10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About The DC Animated Universe
6. The Original Justice League Was Almost Completely Different
The 2001 Justice League series represented the climax of the DCAU, something that had been teased years earlier by the various cameos of DC heroes in the Superman series. But, as with any version of the Justice League line-up, there was plenty of debate about which heroes should feature. Aside from the central trinity of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, the rest of the team was never really set in stone.
Superman: The Animated Series had featured episode team-ups with The Flash, Aquaman and Green Lantern (in the form of Kyle Rayner, who was then the main comics Lantern), so these were the obvious original choices. Early concept art shows this line-up, albeit with the possibility that Timm and his team's preference for classic incarnations over incumbent heroes meaning that the Green Lantern was now likely Hal Jordan rather than Rayner.
This line-up, however, felt a little male and pale, so it was reconstituted with Rayner and Jordan replaced by John Stewart's Lantern to give the League a hero of colour and Aquaman substituted for Hawkgirl to add an extra female presence.
However, DC and the Kids' WB network (to whom it was pitched, before ending up on Cartoon Network) wanted a more kid-friendly presence. Timm's original sizzle real to get executives to commit to the pilot, therefore, shows the six heroes who would eventually become the DCAU Justice League fighting alongside teen stars Robin, Impulse, and a version of Steel's Natasha Irons reimagined as a female Cyborg.
Ultimately, the addition of teen sidekicks to the Justice League felt a little bit too close to the Super Friends-type show that Timm was trying to steer away from, so the teen characters were dropped. Irons did at least did get to show up briefly in Justice League Unlimited though.