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The plot basically boils down to the US Government vs The Justice League. Cadmus is a secret organization formed to fight against JL in the event they go rogue & take over. Watched alone it's enjoyable enough. It's that much more satisfying when viewed in sequence within The DC Animated Univese. The DCAU consists of *Batman: The Animated Series*, *Superman: The Animated Series*, *Batman Beyond*, *Static Shock*, *The Zeta Project*, *Justice League* & *Justice League Unlimited*. Static & Zeta don't really factor into this though. I didn't watch any of these shows in real-time. I can't imagine how cool it must've been to see them payoff or tie back into events that happened five years (or longer) before. There's so many moving parts & players involved. I enjoy that a lot of focus is placed on smaller characters. The Question, a conspiracy minded faceless gumshoe, is a standout. He's a character with no powers other than his obsessions & is instrumental to figuring out what's going on. This version of the character voiced by Jeffrey Combs makes we wish we'd finally see the character in his own TV series after all these years. I found an old link to a [pretty good list](https://web.archive.org/web/20060810031401/https://jl.toonzone.net/cadmus/cadmus1/cadmus1.htm) that covers the must watch episodes across the various series for anybody curious. It does cut-off though in a strange place as you really need to watch pretty much all of JLU season two (minus "The Ties That Bind) & "Patriot Act" from season three. There's obviously spoilers on there but I think they're easy to avoid.

45 Comments

Hechtic Mar 20, 2026 +69

The single best adaptation still to this day of these characters. JL and JLU were genuinely what got me into comics growing up and this story line in particular is f****** peak

VrinTheTerrible Mar 20, 2026 +25

Nothing is better, or even as good. That said, if yiu haven't already, watch Green Lantern TAS. The animation is funky but you get used to it and it has the next best animated comic story ever, imo. Its only one season but its a GREAT season.

jmarquiso Mar 20, 2026 +12

Task Force X did more in 18 minutes than the first Suicide Squad accomplished in 90.

DigitalSchism96 Mar 20, 2026 +17

I feel this is a good time to offer praise to Dwayne McDuffie who wrote more episodes of JLU than any other writer and is largely responsible for the Cadmus storyline. Sadly he passed in 2011.

TheJusticeAvenger Mar 20, 2026 +5

McDuffie was also the showrunner for Ben 10 Alien Force and Ben 10 Ultimate Alien, and was thus responsible for some of the franchise's best arcs, like the Highbreed Invasion in AF.

bannock4ever Mar 20, 2026 +2

He's also the half-brother of Keegan-Michael Key although he may not have known that before he died.

jesuspoopmonster Mar 20, 2026 +8

Fun fact. The only time Alan Moore let his name be used on an adaption of one of his works was the Justice League Unlimited version of "For the Man who Has Everything"

bfir3 Mar 20, 2026

The only thing that surpasses JL and JLU for me is Young Justice. I was 100% with you and thought nothing would ever surpass it, until I watched Young Justice.

SoftballGuy Mar 20, 2026 +86

The plastic tips at the ends of shoelaces are called aglets. Their true purpose is sinister.

rabidsalvation Mar 20, 2026 +15

Hahaha this line will never leave my head.

LADYBIRD_HILL Mar 20, 2026 +2

🎵A-G-L-E-T (Aglet!) don't forget it! 🎵

theREVERSEsystem Mar 20, 2026 +42

Still one of the greatest universes ever built

VrinTheTerrible Mar 20, 2026 +28

The greatest animated series ever. Everything that comes together in "Divided We Fall" is so perfect. And the Flash moment is....chefskiss

tecphile Mar 20, 2026 +6

I was on a plane when I watched the final batch of episodes of this glorious arc. I had meant to watch only a couple but ended up plowing through 10 straight episodes that culminated in "Divided We Fall". Needless to say, my mind was completely blown. It was like a snowball rolling down a hill, getting larger and larger until it becomes large enough to knock out a truck. Truly kinetic storytelling.

brickmaster32000 Mar 20, 2026 +25

Still believe that Epilogue was the best ending to the Batman series even if it wasn't a Batman episode.

rabidsalvation Mar 20, 2026 +2

I think most would agree with you.

TheTresStateArea Mar 20, 2026 +25

The way Batman Beyond finally wraps up is just so f****** perfect. I really hope that the Spider verse team gets to make their Batman Beyond movie that they pitched.

powerlesshero111 Mar 20, 2026

I want live action. Honestly, they could use the same tech they did for the Mandalorian, where it's basically filmed against video screens, not green screens, and get a really good looking backdrop.

LADYBIRD_HILL Mar 20, 2026 +3

They already used that tech for the rooftop scenes in The Batman

bigwreck94 Mar 20, 2026 +16

Yeah, the reveal involving Luthor in that storyline was amazing. That was a story told through 3 different series that went way back. I loved the attention to continuity in that universe.

Mattyzooks Mar 20, 2026 +8

Mentioned in another comic but that moment Brainaic fired a beam at Luthor point blank that didn't kill him as him implanting nanobots was such a great callback move. It's basically a retcon but done in a way of "don't you wonder why that didn't kill you" where it was "Because he's Lex Luthor in a children's cartoon in 1997" but now had a much more sinister purpose.

sppy1 Mar 20, 2026 +12

"Patriot Act" is definitely a highlight of the whole series. And yes, Question, played by Weyoun 5, I mean Brunt no Sharn, I mean Jeffrry Combs was amazing

doom1701 Mar 20, 2026 +1

I think you mean Agimus. Or maybe Rachet.

trevorda92 Mar 20, 2026 +12

In memory of the boomerang marathons as a kid I do a rewatch every summer I love that story arch so much

Algae_Mission Mar 20, 2026 +10

That conversation between Superman and Dr. Hamilton gets me to this day. “I used to think you were a guardian angel sent to protect us…but Lucifer was an angel too.”

giventofly2 Mar 20, 2026 +12

The best thing about JLU was seeing all the lesser known heroes like The Question and Booster Gold

serialstitcher Mar 20, 2026 +7

the question was f****** awesome an they nailed the huntress romance

KraiNexar Mar 20, 2026 +8

"What, you go through my trash?" "Please. I go through everyone's trash."

futuresdawn Mar 20, 2026 +10

The cadmus arc was brilliant and even more so because of its political commentary during the height of the bush administration.

jesuspoopmonster Mar 20, 2026 +3

Hey, I'm the only guy in the room who doesn't have superpowers, and let me tell you, you guys scare me. What if you do decide to go marching down there, taking care of whoever you think is guilty? Who could stop you? Me?- Green Arrow

Phylanara Mar 20, 2026 +1

Of course we know the answer is "batman. But nobody's gonna like it"

Mattyzooks Mar 20, 2026 +4

The best thing about it is that this arc culminated so many things. 1. Superman being brainwashed by Darkseid in the STAS finale set the wheels in motion here. This ruins Superman's series long friendship with Dr. Hamilton who becomes a major player in Cadmus. 2. Cadmus is first hinted at in the Justice League episode Wildcards when Joker steals their experiments: The Royal Flush Gang. 3. It's later revealed that Joker stole Cadmus tech during that episode that he utilized in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. 4. The Justice Lords episode of Justice League and their murder of President Luthor became a huge element of the Cadmus arc. 5. The Thangarian invasion and betrayal of one of the Justice League put governments on higher alerts. 6. Lex Luthor, who had been a constant static thorn in Superman's side, is released in Justice League to have an actual arc. He gets finally taken down from his business empire, develops cancer, creates an Injustice League, commissions a super powerful android to be built, gets his power suit, gets thrown in jail, and ultimately gets a pardon helping the Justice League take down the Justice Lords. The episode ending with him considering a career in politics. 7. A random moment from early on in STAS where Brainiac hits Luthor point blank with a blast. Then the actual arc does things like: 8. Bring back Supergirl who was absent in Justice League. 9. Spends an episode with Amanda Waller and Terry from Batman Beyond. 10. Brings back Doomsday to draw a parallel between Superman and his Justice Lord counterpart. 11. Has the government using early prototypes of the Zeta Project. 12. Culminates in that one Brainiac moment from 8 years prior leading to Lex's cancer healing and them merging into one of the coolest bad guys the show had. 13. Members of Cadmus were a mix of previously known and newer characters: Hardcastle from STAS, Dr. Hugo Strange from BTAS (until the embargo made him disappear), Prof. Hamilton from STAS, Tala from JL, Lex Luthor from STAS/JL, etc.

drallafi Mar 20, 2026 +10

Holy shit this means you haven't seen Young Justice. DUDE. You are in for a treat. Go watch Young Justice!

KneeHighMischief Mar 20, 2026 +22

No, I've seen *Young Justice*. I don't like it quite as much due to some of the focus shifts. I watched it as it aired which means long gaps between viewings. I would like to watch it again. I think I'd probably appreciate it more in a binge. It won't change that it ends incomplete.

inconspicuous_male Mar 20, 2026 +8

I love Young Justice and I like the DC lore that it introduced me to. I think You g Justice is what finally got me to start reading comics. But DCAU is better. Full stop

serialstitcher Mar 20, 2026 +4

id you ignore the reboot seasons, sure it’s 80% as good at times beast boy saving the world with tweets and racist martians were horrendously cringe storylines.

drallafi Mar 20, 2026 +3

I really only enjoyed the first two seasons. They were especially great to me.

MrGittz Mar 20, 2026 +3

Young Justice is great for 2 seasons. That first season is something special. But the show made a huge mistake. Having the characters grow up just loses something when the new seasons start. That version of Robin in season 1(“whelmed”) is wonderful and I would love to spend more time with him. Instead we get the time jump and while season 2 is damn good, I don’t know. It lost something. Nothing is worse than what happens with Beast Boy. In season 2 he’s this great kid, adorable(“noted”) but then in season 3 oh man, Beast Boy is annoying. His voice, the way he acts, it’s just not the same. Sure it’s not supposed to be the same that’s the point but it hurts the show.

NativeMasshole Mar 20, 2026 +1

Yeah, I really like the background lore and overreaching arcs of Young Justice. I wish we got to see the end. Vandal Savage's story in that series is amazing!

donuteater111 Mar 20, 2026 +2

I'm going through JLU now, after watching the rest of the DCAU shows, and I completely agree. I'm half-way through seasons 3, which has been enjoyable in its own way (as was season 1), but I feel like season 2's Cadmus arc seems like the best culmination of everything that came before it. Great callbacks to past events, and really good use of both heroes and villains (I've become a bit tired of Amanda Waller, but this version won me over pretty quickly as my favorite version of the character). I love how \[JLU\]>!despite being all a plot by Lex/Brainiac,!

Mattyzooks Mar 20, 2026 +2

Season 3 of JLU is basically a victory lap where they decided to make Lex Luthor our main character POV into the Legion of Doom. And it's fun as hell because Lex is such an a****** to other villains (who he views as beneath him).

toomanyDolemites Mar 20, 2026 +2

I still haven't forgiven Emil for betraying his pal, Superman.

I know audiences love when things are intricately planned & mapped out showing us that it was all intentional from the get go but people really don’t understand what a miracle it is that a children’s animated series was able to pull off a storyline that spanned multiple television series over a decade. And it was all done retroactively. The behind the scenes interviews with Mark Hamil as the moderator on the blu ray is terrific. He asks great questions regarding the conception and writing. But that these guys(and gals) were able to take a seemingly insignificant element from Superman The Animated Series and turn it into some wonderful plot twist? And make it seem like it was all inevitable? Beautiful. I love when Luther is beating on The Question and says “silly faceless man. “President”? Do you have any idea how much power I’d have to give up to be **President** “ The DCAU is…we will never see its like again, and the fact that it peaked with its last show, JLU? Amazing. I remember seeing JLU for the first time, I was so disappointed they stopped using the OG Justice League opening & theme, that truly heroic and memorable theme that makes you want to salute the television. I really didn’t like the JLU guitar based action theme. But slowly over time I started digging it. Then I started liking it. Now I LOVE IT. Yes it’s not as memorable or awe inspiring as the original JL theme but it’s quintessential animated kids show opening. It just gets you pumped up. Ready to go. Bring it on. I love it.

RedditConsciousness Mar 20, 2026 +2

> a [pretty good list](https://web.archive.org/web/20060810031401/https://jl.toonzone.net/cadmus/cadmus1/cadmus1.htm) From the link: > **BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES** > *On Leather Wings* and *Terror in the Sky* > The first and second appearances of Dr. Kirk Langstrom, who genetically augments himself (and, later, his wife accidentally) with bat DNA to become the Man-Bat, arguably making him the first instance of a "splicer," a term introduced in Batman Beyond. It is later revealed that his notes fall into the possession of the Cadmus Project and Dr. Milo. I don't know if people know that these were the first two episodes of Batman TAS. They premiered in primetime on Sunday nights on Fox just a year or two after the success of Burton's Batman film. Serious primetime animation that wasn't for laughs or for kids was unheard of back then (though the serious part is still hard to find). It really did change everything that came after it.

RazgrizInfinity Mar 20, 2026 +1

Spicy take: I agree with you as Cadmus was a great storyline. However, I also feel it put a stranglehold on a vast majority of storytelling as it always revolved back around to it a bunch. I felt it killed lots of classic stories.

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The Cadmus story arc on Justice League Unlimited is such rewarding long-term storytelling

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45 Comments