The Justice League cartoon from the early 2000s is often held up on a pedestal, likely because it hasn't had much competition as far as Justice League adaptations go. It also brought together popular versions of Batman and Superman, along with introducing young viewers to a whole host of new heroes. Importantly, the series wasn't afraid to cover some more mature comic book stories, like Alan Moore's "For The Man Who Has Everything." Even if there are some elements of the show that haven't aged perfectly, that doesn't take away from Justice League's many accomplishments.

10 Animation Limitations Made Green Lantern's Powers Boring

One of the best aspects of the Green Lanterns is that their power rings can create anything they can imagine. This makes Lanterns one of the most visually interesting DC heroes, especially when a character like Kyle Rayner, an artist, gets a ring. However, the DCAU Justice League wasn't able to fully capture this aspect of the hero faction. It's understandable that the show couldn't blow its entire budget just for this, but it results in most of the Green Lantern's abilities boiling down to surrounding things in green light, which is naturally less exciting than the possibilities there are.

9 Justice League Is Aimed At A Young Audience

Justice League always felt like a cartoon intended for older children. It had some more mature story lines, and it didn't talk down to its audience. However, that doesn't mean it still isn't a cartoon for kids. Revisiting the show, older fans might cringe at some especially kid-friendly humor, or just find that what they thought was complex in their youth is pretty simple. Still, the show isn't as directly targeted at kids as something like Teen Titans Go!, so it can still be enjoyed as long as expectations are tempered appropriately.

8 Future DC Animation May Not Have The Same Freedom

Some of DC's animation projects won't be as free to experiment as Justice League was. This is because shows like Creature Commandos are meant to cross over with the live-action DCU movies. Though DC will likely still do standalone animated projects, they will likely want to devote a good amount of attention to the animated shows that will also build hype for their movies. Justice League reminds viewers of a time when DC's animation was allowed to be its own thing and build its own world without the mandates of a cinematic universe influencing it.

7 Hearing Kevin Conroy's Batman Is Bittersweet After His ing

For viewers who grew up with Justice League and Batman: The Animated Series, Kevin Conroy's Batman was likely the first one they knew. Conroy continued voicing Batman in major projects like the Arkham Asylum games and even got to play a live action Bruce Wayne in the Arrowverse. Conroy's incredible voice work as Batman is always a welcome sound, but looking back on his work does come with a twinge of sadness since Conroy's ing in 2022.

6 Bat-Family Are Absent Due To Rights Issues

In Justice League's later seasons, the show was renamed Justice League Unlimited and featured many different DC heroes in addition to the original League . However, notably absent from the show were of the Bat Family. The only sign of Batman's closest allies is a several second cameo by Nightwing in an establishing shot of Blüdhaven.

The Bat Family's absence was due to an internal mandate at DC called the Bat Embargo. In an effort to not oversaturate the Batman brand ahead of Batman Begins, DC decided certain shows wouldn't be allowed to use Batman characters. This included Justice League as well as shows like Smallville. Teen Titans was allowed to keep using Robin, but couldn't show Batman, and Justice League could use Batman, but not any of the Bat Family.

5 DC's Legacy Characters Don't Get The Same Love Anymore

Because Justice League was released before DC's New 52 relaunch, the show used some legacy heroes that were more popular at the time. This included Wally West as Flash, and John Stewart as Green Lantern. After the New 52, DC decided to bring back Barry Allen and Hal Jordan for animated projects like Justice League: War. Though Wally West and John Stewart are still around sometimes, rewatching Justice League is a reminder that they used to take center stage.

4 The Fight Scenes Are Unfortunately Limited

Partly because it was a weekly animated series with a limited budget, and partly because it was for children, Justice League was pretty limited in the types of fight scenes it was able to have. In some ways, this does make the storytelling in the show a bit more interesting, because the writers couldn't just have the League punching their way out of every problem. Still, fans of recent superhero animated projects like the Spider-Verse movies would be pretty let down by the action in this show.

3 Justice League Made Some Big Changes From The Source Material

Justice League and Justice League Unlimited are very much their own interpretation of DC's superheroes. While this is a positive aspect for the show itself, as there is no need for outside reading, it does also have a downside. Anyone watching the show who is heavily invested in original plot lines like the Batman and Wonder Woman romance will be a little disappointed if they pick up a comic book only to find very different versions of the characters.

2 DC Has Still Failed To Do Right By Many Of The Characters Since

One of the harshest realities about rewatching Justice League is the realization that the team and some of its haven't been properly adapted since the show came out 20 years ago. This is especially apparent with characters like Green Arrow, whose TV show adaptation was more of a Batman wannabe than his own character. It seems strange that DC could have given fans such a stellar version of the Justice League in the 2000s, yet fumble its live action attempt over 15 years later.

1 The Unlimited Seasons Split Focus Between Too Many Characters

When Justice League transitioned to Justice League Unlimited, it added a lot of heroes to the DCAU roster. Though new heroes were a good idea, they may have added too many. This leaves stretches of episodes between seeing certain characters like the Flash, who used to be around most weeks. It also means that most of the new heroes, like Zatanna or Booster Gold, never get a chance to develop as much as the original heroes.