2000 TV News Archives

December 7, 2000: JLA: The Animated Series gets the Green Light!

Fandom's "Cartoon Shorts" writer Steve Fritz recently spoke with Bruce Timm who revealed that his team is now moving on to the long-anticipated series based on DC's Justice League. As hardcore animation fans know, this is a project that's been on the WB Animation back burner since about 1994, when the WB was working hard on the animated Superman series. Among those who had worked on the series were the likes of Timm's former partner Paul Dini and current X-Men: Evolution executive producer Boyd Kirkland.

The scuttlebutt is that the series will take it's bow on the Cartoon Network, but if you asked the suits at the cable net or WB Animation, they would neither confirm or deny they were working on the series. Timm is refreshingly blunt about this whole situation.

"It looks real promising," admits Timm. "It will feature the current day Justice League, not the Batman Beyond Justice League. It's going to be the classic League, with everything all you fans out there should expect.

"Personally, I never wanted to do it, just because of the logistics. I thought it was going to be a real headache to do. For the last couple of years though, there's been a real big groundswell. Every convention I go to the fans keep on asking me when are we going to do it. That's the number one question. So you have to give the people what they want. So we talked about it with our people and this time they jumped on it. So I'm basically going to bite the bullet and do it.

"I have no doubt the logistics are still going to be a headache, because trying to do that many characters in a half-hour series causes all kinds of problems. It was hard enough just trying to do an eye-grabbing scene of Batman taking on three thugs in a warehouse. Now we're doing seven or so superheroes, all with really humongous powers. So it's not going to be enough for them to fight in a warehouse anymore. We are going to have to have them fight giant monsters and super-villain teams and galactic threats.

"The scale has been increased enormously and we will still have to do it on an equivalent TV budget. I will admit that I'm pretty encouraged by the Justice League's guest appearance in Batman Beyond. That was a pretty busy show. It was a tough show to do. Now we're talking about doing a show that's even bigger than that. So it's going to be a challenge, but I have every confidence that we'll pull it off."

More details of the developing series have turned up on Comics 2 Film. One of the site's sources close to the production revealed what the line-up of the DC Comics super hero team supreme will be. Here's what C2F reports the roster will be:

  • Superman: Portrayed as a natural leader. He's a bit of a boy scout, but without being cheesy about it.
  • Batman: The show will play up the Dark Knight's detective skills as opposed to the brooding, somber creature-of-the night take that's been used in the other animated shows.
  • Wonder Woman: The Amazon princess angle will be emphasized. Wonder Woman is new to man's world. She sometimes displays a condescending attitude towards others.
  • The Flash: The Flash is Wally West under the mask. The character is more a mix of West and Bart Allen/Impulse. The Flash is seen as a fun-loving, impulsive guy.
  • Green Lantern: This Green Lantern is John Stewart. He's been hand-picked by the Guardians to be the Green Lantern for this sector. Stewart has spent a number of years in space and only recently returned to Earth. He sees himself as a very experienced cop and tends to look down on the rest of the JLA as amateurs. He has little understanding or tolerance for earthly prejudices and petty injustices.
  • Martian Manhunter: The last survivor of an underground Martian race. Martian Manhunter is the only one who lives in the JLA watchtower full time.
  • Hawkgirl: A member of the Thanagarian police. Hawkgirl is transported to Earth by a mysterious beam (we're told it's not called a zeta-beam in the show, but it's basically the same concept). She has deductive skills that even Batman is impressed by, but also has that warrior woman side to her.

    In addition, C2F reports that the team will operate out of a satellite orbiting the Earth. Aquaman will make an appearance, though he will not be a part of the program's regular team. Expected villains include the Manhunters, Despero and Vandal Savage.



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