5 Ways Justice League Unlimited Was Better Than Justice League Animated Series
The DC Animated Universe spanned many shows throughout its production. But it can be split into two halves: the DCAU proper and the New-52 DCAU that followed the Infinite Crisis. Two of the most famous shows in DCAU were Justice League the Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited. While Unlimited is technically a sequel to Animated Series, their tone differed greatly from each other. Justice League Unlimited is leaned more towards mature storytelling while the Animated Series caters the children. Here’s why Unlimited was better than the Animated Series –
It Had Strange Partnership
Justice League Unlimited had some pretty memorable episodes. One such great back story was the tale that involved Bruce Wayne and Orion teaming up to rescue Wonder Woman who had been shot down by enemy forces on a mission to rescue important people wrongly identified as criminals. This epic battle allowed Batman to break out his rarely seen mole-tech suit. With that being said, there were tons of amazing team-ups in Justice League Unlimited. Even this one become noteworthy because of the amazing side stories that were there within the episode.
It Had Standalone Episodes
While Unlimited did have a larger cast size that some may find confusing at first, there are several standalone episodes. It means one does not require keeping track of what happened in the previous episodes. Of course, the Animated Series isn’t like that at all. And if you tune into an episode from much later in the series and haven’t watched many or any of their prior episodes, it’ll be almost impossible to understand which characters are involved in the storyline unless you take some time to look back into the earlier part of the series.
It Got Bigger Stories
Justice League Unlimited had a wider variety of characters than the Animated Series. This was due to both the number of characters and their role within each episode. Each character comes with a particular skill set and these abilities can come into play not only in the battle against an enemy but can also help them experience personal growth within themselves. For instance, Zatanna (a magician) being paired alongside Doctor Fate (a master magician) could help them grow their craft using each other as sparring partners to practice new spells. Alternatively, the Question (a detective) paired alongside The Flash (the fastest man alive) could help him attain new levels of perception which would help him solve crimes faster before he thinks about it.
It Is Tied To The Loose Ends Of DCAU
The DC Animated Universe first aired in 1992. The two decades that followed gave way to several shows including Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker, and a handful of direct-to-video movies. This was appreciated by many viewers because it managed to tie up any loose ends from the series whilst also giving fans a satisfying ending to Batman Beyond.
There Are Clearly More Heroes
DC comics are famous for having an expansive and enmeshed universe that makes lesser heroes know their place. Given the sheer magnitude of the extended universe, it is not guaranteed (with a few notable exceptions) that your favourite character will get its own film adaptation, no matter how noteworthy they might be within their own genre, but The Unlimited universe managed to introduce some new characters while offering fans of less dominant superheroes a chance to see their favourites battle villains and go on adventures with team-ups in cartoon form.
