History YMMV / JusticeLeague

* CantUnHearIt: As with the other ''DCAU'' installments, this show has a large supply of people imagining the voice actors from this show as their comic counterparts and viewing them as their definitive voice actors, including Creator/SusanEisenberg as Franchise/WonderWoman, Creator/MichaelRosenbaum as the [[Franchise/TheFlash Wally West Flash]] (along with the Barry Allen Flash if you have watched ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDoom'' and/or played ''VideoGame/InfiniteCrisis''), Creator/PhilLaMarr as John Stewart, Creator/CarlLumbly as the ComicBook/MartianManhunter, and Creator/MariaCanalsBarrera as Hawkgirl. Thanks to his performances in this series, ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'' and ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', Creator/GeorgeNewbern has also begun to overtake his predecessor, Creator/TimDaly, as Superman's definitive voice actor for many fans (but there are fans who like Daly and Newbern equally).

** "Starcrossed" noticeably borrows elements from ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmericaTowerOfBabel'', with Hawkgirl and Hro Talak taking the places of Batman and Ra's al Ghul, respectively. In both works, a leaguer's actions lead to a villain learning the heroes' secret weaknesses, which are exploited in order to ensure minimal opposition during a world-endangering scheme. Both stories also end with the League taking a vote to decide whether the traitor deserves to remain in the team, with Wonder Woman voicing her strong disapproval of her former friend, Superman acting as the tiebreaker, and the defector leaving before hearing their decision.

*** The Cheetah is Franchise/WonderWoman's {{Archenemy}} in the comics, so a lot of fans assumed she would get more character development after receiving a lot of focus in her debut episode. However, she got DemotedToExtra. WordOfGod is that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen she was meant]] to be KilledOffScreen by Solomon Grundy in her debut two-parter and was only saved by an animation error showing her alive later on, so getting to appear several times more was an unexpected boon for her.

** [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner]] only appear as cameos in the entire series, and have very little interaction with the League. One episode even teased at Kyle switching out with John, only for it to be shot down as the Guardians call John out on trying to use it as an excuse to get a break from his messy love triangle.

* GatewaySeries: ''Justice League'' (''Unlimited'') was the main exposure that people had to the wider parts of DC Universe. It was the first exposure many had of Green Lantern and the Corps (see AdaptationDisplacement above), Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, J'onn J'onzz and in the Unlimited phase, the Question, Green Arrow, Black Canary and Booster Gold among many others. Likewise, it introduced many unknown and little regarded areas such as Amanda Waller and Suicide Squad, Vandal Savage (who was once seen as PoorMansSubstitute to Ra's Al Ghul even if he came first), Solomon Grundy, Dr. Destiny, and Amazo. Heck, even ComicBook/TheWarlordDC got an episode that had him as a major character!

** The popularity of the series pushed the John Stewart version of Green Lantern into the minds of the mainstream audience. It got to the point that when trailers for the 2011 ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' movie were released, many people wondered why the Green Lantern wasn't a black man.

** When Wally is [[spoiler:almost taken by the Speed Force but is saved by his friends. It didn't turn out as well for his ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' counterpart]].

** "Kids' Stuff" was a largely lighthearted episode dealing with a child making the world a sort of Neverland, but [[InferredHolocaust any negative side effects of losing all the adults on the planet for an unknown period of time]] isn't really addressed for the sake of that tone. When Klarion the Witch Boy pulls a similar stunt in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' we actually do see exactly how terrifying (and dangerous) it was for ''both'' sides of the adult/child split.
** In "The Savage Time", Diana crosses paths with Steve Trevor while having an escapade in World War II. The two are forced to part once Diana and the League complete their mission and return to the present day, but Diana searches him up and reunites with him at a retirement home. Come ''Film/WonderWoman2017'', where we already know that Diana lives to present day, and we see that [[spoiler:Steve never lives to old age, Diana witnesses his death, and in the present day, all Diana has left of him is a photograph.]]

** [[spoiler:Grodd swears he will have his revenge on Luthor as the latter ejects him into space. In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', Wade Eiling (played by Creator/ClancyBrown who also voices Lex in ''Justice League'') is killed by the former show's version of Gorilla Grodd as revenge for his torturous experiments. Basically, Grodd gets his revenge on Luthor on two levels.]]
** This dialogue between Speedy and Green Arrow, in light of Speedy's efforts to be independent of Green Arrow in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' ''and'' Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''.
--->'''Green Arrow''': You wanted Superman? Now you've got--
--->[''pauses to let the two teleport in.'']
--->'''G.A.''': [flat, disappointed] ...the Crimson Avenger and my ex-sidekick.
--->'''Speedy''': [annoyed] Ex-''[[InsistentTerminology partner]]''.
--->'''G.A.''': Speedy, we gotta do this now?

** By season three of ''Unlimited'', the show had been eclipsed in the network's eyes by the LighterAndSofter ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' as the premiere superhero show for kids, pushing ''JLU'' to one late night airing a week. As such, the creative team started making pretty blatant sexual references, openly displaying multiple deaths onscreen, and generally making a show pretty squarely directed at teens and adults.

* GeniusBonus: When discussing about how to deal with Cadmus, Green Arrow said he is "an old leftie" to justify its existence as a branch of the government. How many of you thought that he is saying he is left-handed as a kid?

%%* EvilIsSexy: There are so many attractive villains that it'd be easier to list all the villains that are ''not'' sexy.

* MemeticLoser: Superman and Martian Manhunter earned this reputation by being victims of the Worf Effect, to the point that many consider them to be the weakest members of the League, rather than among the strongest.

** The Season 2 finale focuses on Batman, death, and Bruce Wanye's inevitable death. This becomes ''much'' harder to stomach after Adam West and Kevin Conroy's respective deaths.

** What ''was' the illusory Brainiac that Luthor saw during ''Unlimited'' season 3 (that no one else did)? A simple hallucination by a delusional Lex? A remnant of Brainiac's programming in Lex's body urging him on? A psychic projection by Grodd to manipulate Lex without him realizing?

** Creator/MichaleRosenbaum simultaneously starred as The Flash and in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' as a young Lex Luthor. In "The Great Brain Robbery", Flash switches bodies with Lex, so Michael also technically got to voice an animated version of Lex as well.

* FanMyopia: Fans of ''Justice League'' and the DCAU's take on the characters in general tend to vastly overestimate the show's relevance to the general public, particularly when talking about how these characters should fare or be portrayed in films. US viewership of new Justice League episodes [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Justice_League_Unlimited_episodes averaged around 1 million viewers]] - which is pretty typical for a kid's action cartoon, but absolutely paled in comparison to even average shows aimed at general audiences. The contemporary DC series ''Smallville'' for example (which was of at best middling popularity) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Smallville_episodes#Series_overview averaged about 6 million viewers]] in the US for new episodes, six times as much as ''Justice League'' - to say nothing of comparing either of them to average superhero ''movies'' of the day that would invariably sell tens of millions of tickets and home video copies per new release.[[note]]By the home video numbers we have, [[https://m.the-numbers.com/tv-show/Justice-League Justice League]] in its entirety also only sold [[https://m.the-numbers.com/tv-show/Smallville about as much]] as ''one'' season of the aforementioned ''Smallville'' (tracking with ''Smallville'' having several times the TV viewership). It had ten.[[/note]] By most standards ''Justice League'' is outright obscure. But its small fandom remains loud and loyal online, due to mostly being composed of Millennial American boys. This causes a small-scale fandom war with fans of more recent and popular takes on the characters, such as the ''VideoGame/ArkhamSeries'' and especially the ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse''.

** This dialogue between Speedy and Green Arrow, in light of Speedy's efforts to be indepent of Green Arrow in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' ''and'' season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''.

* SignatureScene: Ask anyone what they remember of the series, and the first scene that pops up is Flash's talk with The Trickster in "Flash and Substance" for showing how Flash empathizes with one of his enemies.

*** The episode reveals that [[spoiler:Terry [=McGinnis=] was the biological son of Bruce Wayne all along, due to Amanda Waller injecting the late Warren [=McGinnis=] with Bruce's DNA to override his genetics. Her intention was to stage a similar tragedy to propel Terry down the path of the Dark Knight, which fate ultimately did for her anyway when she came to abandon the idea. Learning all this when he thought Bruce was manipulating him to his own ends and considering the damage that being Batman did to his predecessor, Terry ultimately decides to continue working as a hero but on his own terms, such as not alienating those closest to him]]. While some fans felt that this twist allowed for a compelling story about Terry's identity crisis, his feelings towards Bruce, and determinism vs free will, others saw it as a slap in the face to Terry's character that undermined the idea of passing on the torch, by basically saying that you can't be worthy of being Batman unless [[spoiler:you are literally a blood relative]].

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Though the concept of an evil Superman has been around about as long as Superman himself (it wasn't even the first time it was done in the DCAU), ''Justice League'' was the first time a longform high-profile story focused its plot on the idea of the "main" Superman willingly becoming a murderous dictator. What's more, to make the plot in any way credible, it forces Superman to hold the ConflictBall with such frequency that even ''Doomsday'' was making note of it. However, not only did the series have an entire preceding show to suggest why this was out-of-character for him, but when it came down to the wire, Superman ultimately rejected the idea. This idea became far more contentious when it showed up in ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' and ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', partly for reasons of the plot feeling overexposed at that point, and partly because both stories introduce the idea extremely early: the former has Superman be evil from the start, the latter introduces it in the second movie after a first film of him being troubled, distant, and violent. This caused many fans to feel like "evil/asshole Superman", rather than being a twist or an out-of-character moment, was officially just how the character was going to function from now on.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Though the concept of an evil Superman has been around about as long as Superman himself, ''Justice League'' was the first time a longform high-profile story focused its plot on the idea of the "main" Superman willingly becoming a murderous dictator. What's more, to make the plot in any way credible, it forces Superman to hold the ConflictBall with such frequency that even ''Doomsday'' was making note of it. However, not only did the series have an entire preceding show to suggest why this was out-of-character for him, but when it came down to the wire, Superman ultimately rejected the idea. This idea became far more contentious when it showed up in ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' and ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', partly for reasons of the plot feeling overexposed at that point, and partly because both stories introduce the idea extremely early: the former has Superman be evil from the start, the latter introduces it in the second movie after a first film of him being troubled, distant, and violent. This caused many fans to feel like "evil/asshole Superman", rather than being a twist or an out-of-character moment, was officially just how the character was going to function from now on.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Some fans love Wonder Woman's depiction as a confident, fierce warrior whose abilities are almost on par with Superman, while others feel her aggressive attitude made her an unlikable AdaptationalJerkass, given that her FriendToAllLivingThings traits from the comics are heavily downplayed on the show. There's also the question of whether or not the heavy ShipTease between her and Batman works or not, with some finding it a FanPreferredCouple that should have moved to OfficialCouple status ([[RetCanon if not outright been moved to the comics as well]]), and others finding it a forced pairing that comes off as the writers using Batman as an author-insert (not helped by the fact that it is ''far'' from his only DCAU pairing, bringing ShipToShipCombat into it as well). For the most part, where you sit on that issue tends to depend on whether you think the pairing renders Wonder Woman in some way subordinate to Batman or not.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Some fans love Wonder Woman's depiction as a confident, fierce warrior whose abilities are almost on par with Superman, while others feel her aggressive attitude made her an unlikable AdaptationalJerkass, given that her FriendToAllLivingThings traits from the comics are heavily downplayed on the show.

* ToughActToFollow: ''Justice League'' was ''very'' popular and is widely regarded as one of the best superhero shows ever made. Such reasons include, but are certainly not limited to: Their creative, compelling plots that manage humor and tragedy, bringing many heroes and villains into the spotlight, creating a very interesting and believable dynamic with their cast ''especially'' the core seven, and introducing many aspects of characters that were popular enough to turn into RetCanon. Unsurprisingly, many people are eager for the original cast to reprise their roles whenever any ''DC'' animated adaptation is announced. As such, many of the series that came afterwards often get some flak for not attaining that high bar that they felt the series set.

** The last time we saw Phantasm, she had decided to pursue revenge and fight Batman for getting in the way, with [[spoiler:Andrea apologizing to Bruce and saying goodbye to him. Andrea then refuses to gun down Terry's parents after Amanda Waller hired her, knowing what it was like to lose parents and what that could do to a child.]]