Justice League
Seven superheroes, the voices that defined a generation, and Bruce Timm's vision of what DC could be on its own terms. Justice League premiered on November 17, 2001, and became the epic centerpiece of the DC Animated Universe.
Justice League arrived on Cartoon Network as a direct continuation of Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series, knitting their worlds into a shared animated universe. Bruce Timm's design carried over β the clean lines, the noir shadows β but the stakes expanded. The founding seven were Batman (Kevin Conroy), Superman (George Newbern), Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg), Green Lantern John Stewart (Phil LaMarr), the Flash Wally West (Michael Rosenbaum), Martian Manhunter J'onn J'onzz (Carl Lumbly), and Hawkgirl (Maria Canals). Fifty-two episodes across two seasons from 2001 to 2004 gave the League its mythology.
Then came Justice League Unlimited, which premiered July 31, 2004, and ran until May 13, 2006, closing out the DC Animated Universe. Where the original was focused, Unlimited exploded the roster: dozens of DC heroes joined the fight. For a generation of kids, Phil LaMarr's John Stewart didn't just voice Green Lantern β he WAS Green Lantern, the definitive version. The show endures as one of the greatest superhero cartoons ever made, the moment an animated universe proved it could be as epic as anything on the big screen.
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