(Spoilers immediately follow for “Endgame,” the last episode of Young Justice.)
Young Justice ends with a beautiful tease. Just when you think a quip from Nightwing will wrap it all up, the episode cuts to the fiery planet Apokolips. Vandal Savage, the villain who’d made our heroes’ lives hell for two seasons, grips the hand of Darkseid, and the shadowy big bad of the show is finally revealed.
What happens next? We never found out. The show ended there.
This is the year for animation answers. Since 2002, Arnold has been holding onto that journal, having finally found a map leading to the possible last whereabouts of his parents. Since 2004, Jack has been wandering the galaxy, seeking to return to the past and undo the future that is Aku. But this year, with the much-publicized Adult Swim reboot of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Samurai Jack and Nickelodeon greenlighting a two-part movie to answer the riddle Craig Bartlett’s Hey Arnold! ended on, it looks like fans might finally find some peace.
Those are the biggies — long-cancelled, beloved shows making triumphant returns in this, the new golden age of animated television. But even the young bucks are trotting back — despite the lack of optimism in a certain Mr. Poopy Butthole, Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon’s Rick and Morty is due to return to its typical exercises in intergalactic irreverence later this year, when it will be forced to answer questions regarding Rick’s fate.
Yet the fate of the upstart Young Justice is still up in the air — and it’ll take more than super-strength and flight to bring it back. The show was a Cartoon Network series combining some of the best elements of superhero shows Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans — a far-reaching government conspiracy and competent, well-developed, likable teenagers — before the network cancelled it after airing two acclaimed seasons.
On March 2, Jason Spisak — the voice of Wally West (a.k.a. Kid Flash) — took to Twitter, asking fans to show their support for the beleaguered show by binge-watching the series until March 9.
KeepBingingYJ for the next 7 days, we might have a shot. Tell everyone you know to stream it on @netflix, more different people the better
And this isn’t an idle request. This is an era in which fans have real power — where ratings still dictate much, but not all. Look at the CW’s superhero lineup, for instance. Characters as diverse as Arrow’s Dinah Lance and Walter Steele and Rip Hunter from Legends of Tomorrow were all awarded to former Doctor Who actors (Alex Kingston, Colin Salmon, and Arthur Darvill, respectively) — a move that surely pleased Tumblr fans greatly. And that’s not even mentioning John Barrowman as Arrow’s signature baby-faced mustache-twirler, Malcolm Merlyn. Then, after the hooplah over Constantine’s cancellation on a wholly separate network, Matt Ryan reprised his character on Arrow this season in a magic-heavy crossover. And after fan backlash to news that Marvel had cast Game of Thrones’ Finn Jones as the protagonist in the upcoming Iron Fist series, Internet whisperers began hinting at the possible inclusion of Shang-Chi.
Beyond the fans, Warner Bros. should have every business reason they need to bring this back. Positioning Darkseid as the Season 3 big bad in a renewed Young Justice could help DC compete with Marvel in their movie tie-in game, since the diabolical space Nazi will clearly play some role in Superman v Batman future Justice League-centric films. There’s plenty of precedent for Netflix revivals as well, from Arrested Development and Wet Hot American Summer to the upcoming Magic School Bus reboot and, well, a lot more. And aside from actually producing Season 3, the majority of development — like mapping out storylines or creating character models — the framework for the show exists already, and its creators and actors tweet about it nearly every day.
Young Justice undoubtedly aired a few years too early, landing just before the peak of the superhero boom. But that’s no reason to punish one of DC’s most diverse, flexible, and idea-rich teams — especially one with so many fans on its side. Keep 2016 the year the cartoon cliffhanger fell off, Netflix. Bring back Young Justice.
Click here to binge Young Justice.
Top collage: Stephen P. Maher
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