10 Reasons Why The Justice League Cartoon Is Better Than The Film
7. It Didn't Rely On The Original Seven
DC have a near endless selection of superheroes to adapt to both the big and small screens, and yet you'd be hard-pressed to find an adaptation that fully tapped their library.
For the Justice League film, it's understandable; it's DC's first attempt at a live action superhero ensemble and, for the most part, the roster is solid (bar the omission of one or two superhero staples). The problem, however, is that it feels as though it's unrealistic to expect Warner Bros. to exploit all of the publisher's apparent potential, certainly not in the way Marvel have done with Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man.
This may stem more-so from DC's wider strategy to place the Trinity (but especially Batman), and the original seven Leaguers (and Batman), in the limelight, but it's also true that the animated series placed no such emphasis on these characters - certainly not to the detriment of the DC Universe's supporting cast, who unashamedly dominated the series' latter seasons.
Part of JLU's magic, in this sense, was that it wasn't afraid of shifting away attention from the League's founding members. Entire episodes were dedicated to Vigilante, Stargirl, Booster Gold, Doctor Fate and even Wildcat, and they were every bit as fun and engaging as those that focused on the original seven.