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Was anyone else annoyed by the Cadmus story conclusion? (spoilers)

posted 8 years ago by FlamRatamacues
3 replies | jump to latest

I didn't get a chance to see this series when it originally aired. I was always a bit skeptical that it could juggle all the characters decently. I finally got around to watching it, and it far exceeded my expectations.

I really loved the build up in the first season of "Justice League Unlimited." It was great storytelling. I think the thing I really liked is that it was actually grounded in a semi-realistic tone/situation. Of course, for a show like this, you have to suspend general disbelief in every episdoe. We obviously don't really live in a world with super-powered humans and aliens sitting in a watchtower up in space. However, if you grant that general premise, then the storyline is very believable. I could honestly imagine a secret government agency creating a plan to take down the superheroes should the need arise. I could imagine the United States (or any country's) government wanting to take out a space station with a powerful laser beam. I could even imagine the government making secret deals with ruthless people like Lex Luthor. (In fact, I would say this was one of the most realistic aspects of the whole story.)

But when it turns out that Luthor had been merged with Brainiac, I felt like any slight level of believability just went out the window. It seemed like an easy way out, and it diminished Luthor's threat as a bad guy, essentially reducing him to a pawn of Brainiac.

They sort of redeemed it in the final season, but I guess I was hoping for something less out of comic book land and more along the serious tone they had established. (Yes, I know the series is based on comic books, but you know what I mean.)

Overall, it wasn't a bad story. The writers had just set the bar so high, it felt out of place in that particular story arc.

Just my thoughts. I haven't seen anyone else comment on it, so I was curious if anyone else felt the same way.

[–] PreachCaleb 8 years ago

It seemed like an easy way out,

The writers pretty much admitted this. They realized that at the end of the day, this was still a children's cartoon they were making and thus couldn't have the realistic confrontation between the Justice League and the U.S. government that was brewing. Especially since neither side was completely in the wrong.

They true in Brainiac to give the season a true villain to stop.

Can't stop the signal.

[–] manofsteel4455 8 years ago

realism = limitations. And not everybody likes limitations.

[–] FlamRatamacues 8 years ago

That makes sense. Thanks for your reply.

I still appreciate that they attempted such a story. Of course, when you're dealing with super-human heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern, it's difficult to find sufficiently powerful threats to generate drama for the storyline. The standard threats are aliens, technology, magic, and/or a weakening of the superhero so that they aren't as powerful as they usually are. The thing I really liked about this story is that the threat was more psychological than physical. The Justice League *could* fight the government (and probably win), but at what cost? The threat in this case is public opinion--which, in my opinion, is much more relatable (and in many ways scarier) than the other standard threats.