JLU's answer to modern cynicism

This is why the DCAU is so fondly remembered. Despite being "for kids" it categorically refused to dumb itself down and explored story lines where the heroes actually have to confront hard questions and choices, but doesn't get lost in cynicism for cynicism's sake.

The best part is Shining Knight talking about how Dirty Harry not following the rules is dishonorable, but then revealing that the king trusted him exactly because he was willing to disobey orders.

“ How many of us do you have to kill to keep us safe?” That line hits different still til this day. That episode was rich, and didn’t have the heavy hitters to make it so.

People get mad at superhero programs for being “political.” Meanwhile JLU openly titled an episode “Patriot Act” at the height of the W. Bush years. That takes serious balls.

You hit upon a point I've been making for years: "The important part of 'superhero' isn't 'super.' It's 'hero.' Somebody who doesn't make a hero's choices will never be a superhero, no matter what powers they have."

This is why the JLU is my favorite "superheroes deal with real world political issues" story. I like it more than The Boys, Civil War, Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, even Watchmen. JLU deals with real world issues without succumbing to complete cynicism and nihilism like a lot of those other stories. It's also why I really like Justice League: Gods and Monsters. It turns the whole cynical evil superheroes story on its head. The heroes start out being cynical and scheming but throughout the movie they realize how dangerous their paranoid cynical attitude is to the world and that the world is safer when it's built on trust rather than fear.

It's no coincidence that the focal characters of this episode were Vigilante and Shining Knight; two straightforward representations of historic archetypical heroes (the western cowboy and European knight-errant) that predated modern superheroes and partially served as templates to their mythos to some degree.

I find it funny that JK Simmons always plays characters who are apposed to superheroes like J. Jonah Jameson, General Eiling and Omni-man

Scariest thing about Eiling this episode is he's not even surprised or distressed when his hypocrisy is called out. He just responds, "Alright, I've become what I hate, I'll give you that. I'm still right tho, you'll see." The perfect 21st century villain. Motivated by a sense of duty to his country and all its people, but he doesn't care what he does to that end. He can't even care when his actions go againat his stated goals, because at the end of the day he doesn't even care about his sole motivation. He'll say it's "for our own good", but only because he wants to be called good more than he cares about being good.

Admittedly pointing a superweapon at earth was probably not the best idea

That intro has to be the ONLY time I'll EVER admit that Amanda Waller...has a point

one layer you didn't point out was all the obscure superheroes involved in the comics are members of one of dc's original superhero teams "The seven soldiers of victory" who first appeared in 1941: green arrow speedy vigilante shining knight Stripe (who used to be stripsey) stargirl (not actually a member but shes representing her predecessor the star spangled kid. Its why shes shown to have a bit of cynicism. Shes the odd one out, not actually being from the same era IRL as the others) crimson avenger So as well as thematically representing the pure idea of a superhero they are also all literal examples of old school 1940s superheroes and what they represent. The thing Eiling is against.

The best JLU moment is when Question reveals he's there to merc Luthor so Superman can't. The risk of an evil Superman was so great in Question's eyes he was ready and willing to murder a guy to prevent it. Good stuff for a kid's show.

JLU had my favorite incarnation of Amanda Waller. Most depictions paint her in fairly cruel lights, and while this one was definitely no saint by any stretch, her motivations were a lot clearer and a lot more understandable (she had occasional moments of this in the comics but she was a hard victim of Depending On The Writer). This episode itself gave her a bone with her "I'm no fan of the League, but" dialogue. And throughout both Cadmus and the final season, she was able to stand both against and alongside Batman, with a mutual respect and understanding that they both had the best interests of the world at heart.

"Our enemies are never as evil as we imagine, and we're never as good." That one gets me for some reason lol

In case no one mentioned it yet, these particular heros are a direct nod to an old silver age super-team called the Seven Soldiers of Victory, and their whole thing was defending metropolis while superman was away.

I feel like I might have mentioned this in one of the previous videos but one of the best parts of JLU is that no matter how obscure the hero is, they are still willing to be respectful and show why these characters were popular, and this episode is one of the best examples. I feel to many modern heroes' stuff sometimes treat lesser-known characters as a joke or just go "hey this guy is so lame/his powers are so lame" but JLU allows characters outside the big 7 to shine. tell me how many people here became a fan of the question, shining knight, vigilante, captain atom or other "B or C-listers" after JLU, that's because no matter how unknown or unusual the character and their powers are the writers knew there was atleast someone out there that genuinely loves the character

I really adore and appreciate when Vigilante got the kids involved. Kids can be dumb, and in the presence of their hero's can try and look good and "worthy" to them, like the one up in the crane, and so instead of letting that happen again, he gets them doing a task to help, that also keeps then away. I've worded this kinda poorly, but I thought I try anyway.

What's really cool is that all of the heroes that fight Eiling are characters that make up the obscure team "Seven Soldiers of Victory!" Which is why I love JLU because it gives the lesser known heroes having as much character depth and agency as the original seven.

7:37 Shout out to my man Crimson Avenger. Teleports in and just starts blasting without words, nor a moment's hesitation. A consummate professional.