Young Justice returned recently for the second half of its first season. The show chronicles the protégés of the Justice League’s core members, and their missions as Batman’s black-ops covert team, taking care of the work that the high profile JL can’t do publicly. Sound cool? Well, it is. Here’s why you should be watching:
- 1. TEEN TITANS, this ain’t.
Sure, the premise for Young Justice sounds unfortunately similar to the other youngster superhero show Teen Titans (which I loathed). To make things more confusing, both shows also feature Robin. But Young Justice is a darker, more mature show definitely aimed at an older audience, more in the vein of prior beloved DC fare like Justice League: Unlimited or even Batman: Beyond.
- 2. DC’s Big Heroes/Villains are all involved.
Young heroes not your thing? Well, good news everyone! All your favorite DC heroes and villains are involved in just about every episode. Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Lex Luthor, Ra’s al Ghul and Bane (just to name few) have had major roles to date with assuredly more to come as the storylines progress.
- 3. Great Voice Actors.
The main cast consists of respected quality voice actors all doing top notch work, including fan favorite Nolan North (Nathan Drake from the Uncharted game series) as Connor Kent/Superboy. But what is an animated show without good celebrity cameo voices? Ed Asner (Up), Bruce Greenwood (J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot), Alan Tudyk (Firefly), & Kelly Hu (X-Men 2) have all lended their voices to key roles with much more to come. That not sell you? How about Danny Trejo (Machete) as Bane? Thought you might like that.
- 4. Continued over-arching storyline.
Many animated shows try to dumb down their episodes to a stand alone format, to make them accessible for new viewers, but Young Justice refuses to insult our intelligence in this way. Who are the faces behind the shadowy group that’s moving villains around the globe like chess pieces? Why does Superman, normally the nicest guy ever, refuse to be a mentor to Superboy? Why is Red Arrow such a dick? These are some of the intriguing over-arching stories that run through each episode, obviously building toward what hopefully will be a big finale.
- 5. DC Animation Can Do No Wrong
Marvel definitely has the upper hand in the movie and comics industries. But make no mistakes about it, DC owns the animated field. Even the staunchest of Marvel fanboys would admit that. Think of it as DC being the PIXAR of superhero animation . Whether it was the Emmy-winning Batman: The Animated Series or the current line of direct-to-DVD animated films, DC boasts the best stories and execution around. Young Justice is no exception. It looks great. Sounds great. And rarely fails to entertain.
– KW