Society, leading to a battle between members loyal to either Grodd or Luthor.

• The Secret Society members loyal to Luthor were Atomic Skull, Bizarro, Cheetah, Evil Star, Giganta, Heat Wave, Killer Frost, Toyman, Volcana, Star Sapphire, Sinestro, Doctor Destiny, KGBeast, Electrocutioner, Bloodsport, Major Disaster and Lady Lunar.
• The group loyal to Gorilla Grodd included Parasite, Shade, Copperhead, Weather Wizard, Blockbuster, Rampage, Key, Fastball, Goldface, Hellgrammite, Neutron, Silver Banshee, Monocle, Merlyn, Angle Man, Crowbar, Doctor Cyber and Tala.

After a pitched battle, Luthor defeated Grodd by turning his mental powers back on him and shunting the ape out an airlock as he swears for revenge. The 10 of Gorilla Grodd's comrades were frozen solid by a defected Killer Frost to spare herself from any retribution from Luthor (Parasite, Shade, Copperhead, Weather Wizard, Blockbuster, Rampage, Key, Fastball, Goldface, and Hellgrammite were shown being frozen) after he questioned them to be allowed to live once they arrived before him.

When the Secret Society reaches the site of Brainiac's defeat, Luthor used Tala's magic to restore Brainiac, apparently killing her, despite a sudden warning from the New God Metron. Luthor accidentally resurrected Darkseid merged with Brainiac instead, who rewards Luthor for his help by destroying the Secret Society's base in a fiery explosion. Darkseid's resurrection was possibly a last act of revenge from Tala. However, force fields produced by Star Sapphire and Sinestro saved Luthor's crew. Lightray, another of the Gods of New Genesis, spotted the explosion, and was subsequently robbed of his Mother Box after Evil Star knocked him out from behind, which allowed the remnants of the Secret Society to make it back to Earth to warn the Justice League of Darkseid's return.

At the conclusion of "Alive!", the first part of the finale, the only remaining members of the team are: Atomic Skull, Bizarro, Cheetah, Evil Star, Giganta, Heat Wave, Killer Frost, Lex Luthor, Toyman, Volcana, Star Sapphire and Sinestro. They team up with the League to face Darkseid's invasion of Earth by Parademons. Matt Wayne stated that he consciously tried to round up the original 13 Legion of Doom members in Luthor's team, and for that he cited this English Wikipedia page as one source.^[21] In "Destroyer", (the series finale) Luthor acquires the Anti-Life Equation after Metron takes him to the Source Wall, which Darkseid was searching for, and shares it with him – or possibly uses it on him. Both villains disappear in a flash of light, and Darkseid's forces leave Earth. The remaining members of the Legion survive the battle, and as a reward are given a five-minute head start by the Justice League.

It is assumed that all other villains that weren't with Luthor were killed.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

The Legion of Doom appear in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold series. In the teaser of "Triumvirate of Terror", they play a game of baseball against the Justice League International. Members of the Legion of Doom are Lex Luthor, Joker, Cheetah, Weather Wizard, Felix Faust, Chronos, Clock King, and Amazo. Later, Lex Luthor, Joker, and Cheetah are shown at the Legion of Doom's headquarters which is visually based on the Hall of Doom and in a Swamp. Luthor and Cheetah are the only original members in the series.

Young Justice

In the Young Justice episode "Revelation", the team battles the Light's Injustice League in the Louisiana bayou. The group's headquarters and location is a homage to the Hall of Doom.^[22]

Smallville

In Smallville, the villain Toyman assembles a team of supervillains to defeat the Justice League and take over Metropolis. Members are Toyman, Metallo, Dark Archer, Roulette, Solomon Grundy, Black Manta, and Captain Cold.

Robot Chicken DC Comics Special

The Legion of Doom fitted prominently in the ongoing story arc of the Robot Chicken DC Comics Special. In the meeting room of the Hall of Doom, the Joker and Penguin were provided seats alongside the thirteen traditional members of the group. The Legion of Doom also has a mailroom worker named Glen who has a glandular problem and later dies during the commercial. Aquaman joins the group giving them access to the Justice League Watchtower in the final act after he was pushed too far by the other members of the Justice League. For the finale, this Legion of Doom was joined by Bane, Catwoman, Two-Face, Icicle, Mirror Master, Harley Quinn, Deathstroke, Mr. Freeze, Mister Banjo, Chillblaine, Darkseid, and original Robot Chicken character Humping Robot. It is soon discovered during Aquaman's "Trojan Cake" plan that the Justice League prepared a surprise party for Aquaman who ends up cutting into the cake which resulted in Toyman getting stabbed enough for the villains to come out and fight the Justice League. The fight ensues until only Superman, Aquaman, and Lex Luthor remain standing. When Superman and Lex Luthor try to get Aquaman to hand each one the Kryptonite, Aquaman throws the Kryptonite and punches Lex Luthor as it is shown that the Kryptonite hit Superman by accident (yet Superman survived). Both sides attend the funeral of Glen.

In the second Robot Chicken DC Comics Special, titled "Villains in Paradise", the Legion of Doom is featured prominently. Lex Luthor is still the leader, but its core membership now features Bizarro, Poison Ivy, Black Manta, Joker, Penguin, Brainiac, Captain Cold, Scarecrow, Gorilla Grodd, Sinestro, Catwoman, Riddler, Toyman, and Two-Face while Weather Wizard, Black Adam, Darkseid, Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, Professor Zoom, Starro, Killer Croc, and Clayface make cameo appearances among the core members. The Legion of Doom's members are shown as being overworked by the stress of their jobs along with Lex Luthor's daughter Lena Luthor having to work at the Hall of Doom's coffee shop called "Hall of Doom Coffee" on spring break when she wants to go to a beach resort with her boyfriend. During the meeting, the members of the Legion of Doom demand a vacation where Luthor states they have plenty of time off when they are in prison. Starro agreed with Lex Luthor where he stated how he is back to work after his defeat. Captain Cold then flushes Starro much to Brainiac's warning since the same flushing resulted in sewer alligators. After Lena leaves to go to the beach anyway where she enlisted Scarecrow's nephew Calvin to cover for her, Lex Luthor gets a hold of her location when Gorilla Grodd sees her Instagram profile being active. In retaliation, Luthor allows the rest of the Legion of Doom to go to Lena's location with him provided that they help him find Lena and bring her back. When at the beach, the Legion of Doom members end up taking part in some spring break activities. After an incident where Penguin, Scarecrow, Brainiac, Riddler, and Black Manta mistook the Justice League's private beach for a nude beach (since Penguin thought that they were the same thing), Lex Luthor discovers that Lena's boyfriend is actually Superboy (who is at the beach with the Justice League). The Legion of Doom and the Justice League briefly do battle over this before teaming up to fight a giant-sized Starro. After Starro was slain by Batman riding in Green Lantern's boat construct, both sides are present at Gorilla Grodd and Bizarro's wedding.

Legends of Tomorrow

The Legion of Doom serve as the main antagonists for season 2 of Legends of Tomorrow. This version consists of several main antagonists from Arrow and Flash, including Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash (Matt Letscher), Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), Malcolm Merlyn / Dark Archer (John Barrowman), and a time-displaced Leonard Snart / Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller).^[23] However, Captain Cold is the only original member. Thawne and Darhk are the first two members of the team, Thawne dodging his 'assigned' role in history as a result of Barry changing history and recruiting Darhk from 1987, with the goal of changing their future deaths in conflict with Barry Allen and Oliver Queen, respectively. Thawne and Darhk later recruit Malcolm Merlyn from 2016 to change his history, preventing the deaths of his wife Rebecca and son Tommy. The group is given their name by Steel and the Atom, and their ultimate goal is to retrieve the Spear of Destiny to fulfill their wishes. In "The Legion of Doom", Merlyn questions why Thawne even needed to assemble a team given his own powers, and Darhk eventually agrees that Thawne had been extremely secretive to them regarding his frequent disappearances. As the duo retrieves a mimetic device containing Rip Hunter's thoughts in 2025 to locate the Spear, Thawne arrives; they lock themselves inside the vault containing Hunter's device to corner him and negotiate. Thawne finally reveals what he has been running from: the Black Flash. After finally agreeing to treat them as equals, Merlyn and Darhk help to incapacitate Black Flash with Thawne as their bait. They seal Black Flash inside the vault and retreat to the Vanishing Point, which they have been utilizing as their lair. Thawne later alters Rip's memories to the extent that he helps the Legion in their quest to change their destinies, although the Legends are able to capture Rip and restore him to normal. Seeking a new advantage over the Legends, the Legion recruits a past version of the deceased Leonard Snart, from a point before he joins the Legends, in the episode "Fellowship of the Spear". Like Thawne and Darhk, this version of Snart also intends to prevent his future death. Snart also convinces his former partner Mick Rory to betray the Legends and join the Legion, bringing the Spear of Destiny with him. In the episode "Doomworld", the Legion rewrites reality. Thawne is the director of S.T.A.R. Labs, Darhk is mayor of Star City, Merlyn has resurrected his family, and Rory and Snart control Central City, with Green Arrow, Flash, Spartan, Artemis, Mr. Terrific, Wild Dog and Vigilante dead and the former Legends in various demeaning positions, ranging from Amaya and Sara acting as Darhk's enforcers to Nate being a discredited conspiracy theorist and Ray, Stein and Jax working for Thawne in S.T.A.R. Labs. However, Mick comes to regret his decision and saves his former team, using a creation of Thawne's to restore their memories of the original timeline. The Legends eventually retrieve the Spear of Destiny but before Amaya can recite the incantation she is killed by Snart. Thawne destroys the Spear, stabilizing the altered reality and apparently assuring the victory of the Legion. In the season finale "Aruba", the Legends return in 1916 to join forces with their past versions to combat the Legion. Sara ultimately acquires the Spear of Destiny and summons the Black Flash, who kills Thawne once and for all. Darhk, Merlyn and Snart are returned to their proper places in the timeline, with their memories erased. Merlyn ultimately is the only surviving member of the Legion at the conclusion of the season.

Teen Titans Go!

The Legion of Doom is referenced in the Teen Titans Go! episode "Snuggle Time." The Teen Titans decide to become supervillains and steal the name of the Legion of Doom (instead spelling it "Legion of Doooom"). Each of the Teen Titans take on a new persona where Starfire becomes Starfire the Terrible (which she previously was in the self-titled episode), Cyborg becomes The Cyborg, Raven becomes the Demon of Azarath, Robin becomes Dick Gravestone, and Beast Boy becomes Beast Monster. They hire an army of henchmen and construct their own Hall of Doom. After taking out Earth's heroes, the Legion of Doooom draw in H.I.V.E. Five to combat them as they finalize plans to conquer the Earth. H.I.V.E. believes the Titans are trying to teach them a lesson, but instead the Legion wrap the planet in a blanket and detonate stink bombs in order to pull off a world-sized Dutch Oven.

Six Flags

In 2007 at Six Flags New England, a live show written by Brandon T. Snider featured the Legion of Doom. This incarnation of the group involved Lex Luthor, Sinestro, Cheetah, Captain Cold, Riddler, and Joker.^[24]

Film

Justice League: Doom

The Legion of Doom appear as the central antagonists in the animated film Justice League: Doom led by Vandal Savage.^[25] The members here are Cheetah, Star Sapphire, Bane, Metallo, Mirror Master, and Ma'alefa'ak.^[26] Cheetah is the only original member in this film.

JLA Adventures: Trapped In Time

In the animated film JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, the Legion of Doom travel back in time to eliminate Superman with the help of Time Trapper. The members here are Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Toyman, Solomon Grundy, Cheetah, Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, and Black Manta.^[27] After Lex Luthor was apprehended and Time Trapper was defeated, Gorilla Grodd becomes the acting leader of the Legion of Doom.

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom features the Legion of Doom as the main antagonists. This version includes Lex Luthor, Sinestro, Black Manta, Captain Cold, Cheetah, and Gorilla Grodd. Other villains who auditioned to join the Legion of Doom and were rejected for various reasons included Giganta, Deathstroke, Joker, Penguin, and Man-Bat. While Luthor is the one that formed them, it is in fact Darkseid that ordered him to do so. The Legion of Doom first appears where they attack Area 52 in order to free a capsule containing a specific alien and get away after a fight with the Legion of Doom. Upon releasing the alien, he introduces himself as J'onn J'onzz where he shows off his abilities. Lex Luthor persuades J'onn J'onzz to assist the Legion of Doom against the "dastardly" Justice League. With J'onn J'onzz's help, the Legion of Doom fools the Justice League into thinking that the prototype nuketron reactor core is going to explode as part of a plan to discredit them. Cyborg's readings of the core not exploding was repeatedly unheeded. After the Justice League are banished from Earth, the Legion of Doom rejoices as Sinestro is sent to use the Father Box to send the Justice League to the other side of the universe. Upon getting the info needed upon posing as Black Manta, J'onn Jonzz saves Cyborg (who had his dummy take his place in the Justice League's exile) by mind-controlling Sinestro (who was sent to destroy the Hall of Justice) into rescuing the Justice League from the black hole. Lex Luthor pilots the Hall of Doom as Darkseid sends some gifts to the Legion of Doom to help take over Earth. While Cyborg keeps an eye on J'onn J'onzz and Sinestro, the Justice League heads out to fight the Legion of Doom. Using the Hall of Justice's flight mode, Cyborg uses it to fight the Hall of Doom and shoot it down. J'onn J'onzz then helps to defeat the Legion of Doom. Afterwards, the Justice League are cleared of all charges and the Legion of Doom are arrested by the police.

Justice League vs. Teen Titans

The Legion of Doom appears in Justice League vs. Teen Titans. The members include Lex Luthor, Toyman as Toymaster, Cheetah, Weather Wizard and Solomon Grundy.

Video games

• The Legion of Doom appears in DC Universe Online. It is one of the hubs for the players that are on the villain campaign.^[28]
• Black Manta, Giganta, Toyman, Riddler, Bizarro, the Scarecrow, Lex Luthor, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, Gorilla Grodd, Brainiac, and Sinestro are all playable characters in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. The Hall of Doom also appears as an explorable hub location. The key members of this Legion (referred to on screen) are Lex Luthor, Joker, Cheetah, Firefly, Killer Croc, and Solomon Grundy. Notably, the only members of this Legion that play key roles in the story (with the exception of Joker) are Lex Luthor, Cheetah, and Solomon Grundy (actual members of the original Legion of Doom). Both Sinestro and Brainiac appear in the main story, although both play more villainous roles and are not explicitly said to be part of the Legion. The Headquarters also appears, with statues of the key members inside.

Miscellaneous

• The Legion of Doom is named and pictured in the opening sequence for the direct-to-video original animation DC Super Friends: The Joker's Playhouse (2010).^[29]

Cultural references

• In the mid to late 1990s, the Philadelphia Flyers forward line of John LeClair, Eric Lindros, and Mikael Renberg was nicknamed the Legion of Doom.

• Professional wrestling manager Paul Ellering named his wrestling stable The Legion of Doom after the supervillain group, eventually using the name to refer to his chief – and later sole – protégés, the tag team of The Road Warriors. When the Road Warriors arrived in the World Wrestling Federation in 1990, they changed their team name to The Legion of Doom.

• Two Cartoon Network bumpers featured the Legion of Doom. One had The Powerpuff Girls saving Aquaman and Wonder Woman from the Legion's clutches. The other featured the membership annoying Luthor with petty demands.

• In Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6, Episode 17 "Normal Again", Jonathan asks Andrew, "Did you even read Legion of Doom?"

• An episode of The Drew Carey Show featured Drew and his friends getting in trouble being a "gang". Drew gets sent to a counseling session for gangbangers and enters the room to see a group of imposing bikers and gang members sitting around a large table. He quips "the reason I've called you all here is to destroy Superman" as Lex Luthor would do when leading a Legion meeting.

• In the Family Guy episode "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One", Lois, when trying to get money from the town to purify Lake Quahog during her time as the Mayor of Quahog, convinced the people in a press conference that the money would help to stop terrorists. One of these claims is that Adolf Hitler is conspiring with the Legion of Doom to assassinate Jesus while using a lake to conceal their base. The scene then jumps to the Hall of Doom where Lex Luthor shouts "How did she discover our plan?!" Solomon Grundy quotes "Me Solomon Grundy kind of dropped the ball on that one." Almost all of the original Legion is portrayed except for the Riddler. In "Something, Something, Something Dark Side" (which is a parody version of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back), there is a reference to "The Legion of Doom" when the Hall of Doom begins to rise out of the swamp on Dagobah shortly after Luke Skywalker (portrayed by Family Guy character Chris Griffin) has landed. An announcer bearing resemblance to the narrative voice on Super Friends begins by saying "Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom..." only to be cut off by Chris (playing Luke Skywalker) who says "Not now!" The narration then quickly says "OK" as the apparent Hall of Doom sinks back beneath the water in the swamp.

• In the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Peanut Puberty," the headquarters for the Legion of Doom was used for a club called the "Legion of Dance."

• The Legion of Doom was referenced in the animated series South Park episode "Krazy Kripples" featuring Christopher Reeve (who portrayed Superman in the movies) forming his own version of the Legion of Doom, complete with the Hall of Doom as their headquarters; its main goal, according to Reeve, was to kill Gene Hackman (aka Lex Luthor in the movies: as a news reporter said "if irony were made out of strawberries, we'd all be drinking a lot of smoothies right now"). It included both parodies of actual LoD villains (Solomon Grundy, Cheetah, and Black Manta), at least two Marvel villain parodies (Doctor Octopus and Doctor Doom) and villains from the South Park universe (such as Professor Chaos, General Disarray, David Blaine and Saddam Hussein, as well as Osama Bin Laden and Kim Jong Il).

• The first episode of Season 3 of Duck Dodgers titled "Till Doom Do Us Part" featured the Legion of Duck Doom, led by Agent Roboto and was composed of various villains from the earlier seasons made up of Crusher, Fudd, a Catapoid, Count Muerte, New Cadet, Black Eel, Nasty Canasta, Commandante Hilgalgo, Baby-Faced Moonbeam, Long John Silver the 23rd, K'chutha Sa'am, and Taz. Black Eel (a parody of Black Manta) makes his first appearance in this episode.

• In the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "The Last One," the Mooninites tried to organize a league of every single villain that was from Season 1 to 3. Among its members are the Mooninites, Rabbot, Mothmonsterman, Happy Time Harry, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, Travis of the Cosmos, Randy the Astonishing, the Brownie Monsters, Romulox, MC Pee Pants's worm, the Trees, Frat Aliens, Oog, Dumbassahedratron, Ol'Drippy, and Major Shake. However, almost all of them got foolishly killed or asked to leave leaving only a small force led by the Mooninites. Afterwards, the Rabbot called the team "Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday."

• In the Krypto the Superdog episode "Mechanikalamity," the Intergalactic Villains Club that Mechanicat is a part of is a spoof of the Legion of Doom and has a base that is similar to the Hall of Doom. Due to Mechanicat's repeated failure to defeat Krypto, he has been unable to get elected as leader with the recent election having the members voting for Glorg to be the leader of the Intergalactic Villains Club.

• The music video for the song "P.I.M.P." by rappers 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Lloyd Banks, and Young Buck features 50 Cent seeking the join the "P.I.M.P. Legion of Doom" who are led by Snoop Dogg. The P.I.M.P Legion of Doom gathers around a round table and discuss criminal affairs amongst themselves. Despite not having a Cadillac or a perm, 50 Cent becomes a members by pleasing its members upon showing them his "magic stick."

• In Johnny Test, The Evil Johnny Stopping Force Five have a secret base in a swamp that closely resembles the Legion of Doom's secret headquarters.

• The song "Trap or Die" by rap artists Young Jeezy and Bun B contains the lyric "I've got my own Super Friends in a Legion of Doom", referencing the DC characters.

References