10 Darkest Endings In The DC Animated Universe

9. Mordred Gets His Wish - Justice League Unlimited

Justice League Unlimited Mordred
Warner Bros.

Justice League Unlimited was perhaps the most ambitious of all the DCAU shows. It was bold, introspective, and adopted a serialised approach to storytelling. Like its forebears though, it was also no stranger to delving into some tremendously dark themes - or to leaving viewers on a disturbing note.

Case in point, "Kids Stuff", an episode which sees Morgaine Le Fay's son Mordred cast a spell that banishes all adults to an alternate dimension - including all of the Justice League. Le Fay, as one of the billions of banished adults, decides to join forces with the League to stop her child, and so casts a spell that turns them all into children.

It's actually really cute and fun to see the League trying to defeat Mordred as children (the episode even includes a wonderful cameo from baby Etrigan), but it isn't all laughs and giggles by the time things come to an end. After the child Leaguers trick Mordred into transforming himself into an adult, thus banishing him to the same realm as all the other adults, Le Fay remarks that the spell that gave her child eternal youth has been broken; all he has now is eternal life.

Cue another scene of Le Fay tending to her now elderly and feeble son, who has aged past the point of all recognition.

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.