Young Justice

Young Justice is an American animated television series created by Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti for Cartoon Network. Despite its title, it is not an adaptation of Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck's Young Justice series of comics, but rather, an adaptation of the entire DC Universe with a focus on young superheroes.

The series follows the lives of teenaged superhero sidekicks, who are members of a fictional superhero team simply known as the Team, and their relationships with their Justice League mentors. The story is set at a time where superpowers and superheroes are a relatively recent phenomenon.

Number 16
The number 16 appears frequently in the mythology of the series. It is more prominently featured on timestamps, but it also appears through subtle subterfuges, such as units of time, ages and designations. It likely refers to the fact that this series takes place on Earth-16, but its significance, if any, remains to be revealed.

Season One
The first season of Young Justice follows the origins of the Team, starting from July 4. The season then proceeds through the Team's missions, and how they interact with one another on and off duty. The main antagonist for the series is the Light.

Greg Weisman has stated that the overall theme of this season is "secrets and lies, and also independence."

Season Two
A second season in the form of a ten episode serial was confirmed shortly after the show's regular release in early 2011, before being picked up for 20 episodes instead. The series began airing on Cartoon Network on April 28, 2012, with "Happy New Year.

The series takes place five years after the first season, and follows an expanded Team led by Robin, as they must deal with an alien invasion. Newly introduced characters include Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, a new Robin, Impulse, and farther down the line Static. Several other minor characters from season one have stepped into their hero roles, including Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, La'gaan as Lagoon Boy, Garfield Logan as Beast Boy, Karen Beecher as Bumblebee, and eventually Mal Duncan as Guardian.

Regarding the expanded regular cast, the showrunners held auditions for the characters of Blue Beetle, Robin, Impulse, and Static. However, due to previous leaks, security measures were increased and the auditions were held under the guise of a fictitious show dubbed Cloud Ninja. As for Wonder Girl, the producers cast Mae Whitman based on her season one audition for Miss Martian.

Season Three
The third season was announced on November 7, 2016, with original series creators Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti returning to produce. The first three episodes debuted on January 4, 2019, on the DC Universe streaming service. In Young Justice: Outsiders, the Team will "battle Meta-Gene|meta-human trafficking to protect a society caught in the crossfire of a genetic arms race."

Comics
A tie-in comic further explores the characters and locations of the television series, published by DC's Johnny DC imprint. The first issues were written by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani, with Mike Norton providing the art. Christopher Jones took over art duties with What's the Story?|#5, and Greg Weisman and Kevin Hopps started writing from Rabbit Holes|#7, after having done Stopover|the zero issue.