On Monday, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation announced that the animated series Young Justice will return with a third season, currently in production.
The uninitiated among you may be thinking, “So, what’s the big deal?”
The criminally underrated animated series kicked off on November 26, 2010, with the airing of the first two episodes on Cartoon Network. The series proper began in January of 2011, following the exploits of a team of sidekicks, led by the original Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Superboy, but grew to include a number of other young crime fighters who call the DC universe home. In spite of some janky scheduling on the part of Cartoon Network–not the least of which was the premier of season two following on the coattail of season one–the series attained a strong following, particularly among those jonesing for a show to replace the then half-decade long defunct Teen Titans.
When the finale aired in March 2013, fans were left wanting more. In spite of being pulled from the Cartoon Network lineup, the show’s cult status grew on DVD. When the entire series was made available on Netflix this past February, interest in the series appeared to ratchet back up again. The creative talent behind the series urged fans to binge-watch and recommend the series to others, noting that the viewership numbers would likely impact any potential decision to revive the series. Chief among those banging the drum for the series was actor Khary Payton, who voiced Aqualad for the series. Throughout the summer and early fall, rumor and innuendo began to swirl. Talks were taking place. Like so many comic book characters (I’m not going to divulge any season two spoilers here), what was considered dead had a chance of being brought back to life.
Shortly after Monday’s announcement, Payton took to Twitter to celebrate with fans of the series.
Where the series picks up from here is anyone’s guess. Will resurrection be a prominent element in the season three storyline? What fresh ideas will be used to explore the mentor/surrogate father bonds that have dominated the first two seasons?
The timing of the announcement is particularly serendipitous for me. Now that it gets dark at dinner o’clock, my family has started rewatching the series just this past Sunday evening. If you’re looking for an escape from election day coverage, you could certainly do worse than to skip the wall-to-wall talking heads and get yourself caught up with Young Justice before new episodes air.
