The Justice League Unlimited
Earth’s
protectors from the futuristic world of Batman Beyond, this version of
the Justice League consists of Superman, Barda, Green Lantern, Warhawk, Aquagirl,
Micron and [maybe] Batman.
Paul Dini
on the Justice League Unlimited: “It’s
now forty years in the future…there are some old, familiar faces in there, but
there are new characters you’ve never seen before—sort of second generation
of classic characters (courtesy of
[website
name removed]).”
Bruce Timm on a Justice League appearance
by the JLU: “That
had occurred to me. It’s
definitely a possibility, but we haven’t talked about it yet.
We are trying to limit the number of alternate universe and time-travel
stories, because it’s the first season and that’s the first temptation to
do—but we might do something with
the future League (courtesy of Starlog Magazine).”
Bruce Timm on a JLU animated series:
“Don’t I have enough on my plate, for Pete’s sake?
Seriously, I love the JLU characters—thought they turned out
pretty bitchin’—[and] would love to re-visit [them] someday, but I kinda
doubt there’d be enough interest in an actual series…still, who knows
(courtesy of Toon Zone)?”
Bruce Timm on The Call: “…I couldn’t resist throwing in an oblique reference to [Batman Beyond’s] The Call in the new Darkseid story…(courtesy of Toon Zone).”
Superman (voiced by Christopher McDonald)
Real Name:
Kal-El/Clark
Paul Dini
on Superman: “[He’s] the senior
member…Superman’s got elements of [the] Kingdom Come Superman to
him—a little gray in the temple—but he’s still the same guy.
His suit’s a little more Kryptonian, oddly enough (courtesy of
[website
name removed]).”
Paul Dini on Christopher McDonald: “As Christopher voiced Jor-El [Superman’s father] in our Superman series, Bruce Timm thought it would be fitting to bring him back to play the elder Kal-El (courtesy of [website name removed]).”
Barda (voiced by Farrah Forke)
Real Name: Barda
Paul Dini on Barda: “There [was] kind of a licensing problem [with using Wonder Woman, so] with Barda being a full-time member of the League [in the comics and since she’s] from Apokolips and nearly immortal too, [we figured] ‘let’s put her in there and [have] a link to the contemporary book’…[she’s] sort of second-in-command (courtesy of [website name removed]).”
Green Lantern (voiced by Lauren Tom)
Real Name: Kai-Ro
Paul Dini on Green Lantern: “[He] is an Asian child, who’s about eight and is sort of like the Dali Lama. He just sort of hovers and is mystical all the time (courtesy of [website name removed]).”
Warhawk (voiced by Peter Onorati)
Real Name: ??? (possibly Hank Hall)
Paul Dini on Warhawk: “[He] is sort of like Hawkman, but is also the bad-ass of the group (courtesy of [website name removed]).”
Aquagirl (voiced by Jodi Benson)
Real Name: Merina
Paul Dini on Aquagirl: “[She] is the daughter of Aquaman and Mera (courtesy of [website name removed]).”
Micron (voiced by Wayne Brady)
Real Name: ???
Paul Dini on Micron: “[He] is sort of like the original version of the Atom, mixed with a little bit of Giant-Man (courtesy of [website name removed]).”
Batman (voiced by Will Friedle)
Real Name: Terry McGinnis
Rich Fogel on the future Batman: “Who knows, maybe we haven’t heard the last of Terry McGinnis (courtesy of Toon Zone).”
Images
Batman Beyond Model Design Sheet | Barda Image #1 | Barda Image #2 | Barda Image #3
Commentary
While, at first glance, these characters appear to brand new versions of existing characters, they do, in fact, take their cues from DC Comics. For example, in addition to possessing some elements of his costume from Kingdom Come, one can also see some trace elements of his electrical costume (from when he temporarily possessed electrical powers) as well as when he was the Eradicator (when a Kryptonian intelligence temporarily possessed Superman and transformed him into the "ultimate Kryptonian"); the latter being fitting due to his similar possession in The Call. Barda's costume resembles the "red bikini" costume she wore when she wasn't wearing her full body armor (in the comics she could change back and forth at will), while Micron's costume closely resembles that of the Silver Age Atom. Aquagirl doesn't resemble her comic book incarnation, but she does resemble Dolphin, a similar undersea heroine. This new Green Lantern doesn't really resemble any past incarnations, but the point is moot considering the size of the Green Lantern Corps. Finally, while Warhawk does resemble Hawkman, he also bears an uncanny resemblance to a character described by Alan Moore in his proposal for "Twilight of the Superheroes," a project that he initially prepared for DC Comics, but abandoned after a falling-out with the company. In the body of the text Warhawk was a future incarnation of Hawk (formerly of the duo Hawk and Dove), who was described as "a sort of super Rambo...who tends to [be used] as a human weapon" by his teammates. More than likely this is a coincidence, but it is a compelling one.
At any
rate, a team-up
with an alternate version of the Justice League has already occurred in Legends,
so why couldn’t it happen again? Timm
seems tempted to do it, and it could offer more answers to questions surrounding
the link between the “contemporary” shows (Batman, Superman,
and Justice League) and the possibly alternate future of Batman Beyond.
For example, where exactly was Wonder Woman during The Call?
Is Warhawk actually Hawk, or his he related to Hawkgirl and Thanagar? Did
the new Green Lantern replace a fallen one like John Stewart or Kyle Rayner?
A team-up could possibly answer some of these questions.
If it does happen, I hope that Terry McGinnis will have joined the team as a full member before it does—it would not be as much fun without him actually meeting Bruce Wayne in his prime.
Images courtesy of Toon Zone, the DC Animated Archives, and The Bruce Timm Gallery; additional information courtesy of The New Gods Library and Alan Moore's Twilight of the Superheroes: Ramble.
