DC may be a bit behind when launching their shared cinematic universe, but have been leading the animation front with critically acclaimed films for years. Most of these focus on Batman, Superman, and the Justice League, and though that makes sense financially, there is a large pantheon of other characters on which they can focus. It may be difficult to adapt such characters for the big screen, so giving them an animated feature makes more sense. It's a good way to gauge the character's popularity with audiences and test to see whether or not they can carry a feature length film of their own. I recently wrote an article about
10 Batman stories that should be given the animated treatment, which fellow WhatCulture writer Richard Church then followed up with
10 Superman stories that should be adapted. Now, I'd like to turn some attention to the greater DC universe. Here's a list of 10 heroes who deserve their own animated feature...
10. Young Justice
Young Justice is a superhero team consisting of teenage heroes, first appearing in 1998's Young Justice: The Secret, before getting their own monthly series. At that point in the comics, the usual teen group, the Teen Titans, had grown into adults and changed their name to the Titans. Young Justice was centered around three core heroes: Superboy, Robin, and Impulse. Their numbers grew substantially to include most teenage heroes in the DCU, most of which were younger counterparts to DC's first-tier characters. Other members included: Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Batgirl, Red Arrow, and Miss Martian. Many of the DC animated features focus on the Justice League, and showcasing the Young Justice team would be an interesting addition to the catalog. A TV series featuring the group ran from November 2010 to March 2013, and was met with critical acclaim, winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in 2011. IGN ranked the series at number 20 on their list of Top 25 Comic Book Shows of All Time. The show featured their desire to graduate from side-kicks to full-fledged heroes and to be taken seriously, something that could easily be the focus of a feature. Fans were upset when the show was cancelled, so giving it new life would be met with open arms.