CASE FILES - Justice League's "Secret Origins"

NOTE:  This article obviously contains SPOILERS.  Proceed at your own risk!

Episode Details

• Writer:  Rich Fogel

• Director:  Dan Riba and Butch Lukic

• Animation Studio:  CNK International (formerly Koko Enterprises Ltd.)

• Original Airdate:  November 17, 2001

Official Summary

J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, comes to Earth to warn of an impending alien invasion. With the help of Superman and Batman, he gathers the world’s greatest heroes to fend off the unstoppable invading armada.

My Summary

The Justice League is formed … just in time to repel another alien invasion, this time under the leadership of the Imperium.  Wonder Woman and J’onn J’onzz—the Martian Manhunter—make their debut appearances, as do “known heroes” Green Lantern, Flash, and Hawkgirl (as Superman and Batman have met them previously).  In the end, the invasion is repelled and Batman constructs the first Watchtower and offers it to the League as its headquarters.

Voice Cast

• George Newburn as Superman, Imperium Soldier (Uncredited)

• Kevin Conroy as Batman, Technician (Uncredited)

• Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, Mother (Uncredited)

• Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern, Ed Reiss, General (Uncredited), Rioter (Uncredited)

• Michael Rosenbaum as The Flash, Protestor (Uncredited), Martian (Uncredited)

• Maria Canals-Barrera as Hawkgirl, Little Girl (Uncredited)

• Carl Lumbly as J’onn J’onzz

• Gary Cole as J. Allen Carter

• Jason Marsden as Snapper Carr, SCU Officer (Uncredited)

• Susan Sullivan as Hippolyta

• Max Brooks as Howie

• Corey Burton as Bald Tech, Doctor (Uncredited)

• Wanda Christine as Female Tech, Paramedic (Uncredited)

• Clyde Kusatsu as Japanese Ambassador, Asian Technician (Uncredited)

• Kevin Michael Richardson as General Wells, The Imperium (Uncredited), SCU Officer (Uncredited), Squadron Leader (Uncredited), Bikers (Uncredited)

Background

For “Secret Origins,” the three-part episode that would serve as the official start of the series, the creative team had a long list of requirements to check off.  In addition to introducing the team and establishing their distinct personalities, they also needed an adversary that was formidable, but not so significant that they distracted from their new protagonists.  Fortunately, the creative team was up for the task, crafting a story that not only achieved both goals but also took inspiration from an unlikely source. However, while these objectives were reached, the first episode did expose further problems that would need to be addressed later on.

In determining the roster for the Justice League animated series, Bruce Timm and the creative team wisely considered the spiritual counsel of Grant Morrison, who had previously revitalized the property in their JLA series (1997-2000). In their 2011 autobiography / history of comic books Supergods, Morrison reflected on the original intent of the classic comic book series, as well as the damage done to it in subsequent decades:

The Justice League of America had been assembled in 1960 to feature all of DC’s best and most popular superheroes in epic battles against foes that no single superhero, not even Superman, could hope to face alone. By 1995, the epic battle was against reader apathy, and in response DC had [marshalled] a team of Z-list heroes so defiantly useless that they often wasted entire issues doing nothing but eating and going to the toilet. [...I]n spite of Christopher Priest’s best efforts, the characters were creepy, pre-forgotten no-hopers with names like Mystek and Bloodwynd.

[...] DC’s flagship had simply lost its way, as the cataclysmic drop in sales confirmed.  The Justice League title had been created to showcase the incredible adventures of the World’s Greatest Superheroes, so […] I did the straightforward thing and went back to first principles.  […] The 1960 Justice League comprised Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Flash, a pantheon of Pop Art divinities.  Together with the 1950s stalwart, the green-skinned and noble super-alien J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, this was the roster of champions to which I immediately returned. (Morrison, Supergods 290-291)

By reverting to the classic formula, Morrison’s JLA quickly became one of DC Comics’ most popular titles, which in turn sparked further interest in an animated series. Recognizing this wisdom, Timm decided early on “to use only ‘classic’ Justice League characters, rather than the more offbeat later members, so there’s no Blue Beetle or Booster Gold, no Guy Gardner.  We wanted to stick to ‘the Big Seven’” (qtd. in Jankiewicz 30). He continued in a 2004 interview with RetroVision CD-ROM Magazine:

You have to remember that the classic lineup of the Justice League wasn’t really in existence in the early ‘90s.  That’s one thing I’ll give Grant Morrison a lot of credit for.  He was the one who went to DC and said, “You know, if you want to revitalize Justice League, you’ve got to go back to the original seven, that core, iconic group,” and he was right.  By the time we got around to doing the actual Justice League show, Grant Morrison’s idea had already implemented in the comics, and we looked at that and said, “Yeah, that’s a really smart idea.”  And we also learned from Marvel’s mistake. (qtd. in Gross 3)

He elaborated on “Marvel’s mistake” in a 2001 interview with Cinescape:

The biggest problem I had with the Avengers show [referring to the maligned Fox series The Avengers:  United They Stand [1999-2000]) that Marvel did a couple of years ago was that it wasn’t really the main Avengers.  […] It was an okay show, but when you say “Avengers” you want Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor.  You don’t just want Ant-Man, Falcon, and the Scarlet Witch.  The hybrid concept feels like you’re cheating the audience.  So, while it was a nightmare for our legal department, we did eventually get the rights to use all of the popular DC characters.  And God bless [DC Comics President] Paul Levitz because he was behind us all the way.  He said right off the bat, “It’s going to be hard to get the rights to all of these characters, but you have to have Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.  And whatever it takes, we’ll make that happen.” (qtd. in Moro 61)

Under Timm’s guidance, the cast began to take shape.  Obviously, Batman—who had headlined Batman:  The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures (and co-headlined Batman Beyond)—was a lock, and so was Superman, who was featured in Superman: The Animated Series.  Also on board was the Flash, who had previously appeared in the Superman episode “Speed Demons” and, while it was his first time in animation, J’onn J’onzz—the Martian Manhunter—was a definite because, despite his legacy in the comics, he is—at best—a second or third-tier hero in the DC Universe whose rights were guaranteed to be available.

With four down, the crew turned to the matter of Green Lantern, which Timm later claimed to be the “most controversial” casting for the series (qtd. in Davis).  Having previously used Kyle Rayner in the Superman episode “In Brightest Day…,” there was an expectation that the character—described as a hybrid of Rayner and Hal Jordan (Allstetter, “Green”)—would be the obvious choice for the team, but he was not the one selected by Timm.  Instead, the executive producer championed John Stewart (Anderson; Weitzman), a character created to be a “backup” Green Lantern for Hal Jordan following the injury of original backup Guy Gardner in the comics. During the Justice League panel at the 2001 San Diego Comic-Con, he explained his logic in selecting this particular ring bearer:

He’s the most controversial character so far, from what we’ve been gathering on the Internet.  When the show was first announced, and the line-up, people were saying, “Oh, well, why aren’t they using Hal Jordan?”  And, “No, it’s gotta be Guy Gardner.”  “No, it’s gotta be Kyle Rayner.”  And, so, obviously, we picked the wrong one.  But the reasons we did choose John Stewart are various.  I think they’re all valid.  Right off the bat, I’ll just say it:  you know, we did need ethnic diversity in the Justice League.  We felt the show is going to be seen worldwide, and I think having a member of the Justice League who is not just “Mr. Whitebread” is a good thing. 

Another reason why we chose him:  literally, out of all the Green Lanterns we could have chosen, we all kind of liked the John Stewart character from the comics, especially the Denny O’Neil / Neal Adams version.  When they first introduced him, he was like the angry young black guy, you know, in 1969 or ’70.  Even though that’s not really relevant today, like the whole Black Power movement and everything, we still wanted to keep that kind of edge and attitude with him. (qtd. in Davis)

Following the Green Lantern casting, the next most controversial team selection was Hawkgirl.  Rather than go with the more obvious Aquaman or even Hawkman, Timm chose Shayera Hol who, in the original comics, was originally little more than a glorified sidekick / love interest to Katar Hol.  Fortunately, for the sake of having another woman on the team, Timm went with the female Thanagarian, as he discussed in the aforementioned Cinescape article:

She’s the second most controversial member of the cast.  A lot of people are asking, “Why Hawkgirl?  Why not Hawkman?”  Well, she’s cooler!  Again, we felt that we needed to have another woman in the group, and we felt that the Hawk family needed to be represented because of the icons that they are, so we decided, “Why don’t we do both and let’s just have Hawkgirl.” (qtd. in Moro 62)

He would go on to confess a personal affinity for the character in a 2002 interview with Starlog Magazine:

We didn’t want to have both Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and I always loved the Hawkgirl design. When I was a kid and read my first Hawkman comic, I liked Hawkman fine, but I had a huge crush on Hawkgirl!  Her design and helmet shape were better, and she’s a girl, so she’s sexier.  I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have another female in the group besides Wonder Woman. (qtd. in Jankiewicz 30)

In addition to adding another woman to the team, the presence of Hawkgirl added another element of diversity to the lineup, as she was voiced by Maria Canals-Barrera, an actor of Cuban ancestry, thus providing the Thanagarian with a subtle Latinx quality.

Finally, there was the matter of Wonder Woman, a character that—despite her iconic status—was a holdout due to licensing issues with the estate of her creator, William Moulton Marston. As previously discussed, the presence of Diana of Themyscira was initially in question, as DC Comics had to negotiate with the Marston family to allow her to appear. According to the October 2, 2023 installment of the Justice League Revisited podcast, we learned—during an interview with Director Dan Riba—that not only was Wonder Woman the last of the “Big Seven” to be cast, but she was almost replaced by New God Big Barda, who had previously filled in for her in the Batman Beyond episode “The Call.”  Fortunately, a deal was struck, and Wonder Woman became the seventh, and final, member of the original, animated League.

In the end, these decisions were settled quickly by the creative team. “There wasn’t a whole lot of arguing going on,” said Timm, adding how “[w]e all decided very quickly and easily on the lineup” (qtd. in Gross 3).

The staffing of the super team completed, the crew moved on to the next concern, which was determining their individual characterizations and group dynamic as, historically, the characters portrayed both on Super Friends and in the Silver Age comics were somewhat homogeneous. Unlike similar superhero teams like Fantastic Four or the X-Men, these were not characters that were created to organically play off of each other, and this showed in previous media. As Timm stated in the aforementioned 2002 Starlog interview, “In the Gardner Fox era of the 1960s Justice League comics, the characters were all pretty interchangeable.  Except for their powers and costumes, they were all the same” (qtd. in Jankiewicz 29). Added Producer Rich Fogel:

They had their own origins, their own universe, and their own lives.  It wasn’t like the Fantastic Four where those characters were designed specifically to go together.  Or the X-Men. If you look at the early Justice League comic books, they threw them together without much attention to detail, and everybody ended up being the sort of generic good guy.  There was no personality, no dynamic between them.  So, one of the big challenges we had in the first season was, we’re putting this group together, what niche are they going to fill?  How are they going to play off of each other? (qtd. in Gross 4)

To compensate for their previous lack of chemistry, the creative team went out of their way to design the Justice League team members’ personalities to respond to each other in more deliberate ways. Under their administrations, they each took on certain roles for Season One, including Superman (the boy scout), Batman (the dark vigilante), Wonder Woman (the innocent warrior), Green Lantern (the seasoned officer), the Flash (the horndog slacker), Hawkgirl (the spy masquerading as the girl next door), and J’onn J’onzz (the lonely warrior-turned-teambuilder). With this diverse (though initially clichéd) assembly of champions, the stage was set for conflict both within their ranks and against their foes. Said Rich Fogel, “Each character has a role in the group so that we understand how they fit in and how they react with the others.  [...]  Justice League is trying to get it so that the characters are very specific about what their concerns are and what issues push their buttons.  Think The West Wing with superpowers” (qtd. in Moro 60-61).

With the team locked in, the concern shifted to both the villain and the plot of the episode in which they would appear. In his aforementioned appearance on the October 2, 2023 installment of the Justice League Revisited podcast, Dan Riba discussed how preparing the first installment of their adventures was, in a word, “daunting”:

Not only seeing these heroes together for the first time, setting things up, but just the entire—the global scope of this Martian invasion was huge. […] The scale and the scope of that invasion had to be big, and so it was pretty daunting to get all that stuff right. […] The scope of designing all [the new] characters and getting that stuff done in time was also daunting because we were getting the show set up as we’re going. And it was a pretty big thing. (qtd. in Eisenberg and Enstall)

Untitled, by Richard M. Powers. Borrowed from the Arthive. To see more of Powers’ artwork, please visit The Science Fiction Cover Art of Richard M. Powers.

Seeking a way to differentiate this alien invasion from the ones previously on STAS, the creative team decided to jettison the White Martians from the original Martian Manhunter backstory and replace them with something more alien and abstract. Said Bruce Timm in an October 29, 2001 interview with Comics Continuum, “we had a really hard time trying to come up with something we hadn’t done before or something that hadn’t been seen a zillion times before and, during the initial development process, we kind of keyed in on the old illustrator Richard Powers, so all of the stuff sort of has a slightly Richard Powers-esque look to it” (qtd. in Allstetter, “Justice League Animated”).

With a visually distinctive adversary primed to invade the Earth War of the Worlds-style, the creative team borrowed something additional from their parent company’s competitor, Marvel Comics, in the form of a major Avengers storyline, specifically the Kree-Skrull War. Now, this is debatable, but swapping the Kree for the Alien Invaders—who are led by a tentacled, pear-shaped entity vaguely resembling the Supreme Intelligence—and locking them in a protracted, bloody conflict with a green-skinned race of shapeshifters (the Martians instead of the Skrulls), it’s hard not to see the comparison. And it’s certainly on par with similar Marvel homages, such as the creative team’s tribute to the Defenders in  “The Terror Beyond.”

Premiering November 17, 2001 on Cartoon Network, “Secret Origins” was a runaway hit, with Comics Continuum reporting that the series “had the largest 18-34 rating (1.5, up 114 percent from [2000]) and delivery (701,000 up 125 percent) of any telecast in the network’s history” (Allstetter, “Justice League a Hit”). In addition, the show “charted a 2.1 household rating and delivered 1.672 million homes, the highest household delivery ever for a Cartoon Network premiere” (Allstetter, “Justice League a Hit”). Excited for the victory, Rich Fogel had this to say to the Continuum:

We’re thrilled that people tuned in in record numbers.  We’ve always believed that there was a larger audience out there who would enjoy our shows, but because we were on so early in the morning, many of them weren’t even awake.  Now, thanks to Cartoon Network, they’ll finally have a chance to watch us.  Hopefully, these new viewers will stick with us.  Believe me, the best is yet to come! (qtd. in Allstetter, “Justice League a Hit”)

However, despite the episode’s success, it was not without its flaws, which—granted—is to be expected in an undertaking such as this. Obvious problems included the weakened, tired-looking Superman and the sometimes-corny dialogue; but a major concern was the break from previous DCAU series and the lack of supporting cast members beyond the villains and Snapper Carr. During an interview on the Justice League: Season One DVD, Bruce Timm admitted that “for the first season, we made a deliberate decision to not have any other supporting characters because we didn’t have the time to play with them, and we wanted to really establish that the Justice League was its own show,” with Fogel adding that “in order for the chemistry in our group to work, we really needed to initially jettison all of the supporting characters from the other things so that it forced the heroes to interact with each other” (qtd. in “Inside”). While understandable, it did make certain aspects of the episode difficult, such as accepting the singular gravity of an alien invasion here when it occurred with alarming regularity on STAS.

Speaking of Superman: The Animated Series, another victim of this “all new, all different” series was Metropolis itself … and not just because of the invasion. Previously a bright, stylized city that viewers spent over fifty episodes getting to know, in “Secret Origins,” the City of Tomorrow looked completely different (see “Stray Observations” below) and devoid of familiar faces, resulting in a “Bizarro Metropolis” where Lois Lane was not reporting the news, where Officer Maggie Sawyer was not directing SCU officers, and where Professor Emil Hamilton was not aiding the superheroes with his brand of super-science. In short, it was a lonely, colder Metropolis without the STAS regulars to check in with.

Fortunately, the honest and reflective Bruce Timm would later speak plainly about his take on the episode’s shortcomings, such as during a 2004 interview with RetroVision CD-ROM Magazine:

This was a tough one because we had a lot of ground to cover.  We basically knew we would be cheating the audience if we didn’t do an origin of the Justice League story, so we pretty much had to do that.  I will say that this is one of those episodes that I kind of wish I could do over.  Parts of it work and parts of it don’t.  I think the structure of it is kind of off; I think the first half-hour is really good and exciting, and you’re not sure where it’s going.  But it started falling apart somewhere in the middle of the second episode when we go into the Martian flashback.  By part three, the action scenes weren’t paced properly—something that was all of our faults—and it felt like it was just time to wrap it up.  You know, the Justice League escapes and kicks some butt, but it just kind of limped to a conclusion, I felt.  It gets the job done; I just wish it had been a little bit more rousing than it actually is. 

Another big part of the problem is that we had three different Justice League teams in different parts of the world, but they’re all in pretty much the same environment.  Each one of them was inside one of those alien earth defiler machines and there was a lot of repetition.  I really wish we had figured out a way to make each one of those little pocket parts of the story be radically different from every other part.  Fortunately, we took it as a good learning experience.  Whenever we did a three-parter from that point on, we made sure that when we split the team up into smaller teams, that each one was in a completely different kind of location and environment and were doing different parts of the story.  “Savage Time” and “Starcrossed” are huge improvements in that department.  In hindsight, probably the biggest mistake was delaying the creation of the Justice League until episode two. (qtd. in Gross 8)

He would later echo these comments in an interview with The World’s Finest, saying how “I think part one of “Secret Origins” rocks, but I start losing interest somewhere in the middle of part two, and by part three, I just want it to be over” (qtd. in Harvey, “The Bruce Timm:  Return of the Q&A”).

Commentary

In preparing my episode capsule for “Secret Origins,” I chuckled a little when I came across this comment made by Bruce Timm in 2004, where he feigned ignorance over the reasons why fans like to see their favorite heroes join forces:

There is something cool about seeing these heroes team up.  God knows why, because it doesn’t really make sense.  It doesn’t even work dramatically in a lot of ways but, going back to the Golden Age and the Justice Society, they somehow struck gold when they started teaming those characters up.  As cool as it is to see Batman and Superman by themselves, you get them together with Green Lantern or Hawkman, and suddenly it’s cooler.  I don’t know why we have this desire to see these guys team up, but it’s cool and there’s no denying it. (qtd. in Gross 3)

The answer, Mr. Timm, is really quite simple:  team-ups are a way to stimulate an adrenaline rush in both readers and viewers already familiar with costumed crimefighters.  In superhero fiction, in order to maintain that feeling of intense excitement already experienced in their solo adventures, the creators must always be looking for ways to up the ante.  In other words, the consumers of such content become bored with the same old “hero vs. villain” conflicts, so they must branch out to recapture that intensity in other, larger ways.

Take the DCAU, for example.  Originally, Batman—in his Dark Deco, film noir world—was enough to capture the attention of viewers on his own.  In the beginning, it was just him, but as time passed the “Batman vs. Joker” or “Batman vs. Two-Face” fights got old, so the creative team sweetened the pot by adding the sidekicks, with Robin and Batgirl making more frequent appearances.  Then, when that series ended, we were introduced to Superman, and now we had a super-powered hero soaring through the air, tossing around cars, and going toe-to-toe with villains that the Dark Knight would not be able to face (or, more likely, would have a much more difficult time facing).  Whereas before having a non-superpowered hero fighting bad guys in a warehouse was enough, now it was a super-powered hero throwing super-powered bad guys through warehouses.

Then came the return of Batman who, joined by his new trio of full-time sidekicks, paired with Superman to co-headline The New Batman / Superman Adventures, and suddenly the two crimefighters alone weren’t enough anymore.  Now, they found themselves increasingly teaming up, first with each other, and then with a widening pool of DC superheroes (Green Lantern, the Flash, Etrigan the Demon, Lobo, etc.) to fight against threats that they could not fight alone.  As the seasons piled up, the creative team had to continually raise the bar to maintain that adrenaline rush for their fanbase.  Sure, the fans still loved seeing “Batman vs. Joker,” but unless the stakes for each encounter were bigger than the last it wouldn’t hit the same way, and one way to increase the stakes was to add another superhero.

And then came Justice League, where the duo formerly known as the World’s Finest was now teamed up with five new heroes to fight even bigger villains that, again, they probably could not handle alone during their Kids’ WB! days.  After all, there is strength in numbers, and this team was certainly formidable … until Justice League Unlimited, where a roster of 50+ superheroes necessitated another raising of the stakes.

So, that’s why superhero team-ups and super-teams occur, but what about an in-universe explanation?  Why do the superheroes themselves seek such arrangements? Certainly, in the case of the Justice League, the above still holds true: strength in numbers. As we saw in “Secret Origins,” Batman viewed the team as a more powerful means to protect both Gotham City and the world it stands upon, and Superman—who had just had his ass handed to him by Darkseid in the STAS series finale, “Legacy”—was in no position to disagree. And having just defeated an invading alien horde, it stands to reason that there may be future opponents that would require similar measures, so the seven decided to make their one-off team-up into an ongoing venture in anticipation for future attack.

Camaraderie is another reason—it’s one thing to have friends and family to lean on when things get tough, but it’s another thing entirely to have contemporaries that can actually relate to your struggles. Allies that have fought the same battles, shared unusual experiences, and have the unique position to call each other out on their bullshit. For example, Wonder Woman’s initial reluctance to return to Themyscira may come from a thirst for adventure and exploration, but it may also stem from the fact that the island is exclusively populated by her mother and several thousand surrogate aunts. According to Justice League Unlimited writer and producer Dwayne McDuffie on his now-defunct V Hive message boards, Wonder Woman is “a year or so younger than Flash—I think she was sculpted long ago but only brought to life a little over 20 years ago.  I think she was 18 in ’Secret Origins,’ explaining her naïveté,” which makes sense, considering how 18 is often considered the beginning of adulthood and the time when young adults leave home and meet new people (Maestro). Meanwhile, John Stewart—according to another McDuffie post, this one from his Delphi Forums message boards—was returning to Earth after being on active duty off-world for fifteen years and, after over a decade away from home, he was seeking human connection (as shown in “In Blackest Night” and “Only a Dream”; Maestro). And the Flash, for all his lame attempts to hit on Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl in Season One, is a people person at heart who only wanted to make friends.

(Speaking of which, let’s not discount the sexual component of teams, as it has been proven putting a bunch of Olympic-level, physically perfect people into close proximity to each other will eventually lead to it. And the fans love it, if the numbers of people shipping Batman / Wonder Woman, Green Lantern / Hawkgirl, and any of the myriad pairings from JLU are any indication.)

Finally, there are the individual reasons. For example, the aforementioned Flash—for all his abilities and skill—was still little more than a gifted amateur at the beginning of the series. Surely, if only on an unconscious level, Wally saw the Justice League as an opportunity to become a better hero by emulating his colleagues. Hawkgirl, who we later learned was a spy studying Earth for an upcoming Thanagarian occupation, needed to be part of the team so she could learn all she could about the six heroes who would most likely be the primary obstacle when the armada arrived. J’onn J’onzz and Wonder Woman (after “Paradise Lost”) literally had nowhere else to go. In truth, all of the above are valid reasons, which led to the team that we followed enthusiastically for ninety-one episodes.

However, there may be an additional reason for costumed heroes joining super-teams as, like the fans who view their exploits, they may also seek a similar rush of adrenaline themselves. In Grant Morrison’s 2005-2006 megaseries Seven Soldiers, they explore this topic through Shelly Gaynor, a gonzo journalist who writes a column about becoming a superhero in the tradition of her grandfather, the Golden Age Whip. After a period of solo adventuring, she seeks out Greg Saunders, the Vigilante, who’s building a new version of his former team, the Seven Soldiers of Victory. While initially presenting herself as someone seeking to both work with and network with other heroes, she reveals to the audience that she has an ulterior motive:

I don’t want to tell him yet that it’s all because the highs aren’t high enough anymore. Because the buildings I jump from just aren’t tall enough. Because I’ve taken this whole morally ambiguous urban vigilante thing about as far as I can. And now, God help me, now I want to visit other planets and dimensions and fight rogue gods.

In my deepest, darkest moments at 3am, I imagine myself dying to save the universe. I picture the face of the moon, carved into a memorial likeness. Entire bereaved worlds weeping at my grave. Maybe then my mother will take my life seriously. (Morrison, “Weird” 19)

Later, her musings continue during her first, and only, mission with the team:

And, one by one, we fall effortlessly into our roles. Our “secret identities” are forgotten. And, God help me, is this what real superheroes feel? Is this it? This dreamy piling up of weirdness and the impossible. I’m chasing a legend. I’m all wrapped up in prophecy and myth. […] How do you know when you’ve become a superhero and not just a crazy fetish person with a death wish? Is it when you join your first team and finally have your psychosis validated by group consensus? (Morrison, “Weird” 35-40)

Perhaps, at its heart, this four-color phenomena is a combination of adrenaline and shared experience. The stories of comic book heroes get bigger and bigger as the years pass, and the choices they make reflect this reality. One day, you’re busting simple bank robbers and gangsters and, the next, it’s theatrically dressed, gimmicky villains. Then, you graduate to self-styled world conquerors, and then you wake up and realize that even that high is no longer enough. And, finally, you join a team and, suddenly, you find yourself visiting alien worlds and alternate realities, travelling backwards and forwards in time, and fighting both old and New Gods for the fate of the universe. There has to be somebody in creation to handle these Herculean tasks and to ensure the continuation of truth and justice, and the burden feels just a little lighter knowing that you have some super-friends with you who both know what you’re going through and got your back.

Stray Observations

• The episode title, “Secret Origins,” is a reference to several comic books published by DC Comics, the earliest being in June 1961. Used as a means to feature the origin stories of the company’s superheroes, its most famous incarnation ran for fifty issues, from April 1986 to August 1990.

• The episode’s story draws heavily from the first four issues of Grant Morrison’s JLA, beginning with JLA #1 (January 1997). In this story arc, Earth is visited by an alien superhero team called the Hyperclan, who are later revealed to be White Martians (a race related to J’onn J’onzz) arriving to prepare for an invasion. No doubt electing to simplify the plot for the pilot episode—where the primary goal is to introduce the principal cast—the White Martians were changed into the generic Alien Invaders for “Secret Origins.”

• For Season One of Justice League, it is worth noting that the episodes originally aired on Cartoon Network in both full frame (4:3 aspect ratio, like older televisions) and widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio, like feature films and modern television) formats. Though animated in then-traditional full frame, the visuals were altered via “matting,” meaning that black bars were added to the top and bottom of the screen to give the appearance of widescreen (which is how Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was prepared for theatrical release). In a November 2001 interview with Anime Superhero (formerly Toon Zone), Bruce Timm discussed the reason for the decision, as well as why fans should watch the widescreen viewings:

It was a major battle to get Cartoon Network to agree to a regularly scheduled widescreen airing.  We prepared the show with the widescreen ratio in mind, and we feel the show just plain looks better that way, the compositions are tighter, more focused, etc.  It also helps give the show that “epic movie” look we were trying to achieve.  Certainly, the full frame version works well too; we just prefer the widescreen version.  If the ratings just plummet for the widescreen airings, I guess Cartoon Network will just stop airing ‘em that way.  The best of all possible worlds would be for folks to watch the show both ways, but I realize that’s a lot to ask! (qtd. in Harvey, “Support”)

• Personally speaking, while I respect the original intent of the creative team, I prefer the full frame for Season One, as I disliked the missing content behind the black bars. That said, you may notice that I use both types of images for the screenshots on this page, depending on the type of image needed.

• Starting in Season Two, the series was animated in widescreen aspect ratio exclusively, and the DVD, blu-ray, and digital releases honor the original formats, with Season One in full frame and Season Two and Justice League Unlimited in widescreen. Click here for a more detailed explanation I wrote years ago for The Justice League Watchtower.

• The episode begins with the United States successfully landing a manned spacecraft on Mars. This episode originally aired in 2001, and it is worth mentioning that, even in 2025, a manned mission to Mars is still decades off. However, the DCAU is a world very different from our own, where humanity has had access to advanced and / or alien technologies for years. For example, by the end of STAS, S.T.A.R. Labs (beginning with their research pact with Superman in “The Main Man, Part 1”), LexCorp (“Stolen Memories,” “Ghost in the Machine”), and Wayne Enterprises (“Knight Time”) have Kryptonian tech, and Apokoliptian tech was given to Intergang (beginning in “Tools of the Trade”) and left behind following multiple invasions (“Apokolips...Now!,” “Little Girl Lost,” and “Legacy”). In this alternate history, surely the U.S. government could build a spacecraft using retrofitted Kryptonian tech to speed up their Mars exploration.

• The beginning of the episode gives the landing site as the Mariner Valley; this is also known as Valles Marineris. Running along the equator of Mars, this land formation is described as “more than 4,000 km (2,500 mi) long, 200 km (120mi) wide, and up to 7km (23,000 ft) deep,” making it the largest canyon in our solar system (“Valles”). By comparison, Valles Marineris is “nearly 20 times wider and five times […] deeper” than the Grand Canyon in Arizona (Hignett).

• While a standard trope of science fiction, it is worth noting that the manned missions to Mars plot point was in the zeitgeist during production of “Secret Origins,” with both Mission to Mars and Red Planet released in theaters the previous year.

• According to some fan sites, “Secret Origins” takes place roughly two years after the events of “Legacy,” though it is possible that the beginning of this episode (the Mars landing) occurred roughly around the same time as the final STAS episode. Add to that a two year time skip to where Batman and Superman first encounter the Alien Invaders at Wayne Tech’s Metropolis Sub Station and another six month time skip during which Superman disarms nuclear missiles, I would hazard to say that the founding of the Justice League occurs roughly two-to-three years after the events of Superman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures.

• An original character for the series, J. Allen Carter was the unfortunate astronaut who died during his mission to Mars and was replaced by an Alien Invader. After returning to Earth, it became a U.S. senator and used its position to facilitate the invasion of Earth by the Imperium. According to a January 2002 interview in Starlog Magazine, the character was designed to resemble Lee Majors or, more specifically, Steve Austin, his character from The Six Million Dollar Man. Said Bruce Timm:

That character is an in-joke upon an in-joke. He’s the first man on Mars, so his name is “J. Allen Carter,” like John Carter of Mars. We went down a list of famous movie astronauts and thought it would be neat if he looked like Steve Austin. He has Steve's hair, and his features look a little like Lee Majors (qtd. in Jankiewicz 31-32)

• In addition to the above, the character’s name also makes reference to J. Allen St. John, the American artist, author, and illustrator who is best known for illustrating the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, including John Carter of Mars.

• Finally, the name pays homage to three Golden Age DC heroes: Jay Garrick (The Flash), Alan Scott (Green Lantern), and Carter Hall (Hawkman).

• The name of Carter’s fellow astronaut, Ed Reiss (who, according to Dan Riba on the October 2, 2023 installment of the Justice League Revisited podcast, presumably died as well), was a homage to the aforementioned Edgar Rice Burroughs.

• You know, come to think of it, the above picture doesn’t really look like a canyon, especially a massive one like Valles Marineris. That said, I’ve never been there. Maybe the landing site is in a shallower part of the canyon.

• The common thread connecting the multiple DCAU series that isn’t Bruce Timm himself, Batman returns to action for the first time since The New Batman Adventures (he was no longer Batman in Batman Beyond, so that doesn’t count). As before, he was voiced by the late, great Kevin Conroy.

• Two years following the Mars mission, the Dark Knight is investigating acts of sabotage against what he refers to as the “global deep space monitoring network.” Surely, he’s referring to the NASA Deep Space Network, the worldwide network of communication facilities that both support NASA’s missions and perform radio and radar astronomy for scientific research. All things considered, it would make sense for Bruce Wayne to be partnered with NASA in this reality (and the presence of Wayne Tech’s sub-station in Metropolis is a convenient way for Superman to get involved).

• Also returning is Superman himself, formerly of Superman: The Animated Series. Unlike Batman, however, the Man of Steel’s original voice actor, Tim Daly, was not available. As a result, the voices of both Superman and Clark Kent were recast with actor George Newburn filling in the role.

• While assisting Batman with the saboteurs, Superman experiences the first of a series of horrific visions, which we later learn to be a telepathic cry for help sent by the now-imprisoned J’onn J’onzz (note the center image above—it vaguely resembles the Martian’s eyes and brow).

• Batman’s dig against Superman for leaving to receive “another key to the city” may be a subtle clue as to the change in Superman’s status quo. During the initial round of press for STAS back in 1996, Bruce Timm discussed how their intention was to make the Man of Steel more enigmatic, saying how “when he saves somebody, he doesn’t stand around and say, ‘No problem, citizen, it’s all part of the job. Thank you, Commissioner, blah, blah, blah…’ He saves somebody, and he’s off again. He’s quiet and mysterious” (qtd. in Allstetter, “Men” 45). It could be interpreted that, following the events of “Legacy”, he’s had to adapt to a more “boy scout” type of image to win back the public’s trust.

• Making its debut in Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #1 (October 1954), Superman’s signal watch, when triggered, emits a hyper-sonic signal that only he can hear, allowing him to better assist his inner circle when they’re in trouble. He previously gifted one to Jimmy Olsen in the STAS episode “Superman’s Pal.”

• Wait, by giving one to Batman, does that mean that the Dark Knight is also “Superman’s pal?” Aww, how adorable!

• Filling the gap between General Hardcastle (STAS) and General Eiling (JLU) is General Wells, who is Justice League’s resident military official. He would appear again in a supporting role in the Justice League episode “Starcrossed,” though he would make a silent cameo in “Maid of Honor.”

• General Wells’ name, of course, is a reference to both H.G. Wells, author of the 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, and Orson Welles, who was responsible for the 1938 radio adaptation, which was allegedly responsible for inciting a panic when it aired on October 31st of that year.

• In a December 2001 interview with The World's Finest, Bruce Timm revealed that this scene originally had a more deliberate reference to the STAS episode “Legacy”:

We can’t pre-suppose that everyone who watches [Justice League] has seen every episode of our previous series; more likely, most of them haven’t.  Originally, in Part One of “Secret Origins,” General Wells’ line, “We can’t entrust the world’s security to one man” ended with “…especially him!”  We felt that anyone who hadn’t seen “Legacy” would be confused, wondering, “Well, why not him?  Why does this guy hate Superman so much?”  As it is now, it works both ways:  either Wells is just being a practical military tactician, or he doesn’t trust the guy who almost conquered the world for Darkseid.  Similarly, Superman’s line, “I’ve worked long and hard to earn your trust” has different meanings to long-time fans and “newbie” audiences. (qtd. in Harvey)

• The scene featuring Superman speaking before the World Assembly (the DCAU’s fictional equivalent for the United Nations), as well as the plot point featuring the Man of Steel destroying nuclear weapons, was directly lifted from the 1987 film Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

• During Superman’s speech, note how he deliberately goes out of his way to state how he swears “to uphold the ideals of truth and justice not just for America, but for all the world.” In his January 2002 interview in Starlog Magazine, Bruce Timm elaborated on this for the team, saying how “[w]e want these guys to be protectors of the entire planet,” rather than for one specific nation (qtd. in Jankiewicz 29).

• Ushering the viewing audience through the aforementioned six month time skip is Lucas “Snapper” Carr, a Justice League of America supporting cast member who first appeared, along with the League, in The Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960). Originally little more than the team’s sidekick (equivalent to the Avengers’ Rick Jones), here he is reimagined as the show’s resident television reporter in the tradition of Summer Gleason (BTAS), Angela Chen (STAS), Jack Ryder (TNBA), and the soulless talking heads of Batman Beyond. Frequently used to move the story along—Bruce Timm would uncharitably dismiss him as “Exposition Lad” in a September 2002 interview with The World's Finest (qtd. in Harvey)—Snapper Carr would eventually be replaced by similar character Sroya Bashir in Justice League Unlimited.

• Appearing in an interview segment during Snapper Carr’s news report is the Flash, making his first appearance since the STAS episode “Speed Demons.” It is worth noting that, even though his “secret identity” went unrevealed until “Starcrossed,” it was unofficially accepted by the creative team back during STAS that he was Wally West (Allstetter, “Superman”; Brick).

• Due to his comic book origins as a legacy character, the Flash’s first appearance is, at best, complicated. While the character first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940), please remember that this was the Golden Age Jay Garrick version of the character, just as the Silver Age Barry Allen version debuted in Showcase #4 (October 1956). As Barry’s teen sidekick, Kid Flash, Wally West made his debut in The Flash #110 (December 1959) and, following Barry’s death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wally adopted the costumed identity of his mentor in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (March 1986).

• Like Superman, the Flash’s voice actor was also recast, with Michael Rosenbaum replacing Charlie Schlatter as the Scarlet Speedster.

• With the changes to the look of Metropolis for Justice League (more on that in a moment), it’s nice to see that Clark Kent still has that swanky, Ocean Liner Deco apartment from STAS.

• Once again, Superman is the recipient of disturbing, telepathic visions. Dumb question: is this the first time he’s received them since the business at the Metropolis sub-station six months prior, or has this been an ongoing event this whole time?

• Making its first appearance in Superman #246 (December 1971), the Science and Technology Advanced Research Laboratories—more commonly known as S.T.A.R. Labs—is a research organization with multiple installations located all over the world. The main Metropolis facility (above left, as it appeared on Justice League Unlimited) appeared frequently during STAS, as did the location’s general director, Professor Emil Hamilton. I suspect that the site Batman visits here (above right) was a satellite Metropolis installation that was decommissioned.

• Before we proceed to the invasion, it is worth noting how the visual design for Metropolis, originally created for STAS in a style referred to as “Ocean Liner Deco” by the creative team (Allstetter, “Men” 46), has been replaced by an ultra-realistic design. In an April 24, 2001 interview with Comics Continuum, Bruce Timm discussed the changes to the backgrounds:

It’s very much in the same style and genre as Superman and Batman.  The major difference is that we’re going for a more realistic look in the backgrounds. The events that take place in the show are so much larger than life than what happens in Batman.  Batman, it was a fairly mundane adventure just in the fact that it was a non-superpowered human fighting non-superpowered villains for the most part, so we were able to stylize the backgrounds more to give the show more visual interest. 

Whereas, with this show, we’ve got a goddess and a guy from Krypton and a guy from Mars and a space cop—all teamed up together.  So, there’s a lot of visual POW right there already.  We felt the fact that these characters are already so larger than life, we should try to make the setting of the Earth look a little more realistic, so it will feel a little more believable, if that makes sense.  So, we’re going for a little bit more of a—it’s not really photographic or photo-realistic—but it’s a little bit more of a realistic background. (qtd. in Allstetter, “Bruce”)

• The creative team elaborated further during the Justice League panel at the 2001 San Diego Comic-Con:

GLEN MURAKAMI:  Every time we’ve done a show, we try not to think it’s different, but Bruce and I always get into arguments about how we should treat the look of the show.  Because it’s about the world in peril, we decided that the look of the show should probably be more realistic and less graphic than Batman or even as stylized as Batman Beyond. 

BRUCE TIMM:  It’s not exactly realistic, but what [we’re] going for was a kind of stylized matte painting look.  A lot more detail in the backgrounds than we’ve done in the past.  For instance, in Batman Beyond, we had, like, swirly cloud shapes, so we decided to go with strictly realistic cloud shapes. (qtd. in Davis)

• The eerie cocoons Batman discovers on site—and the sci-fi trope of alien invaders duplicating and replacing human forms—are reminiscent of the science fiction / horror novel The Body Snatchers (written by Jack Finney; 1955) and the 1956 film adaptation, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which has since been remade multiple times.

• Thanks to the necessities of Broadcast Standards & Practices, the victim Batman pulled from the pod is revealed to still be alive, despite being cocooned for at least six months. If victims abducted by the Alien Invaders are indeed in suspended animation, perhaps there is hope that some Martians survived the genocide (and this would explain the presence of M’gann M’orzz, aka Miss Martian, in the 2019 film Justice League vs. The Fatal Five).

• Though they are slimy and probably organic, the alien walkers appear to deliberately harken back to the Martian Tripods from the aforementioned The War of the Worlds.

• During the Metropolis fight, it’s interesting how the show sets up the need for the Justice League by establishing how badly Superman and Batman—the World’s Finest—initially fare against the Alien Invaders’ attack.

• Originally referred to as Paradise Island or the Amazon Isles, the matriarchal island nation of Themyscira made its first appearance in All Star Comics #8 (October 1941) along with Queen Hippolyta and Princess Diana.

• Based on her blond hair, it would appear that Hippolyta is based on her Silver and Bronze Age designs. In the Golden and post-Bronze Age Wonder Woman books, she is brunette, like her daughter.

• Unlike Superman’s disturbing visions, Diana only mentions how she’s received “omens” revealing mankind’s current predicament. Is that how she interpreted J’onn J’onzz’s alien, telepathic summons, or did she receive the request another way? And, if it was different, how exactly did the rest of the team receive J’onn’s telepathic call?

• For that matter, I can’t help but notice that Batman did not appear to receive any sort of message from J’onn J’onzz. Could this imply that the Martian initially had no interest in recruiting the Dark Knight? He was, after all, the only one without powers. On the other hand, he was the one that turned the tide during the final battle, allowing the rest of the team to defeat the Imperium’s forces. Maybe he figured Batman and Superman were a package deal—get one, get the other—and conserved his energies to recruit the other four, who were (presumably) not in each other’s immediate vicinity.

• An isolationist, Hippolyta seems content with letting the rest of the world fall to the alien invasion. However, in the JLU episode “Hawk and Dove,” we learn that the armor that would become Wonder Woman’s costume was originally created by Hephaestus for Hippolyta to wear. Could this imply that, at some point in the past, Hippolyta was going to become a Wonder Woman-like protector of humanity? If so, what made her change her mind?

• Held captive at a top secret government facility for at least six months, Superman locates and frees J’onn J’onzz—the Martian Manhunter—from captivity. Debuting in Detective Comics #225 (November 1955), one year prior to the official beginning of the Silver Age of Comics, the Manhunter from Mars would join the Justice League of America and would largely serve as a “backup Superman” for much of this tenure in the DC Universe. However, in the 1990s, largely thanks to the efforts of writers such as Grant Morrison and John Ostrander, J’onn J’onzz became more distinctive, gaining additional depth and nuance beyond being merely a Superman analogue.

• When Batman arrives, he discovers that the base’s original officers and staff have been cocooned, similar to the scientists housed at the abandoned S.T.A.R. Labs facility. However, J’onn J’onzz is not in an Alien Invaders’ pod, but in an apparatus designed to presumably inhibit his telepathic abilities and make him easier to study. Obviously, six months prior, J’onn J’onzz arrived on Earth and attempted to warn the U.S. government about the invasion, and he was taken captive and imprisoned. Later, the Alien Invaders took over the base and replaced the humans, but they left the Martian untouched, possibly in preparation for handing him over to the Imperium upon its arrival.

• As Superman attempts to free J’onn J’onzz, Batman chides him for his actions, saying how “destroying government property isn’t your style.” While that may be true, the Man of Steel also has no patience for black ops abductions without due process, such as the kidnapping of Volcana in the STAS episode “Where There’s Smoke,” as well as his own and Supergirl’s captures by the military in “Legacy.”

• The technology that was presumably intended to suppress J’onn’s telepathic abilities was probably designed for human telepaths (such as Ace, from the Justice League episode “Wild Cards”) and not Martians, thus allowing him to send out his periodic, telepathic distress calls to Superman and the others. It is also worth noting that, even in a weakened condition, J’onn J’onzz is an incredibly powerful telepath, shown to be capable of reaching Green Lantern’s mind across light-years in the Justice League episode “In Blackest Night.”

• Taking into consideration the events of Justice League Unlimited, it is obvious that J’onn J’onzz was being held captive by Amanda Waller and Project: Cadmus. Consider the following:

  • Despite Waller’s claims to Batman in the JLU episode “The Doomsday Sanction” (where she falsely told Batman that the organization was created in response to the events of the Justice League episode “A Better World”), the Cadmus Project coalesced into its present form as a response to the events of the STAS episode “Legacy” (hence the creation of assets Galatea and Doomsday, the latter of which was already in existence as of “A Better World”).

  • When questioned by Supergirl in the JLU episode “Fearful Symmetry,” General Hardcastle revealed to her that “the military and big business have been in cahoots for decades. Top secret stuff—experiments on metahumans, mutants, aliens. Searching for new technologies both for national security and profit.” And this was before Hardcastle was “shut out” following “Legacy.”

  • Best case scenario: with J’onn J’onzz arriving on Earth so soon after “Legacy,” a suddenly xenophobic U.S. government (via their proxy, Project: Cadmus) took no chances and imprisoned him. However, after “Secret Origins”—with J’onn suddenly becoming a very public hero with the Justice League—they decided to cut their losses and leave him alone.

• Considering the above, it’s disappointing that this potential plot thread was never followed up on. Either during the Cadmus arc or Season Five of JLU (when he briefly left the League in “To Another Shore”), it would have been interesting to get a glimpse of J’onn’s pre-“Secret Origins” experiences on Earth.

• This might also explain why J’onn J’onzz elected to basically live on the Watchtower for the duration of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He may not hate humanity for his period of captivity, but he may not entirely trust them either … even if he can read their thoughts (or, maybe, because he can).

• Upon exiting the facility, Superman, Batman, and J’onn are confronted by U.S. military officers who are actually Alien Invaders in disguise. These are presumably the same “officers” that Superman fought upon arrival.

• Under cover of night, Princess Diana steals what we recognize as the costume of Wonder Woman from the Temple of Athena. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, the Amazing Amazon’s traditional origin story (winning the right to be Themyscira’s champion via competition) had to be truncated to fit the narrative. Fortunately for Bruce Timm, he would get another chance to tell Wonder Woman’s origin in the 2009 direct-to-video animated film of the same name.

• I find it amusing that, upon shedding her cloak to put on the Wonder Woman costume for the first time, the first thing the nude Diana reaches for is the golden lasso. Is this some sort of backhanded homage to the character’s bondage and BDSM-related origins?

• Freed from captivity, J’onn J’onzz is able to telepathically call in reinforcements unencumbered by the dampening equipment. Hopefully, his mental touch is less excruciating now.

• Like the Flash, Green Lantern is another legacy character, starting with the Golden Age Alan Scott, who first appeared in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940). Later, the Silver Age brought in both Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps in Showcase #22 (October 1959), and the Bronze Age John Stewart himself debuted in Green Lantern #87 (December 1971 / January 1972) as a “backup” Lantern for Earth.

• Though a Golden Age Hawkgirl debuted in All Star Comics #5 (June 1941), the Silver Age Shayera Hol first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #34 (March 1961). It is worth noting that, while Hawkman was a member of the Justice League as early as Justice League of America #31 (November 1964), Hawkgirl was not allowed to join until Justice League of America #146 (September 1977) due to a team bylaw preventing there being two members of the group with identical powers.

• Rounding out the team is Wonder Woman, who first appeared All Star Comics #8 (October 1941 / January 1942). It is an interesting coincidence that the Amazing Amazon was the last member to debut on camera, as she was the lone holdout in regard to finalizing her licensing for the series.

• It is worth noting that Princess Diana is not referred to as “Wonder Woman” for the entirety of “Secret Origins,” but she is referred to by that name in “In Blackest Night.” It is unknown how she came upon that name for her costumed identity, but here are two possibilities:

  • In the STAS two-part episode “Blasts from the Past,” Lois Lane jokingly refers to herself as “Wonder Woman” when Mala claimed that she did not want to conquer the Earth. Since she already coined the name “Superman” in the STAS three-part episode “The Last Son of Krypton,” perhaps she’s batting a thousand in terms of superhero names?

  • In “The Savage Time,” Wonder Woman—and the rest of the team (sans Batman)—travel back in time to World War II and take part in D-Day, the day when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. According to Justice League Unlimited writer and producer Dwayne McDuffie, in a December 25, 2004 post on his Delphi Forum message boards, “[i]n JLU continuity, Vandal Savage ran Nazi Germany for a year or two, displacing Hitler until Savage’s ’death,’ whereupon Hitler retook control.  Everyone on Earth [DCAU] knows this as history” (Maestro). Surely, the presence of the Justice League in this era, albeit briefly, made its way into the history books as well, and Diana may have adopted the name from history in a form of a chicken or egg causality event.

• As the Justice League congregates, we get little hints as to their prior encounters. Here is a summary of their previous connections:

  • Obviously, we know how Batman and Superman know each other, as they first met in the three-part STAS episode “World’s Finest,” and they had follow-up adventures in “Knight Time” and “The Demon Reborn.” Also, based on their exchanges in Part One of “Secret Origins,” it appears that they’ve kept up with each other in the two-to-three year gap since The New Batman / Superman Adventures.

  • Again, Superman met the Flash previously in the STAS episode “Speed Demons.”  Also, based on his verbal familiarity with the Dark Knight, it appears that Flash has met Batman previously as well.

  • Now, Superman has encountered the Green Lantern Corps previously, in the STAS episode “In Brightest Day...” However, in “Secret Origins,” the Man of Steel appeared to immediately recognize John Stewart (and vice versa), rather than go through the obligatory “Hey, you’re not Kyle Rayner! Who are you?” So, they’ve apparently crossed paths.

  • When Hawkgirl arrives, Batman immediately exclaims, “Hawkgirl? What’s she doing here?” This implies a previous encounter, or at least a familiarity, and I’m disappointed that the series never followed up on it.

  • Obviously, the rest of the team has never physically met J’onn J’onzz, but Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and the Flash have apparently been in semi-telepathic contact with him over the past six months.

  • Finally, this is Wonder Woman’s debut appearance, so everyone else is meeting her for the first time. That said, Hawkgirl expresses familiarity with the legends of Themyscira and the Amazons, no doubt as part of her research into Earth’s cultures for the Thanagarian military.

• With the team assembled, the time has come for J’onn J’onzz to detail the backstory of the invasion, revealing how he had been in a centuries-long guerrilla war against the Alien Invaders that he alone survived. I have thoughts:

  • During the flashback, J’onn refers to the Alien Invaders being parasites that feed on “psychic energy.” I suspect he’s referring to mental energy or brain activity—he can’t be referring to actual psychic abilities, which only the Martians possess. Otherwise, human minds would be worthless to them.

  • He also states that the Invaders were able to duplicate (or maybe even steal) the Martians’ inherent shapeshifting ability. Foreshadowing!

  • Were all the Martians dead? Again, it seems that the Invaders’ pods puts them in a state of suspended animation. The human Batman pulled out of a cocoon after at least six months at S.T.A.R. Labs was still alive, having not had food or water for that entire time. Again, this could explain Miss Martian (I know that the DVD commentary for the 2019 film Justice League vs. The Fatal Five mentioned a Martian colony somewhere in the Saturn system, but I like my theory about finding a hidden cache of Martian survivors sometime after JLU).

  • Also, J’onn reveals that the Invaders are vulnerable to a type of nerve gas, made from “a rare Martian plant,” that can paralyze them (or, apparently, put them in suspended animation as well). He also claims that he brought some with him, but it was destroyed when he was captured. What’s stopping him from going back to Mars with Green Lantern and getting more?

  • According to J’onn J’onzz, he has kept vigil over his defeated foes for “over 500 years.” Assuming that the conflict ended sometime around the 1500s (our time), this timeline does work, as the earliest telescopic analysis of Mars began in 1610 with Galileo Galilei and, at that time, it was impossible to discern specific planetary features.

  • Later, in Part Three, J’onn reveals that he has met their leader, the Imperium, before. It’s been radio silence on Mars for over 500 years; it never occurred to the Imperium once to send reinforcements or even a scout ship for updates?

  • Finally, why not just invade Earth and Mars at the same time (or just invade Earth first)? Comparatively speaking, we would most likely be an easier, more primitive species to occupy and feed upon. Do they require a civilization to acquire a level of civilization to make their “psychic energy” more attractive?

• During the flashback in the 2010 direct-to-video film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths in which J’onn “mind melds” with the president’s daughter, the Alien Invaders have been replaced with the more familiar White Martians during his flashback scenes. That said, in the original script (available to read on the late Dwayne McDuffie’s official website)—in its original form as a bridge between Justice League and Justice League Unlimited—the original Invaders are retained, along with what presumably would have been flashbacks to “Secret Origins.”

• When the Flash stated that NASA said nothing about discovering life on Mars, Green Lantern responded that it was likely “some pencil-pusher in Washington probably decided it should be classified information.” Considering the sheer number of “first contacts” that occurred on Superman: The Animated Series, it is likely that, in the DCAU, it is common knowledge that there is life on other planets. Besides, as stated above, Stewart doesn’t know that the two astronauts were killed and replaced by Alien Invaders, so it’s very likely that they didn’t know until J’onn showed up … and we already know how well that went.

• During Senator Carter’s press conference, in his defense of his nuclear disarmament program in light of the alien invasion, he said how “no one ever imagined we would face an invasion like this.” Look, I know that the Justice League creative team deliberately wanted to not “rely too much on the continuity of [their] previous series” at first (“Unlimited”), but this statement is simply dumb, considering the sheer volume of alien invasions that occurred on STAS. Hell, Darkseid alone attempted invasion at least three times.

• You know what? I’m not done arguing this. Even ignoring past DCAU continuity, H.G. Wells imagined the concept of an alien invasion just like this in 1895. In my experience, any time someone pulls the “no one ever imagined” line, frankly, they’re either lying, or they’re just not that imaginative.

• Beginning Phase Two of their invasion, the Alien Invaders plant devices across the planet for the express purpose of blocking sunlight with a cloud cover of acrid smoke. J’onn J’onzz informs the others that “the Invaders are nocturnal; they want to blot out the sun so they can live in perpetual darkness.” Of course, later Batman notices them avoiding direct sunlight and, even later, the team sees them literally melting in sunlight, as—according to the Dark Knight—they are vulnerable to ultraviolet rays. Seriously, J’onn? Your people fought the Alien Invaders for centuries, and they couldn’t figure this out?

• For that matter, how did Senator Carter, a politician who needs to make frequent public appearances, avoid direct sunlight for two years? Did he always wear a coat and hat and carry an umbrella, or did he simply attend town halls and show up for Congressional voting only on overcast days?

• At any rate, this may be a reference to the “Black Smoke” weapon utilized by the Martians in H.G. Wells’ aforementioned novel, The War of the Worlds.

• After splitting up into teams, Flash finds himself the victim of a glue-like booby trap when taking on the alien walkers. Granted, this was the pilot, so the creative team was still feeling out how to handle his powers, but he could potentially have vibrated himself out, similar to how Lex Luthor (in possession of Flash’s body) used his powers in the JLU episode “The Great Brain Robbery.” Obviously, this would have caused an explosion—as “his vibrations cause an unstable resonance,” which is “why the real Flash doesn’t do it,” according to Red Tornado and Green Lantern, respectively—but in this situation, any resulting explosion would aid them in taking out the Invader’s assets. Oops.

• Considering how this is the Amazing Amazon’s first appearance, Batman’s “let’s see what she can do” line is a convenient way for the creative team to cut loose and showcase Wonder Woman’s powers and battle prowess.

• Look, I know that Diana’s line, “Hera, give me strength!,” has always been a popular one, both on the series and during Susan Eisenberg’s autograph sessions (Eisenberg and Enstall), but I always thought the line to be stilted, repetitious, and annoying. That said, I would argue that her attempts to evoke a deity using a colloquial exclamatory phrase works better muted, such as in JLU episodes “For the Man Who Has Everything” (whispering “Hera, no!” upon discovering Batman possessed by the Black Mercy) and “Destroyer” (her stunned exclamation “Hera” upon seeing J’onn—as an elderly Chinese man—fighting Parademons unaided).

• Hawkgirl’s attack on the Alien Invaders—literally leaping over Superman to tear them apart—is a perfect example of how Bruce Timm described her character at the 2001 Justice League panel at San Diego Comic-Con:

Rich [Fogel] was saying, “Well, you know, that’s fine, but she’s a hawk.  She needs to have something hawk-like about her.”  And he came up with this great gimmick for her:  for the most part, she’s sweet, she’s warm, and she’s friendly and everyone likes her, but the minute she goes into battle, her instincts kick in and she turns into Wolverine.  So, you know, everybody’s going into battle, [and] suddenly Hawkgirl jumps ahead of them, and she’s like slaughtering everybody, and they’re like, “Wait.  Wait!”

Not really slaughtering.  Maybe robots, but … yeah, she hurts a lot of bad guys. (qtd. in Davis)

• From the Silver Age to around 1994, the Green Lantern rings possessed an extreme weakness to the color yellow, similar to the Golden Age Green Lantern’s weakness to wood. This would later be retconned by writer Geoff Johns in 2005’s Green Lantern: Rebirth miniseries, where it was revealed that it could be conquered by a Green Lantern remembering fear and overcoming it. At any rate, while this weakness was never expressly stated in the Justice League series (and it didn’t affect the then-current Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, in the comics anyway), items that do permeate John Stewart’s emerald barriers, such as the Invader’s gas attack here, were colored yellow most likely as an Easter Egg.

• “Starcrossed” foreshadowing: Hawkgirl’s line, “My home Thanagar is a warlike world. There, one must strike first or die.” We know. Oh, yes, we know.

• Batman’s off-camera “death” at the hands of the Alien Invaders mirrors a scene in JLA #2 (February 1997), where the Hyperclan destroy the Batplane in battle, only for the Dark Knight escape the wreckage undetected and infiltrate their headquarters in JLA #3 (March 1997).

• I’m curious as to when, how, and why J’onn J’onzz and Batman hatched their plan to fake Batman’s death and, presumably, allow him time to retreat to the Batcave, analyze the ion matrix crystal, and figure out a way to “reverse the ion charge” or whatever. I guess, since the Alien Invaders apparently stole the native Martian’s telepathic powers as well as their shapeshifting abilities, they determined that the fewer who knew this plan, the better, so J’onn shielded him from mental detection.

• During the Metropolis riots, the scene with the vandal spray-painting “the end is here” is most likely a reference to Alan Moore’s hugely-influential 1986-1987 series Watchmen. Specifically, it references both Rorschach’s “the end is nigh” picket sign and the unfinished, frequently seen “who watches the Watchmen?” graffiti.

• Possibly an early indicator of the soon-to-be popular “WonderBat” ship, Wonder Woman’s “he was a true warrior” line in reference to Batman feels tinged with both admiration and affection. Was Diana already that impressed with the Dark Knight from the get-go?

• Speaking of the works of Alan Moore, the Flash’s takedown of the alien walker by tricking it into blowing off one of its legs reminds me of a scene from Moore’s 2002-2003 series, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. II. Fighting a more Wells-accurate Martian invasion, Edward Hyde (from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella) made this comment about the design of the Martian Tripods before his death in battle:

Yes, that’s right. Shoot me again, you little shit, without blowing your own foot off. Huhur. You’re in trouble now, aren’t you? I mean … URRNGH … I’m no engineer, and correct me if I’m mistaken, but … HRRUNNGH! … but don’t you have rather a design flaw in these three-legged-things? Now, don’t get me wrong: God created a lot of useless, stupid-looking creatures on this world too, but he didn’t … NURRRRGHH! … he didn’t see fit to make any of them three-legged. Why was that, do you think? (Moore)

• The Flash’s snarky “buh-bye” comment may be a reference to the Total Bastard Airlines series of sketches on Saturday Night Live, where David Spade’s flight attendant character coldly releases each passenger with the dismissive farewell as they get off the plane.

• Cutting through the cloud cover and blanketing Metropolis in shadow, the arrival of the Imperium’s mothership is an obvious reference to the 1996 alien invasion film Independence Day.

• Okay, dumb questions time: why didn’t the gas affect the Alien Invaders disguised as Superman and Hawkgirl? For that matter, when they woke up stuck in that flypaper trap, why didn’t Superman use his heat vision, why didn’t Green Lantern use his ring (he still had it on, just under the muck), and why didn’t the super-strong characters attempt to break free? Obviously, J’onn was biding his time for Batman’s arrival, but the others didn’t know that. Were they really that engaged in J. Allen Carter’s supervillain monologue?

• J. Allen Carter’s dismissively referring to the assembled team as “Earth’s mightiest heroes” is commonly a phrase used to describe The Avengers, the Justice League’s counterpart at Marvel Comics.

• A villain created for the series, the Lovecraftian menace known as the Imperium (above left) is described by J’onn J’onzz as “the supreme intelligence that controls these invaders.” Obviously, this description—along with its tentacled, bulbous appearance—strongly implies a connection to the Marvel Comics character the Supreme Intelligence (above right). Also known as the Supremor—which sounds a heck of a lot like the Imperium—it is an artificial intelligence built using the brains from the greatest statesmen and philosophers of the Kree people, and it serves as a frequent antagonist for various Marvel Comics characters over the decades.

• It is worth noting that the Imperium would be incorporated into the DC Universe in Wonder Woman #793 (January 2023), but with a few adjustments made. Here, the Imperium is the name of the alien race, and the ones that appear are remnants of a failed previous invasion who are waiting for reinforcements that may never come.

• After vowing to eliminate the last Martian, the Imperium forces its tentacles into J’onn’s body and absorbs him into its semi-permeable form. Despite its continued demands for J’onn to kneel, its declaration to murder him implies that this goes beyond general torture. You don’t suppose that the Imperium intends to digest J’onn, do you?

• Should have used your heat vision, Superman.

• The cavalry arrives in the form of Batman, who “reverses the ion charge” of the ion matrix crystal, a device that, when removed from the central core, shuts down the Alien Invaders’ pollution plant. Apparently, reversing its ion charge changes its programming, literally burning the acrid cloud cover from the sky. If only stopping pollution was always that easy.

• When Batman turns up, suddenly Superman remembers his heat vision. Man, Batman truly is all-powerful.

• It’s interesting to note that, while the assembled superheroes usually have a pretty strict “no kill” policy, they seem to have no issue will destroying both the Alien Invaders and the Imperium, with even Batman himself presumably comfortable with reducing them to literal puddles in direct sunlight. Initially, in his January 2002 interview in Starlog Magazine, Bruce Timm exclaimed that “these are mean, nasty aliens! [...] They’re weird shape-shifters, so who knows if they’re actually dead? It felt right for the story, but everything is a balancing act” (qtd. in Jankiewicz 33), but in a December 20, 2004 post on the Anime Superhero (formerly Toon Zone) message boards, he further elaborated on his stance:

And now, just to throw some more gasoline on the fire, I have to say the whole “heroes should never ever kill” rule just doesn’t sit well with me.  I think it’s a decent rule in theory, and certainly I think we need to honor it for the most part for the sake of the younger members of our audience, but… 

Say a bad guy’s got a knife at an innocent woman’s throat.  A cop draws his gun, points it at the perp, tells perp to drop his weapon.  Perp not only doesn’t drop the knife; he starts to slash at the victim.  If the cop doesn’t shoot the bad guy at that point, he’s not doing his job, as far as I’m concerned. 

Now, obviously that’s an extreme example, and not really applicable to the fantasy world of JLU.  And I’m not saying the JLU should be issued a carte blanche “license to kill” (and trust me, they won’t), but I think in extraordinary circumstances, use of deadly force could conceivably be justified.  I didn’t have a problem with them roasting the Invaders in “Secret Origins,” for instance, and blowing up all them Luftwaffe pilots [in “The Savage Time”] to halt the slaughter of the Allied troops?  Okay by me. (b.t.)

• Built by Wayne Enterprises as an “early warning system for detecting other threats of invasion from space,” the Watchtower satellite served as the original team headquarters for the duration of the Justice League series. While the comic book Justice League has had a number of headquarters over the decades, this one is a combination of the satellite headquarters, first appearing in Justice League of America #78 (February 1970), and the lunar Watchtower, which debuted in JLA #4 (April 1997), a fact confirmed by Bruce Timm in an April 25, 2001 interview with Comics Continuum.

• Despite Bruce Timm’s declaration that the team would have no leader (Jankiewicz 29), the formation of the Justice League at the end of “Secret Origins” telegraphs the chain of command. After watching General Wells’ press conference, Batman had the idea for creating a superhero team and, presumably, spoke to Superman privately about the plan. Later, after the Watchtower was completed, he had Superman float the proposal to the others on his behalf.

• Based on Flash’s brief exchange with Wonder Woman, where he coaxes her to “stick around,” it implies that little to no time has passed since the defeat of the Alien Invaders (in fact, in “Paradise Lost,” she reveals that eight months had passed since the events of “Secret Origins”). It also stands that Superman would need to pitch his and Batman’s “Justice League” concept sooner than later to keep the momentum. That said, how does this explain the presence of the already-completed Watchtower? Was this something that Wayne Enterprises was already building? Could Bruce Wayne really hide it as “a line item in the Aerospace R&D budget” from his shareholders, accountants, board of directors, and Lucius Fox?

• Actually, this would make sense in the larger DCAU timeline, considering the number of previous alien invasions and the events of “Legacy,” for Batman (as Bruce Wayne) to build an early warning system to watch for incursions from space. It could also explain how it became the League’s headquarters—considering the public goodwill for the superheroes after their saving the Earth, maybe Wayne Enterprises just gave it to them as a donation and took it as a tax write-off.

• The Flash’s joke about how their forming a team would be like “a bunch of super friends” is obviously a reference to the DCAU’s antecedent series.

• Finally, Batman’s claims of not being a “people person” and his requesting to be a reserve member correspond with Barda’s claims in the Batman Beyond episode “The Call,” where he was referred to as a “part-timer” by the New God. However, based on the sheer frequency of his presence on both this series and on Justice League Unlimited, it’s obvious that he was always full-time, but his posturing was a smokescreen to protect both his autonomy and street cred.

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Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, DC Comics, the estate of Richard M. Powers, 20th Century Studios, and Centropolis Entertainment. YouTube video courtesy of Movieclips channel.