A definitive ranking of every Justice League episode

Season 1, Episodes 1, 2, and 3

When Justice League debuted on Nov. 17, 2001, it represented the culmination of a decade's worth of universe building, which began in the legendary series Batman: The Animated Series and carried through Superman: The Animated Series and subsequent programs. Created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, Justice League united the DC Animated Universe versions of Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Superman (Scandal's George Newbern) with Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg), Green Lantern John Stewart (Phil LaMarr), the Flash (Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum), Martian Manhunter (Carl Lumbly), and Hawkgirl (Maria Canals) against forces they couldn't take on alone.

Over the course of its run, Justice League would soar to great heights as it adapted some of DC Comics' most beloved characters (and eventually lead into Justice League Unlimited). However, "Secret Origins," the three-part series premiere — which finds the League fending off a White Martian invasion — is definitely the show's lowest point due to clunky dialogue and severe pacing issues. That being said, it's hard not to get excited about this new group of super-friends once the action gets going. —Chancellor Agard

Season 2, Episodes 13 and 14

Whenever the side plot is more interesting than the primary villain, it's not a good sign for the episode's quality. The Flash's flirtation with commercial work was much more interesting than the battle against Eclipso, who looked almost as goofy as the guardian chasing him down. —Christian Holub

Season 1, Episodes 10 and 11 

In "War World," which was inspired by Superman #32, Superman and Martian Manhunter were abducted and taken to War World, a planet ruled by the dictator Mongul, who used gladiator matches to oppress the population. Although Mongul was a formidable foe for Superman, the story never quite came together, and this ended up being one of the series' more forgettable episodes.

Season 2, Episodes 9 and 10

The second of this show's Green Lantern Corps episodes focused primarily on the complicated relationship between John Stewart and his ex-girlfriend, fellow Green Lantern Katma Tui, but it wasn't quite enough to carry a lackluster story (featuring an undercooked version of the villain Despero). Considering Stewart has one of the more interesting arcs of any character over the course of the series, there are plenty of other episodes with better development for him. —Christian Holub

Season 1, Episodes 20 and 21

While the villain of the week was rather boring, this Keith Damron-penned outing is notable for featuring the welcomed return of the demon Etrigan, who was introduced on Batman: The Animated Series, and a poignant subplot for Martian Manhunter, who finally confronted his loneliness. By the end of the episode, he had fully embraced the League as his new family. —Chancellor Agard

Season 1, Episodes 12 and 13

Part of the joy of Justice League was how it loved exploring rarely visited parts of the DC Comics Universe, and this buddy-cop comedy of an episode centered on the team of goofball Flash and straight-man, former marine Green Lantern took us to Gorilla City. We'll give this episode extra points because it's the first episode of the series written by the great Dwayne McDuffie and it introduced Batman and Wonder Woman's flirtatious relationship. —Chancellor Agard

Season 1, Episodes 8 and 9

In the show's first Wonder Woman-centric episode, the evil sorcerer Faust took the Amazons of Themyscira hostage and forced the League to find all of the keys to hell for him so he could summon Hades. While the plot ended up being rather simple, the episode did offer a complex and relatable exploration of Wonder Woman's relationship with her home, from which she was banished at the end of the episode. —Chancellor Agard

Season 2, Episodes 3 and 4

Amazo, an android who can copy the League's powers, made his DC Animated Universe debut in this perfectly fine episode. "Tabula Rasa" lacked some of the interesting character drama of the show's best episodes and felt like it was held together by several fights, which, to be fair, were quite fun and thrilling thanks to Dan Riba's direction. That being said, we'll take any chance to hang out with Clancy Brown's slimy version of Lex Luthor. —Chancellor Agard

Season 1, Episodes 22 and 23 

"Metamorphosis" is a weird episode – not just because it sidelined most of the League in favor of a new character, Metamorpho, but because it produced some truly strange artistic sequences. The show made the most of Metamorpho's shapeshifting abilities, as in one particularly eye-popping fight with J'onn as the two transformed into one shape after another mid-battle. —Christian Holub

Season 1, Episodes 14 and 15

Wonder Woman's home island of Themyscira forbids men to enter, and generally takes a pretty anti-men attitude. When renegade Amazon Aresia tried to take that further and kill all men, it's a setup for a women-only episode as Diana and Hawkgirl raced to stop her. Unfortunately, the episode didn't quite live up to its intriguing premise; the set pieces in particular were rather unimaginative. —Christian Holub

Season 1, Episodes 6 and 7

Aquaman has long been a pop-culture punchline, but in an era of increasing underwater pollution and worries about nuclear proliferation, he has a new kind of resonance. Justice League recognized this by making their Aquaman a serious king of a sovereign Atlantis who has real political gripes with surface-dwelling humans — and then made him even more serious by cutting off his hand and making him face a palace coup. Luckily Deadshot was there to lighten things up a little. —Christian Holub

Season 2, Episodes 5 and 6

Writer Stan Berkowitz dove into the League's psychology in this, at times, trippy episode that pitted them against Doctor Destiny, a villain who terrorized them in their dreams. The episode juggled giving us an insightful and meaningful look at the League's insecurities and fears (the Flash receiving some much-needed development) while also finding the fun in having an exhausted Batman being the one to take out this very creepy villain. —Chancellor Agard 

Season 1, Episodes 18 and 19

Big-name villain crossover aside, this episode was interesting as a demonstration of Batman's role in the Justice League. Although he has none of his teammates' superpowers, the Dark Knight is still a master of criminal psychology, capable of thwarting the Injustice Gang's plan even while restrained in their prison. The final scene between him and Joker was worth the price of admission alone as a brief-but-hilarious insight into their eternal Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote relationship. —Christian Holub

Season 1, Episodes 24, 25, and 26

The three-part season 1 finale was a marked improvement on the show's lengthy series premiere. "The Savage Time" was a timey-wimey war epic that found the League traveling back to World War II to stop immortal megalomaniac Vandal Savage from changing the course of history. It's a fitting conclusion to the first season, which was mainly concerned with our characters' relationships with their pasts (see "Fury," "Paradise Lost," "In Blackest Knight," "Metamorphosis"). Plus, it also found time to introduce important wartime figures from the comics like Steve Trevor and Sgt. Franklin John Rock. —Chancellor Agard

Season 2, Episodes 17 and 18

This could've been a rehash of season 1's "Injustice for All," but it wasn't. The Gorilla Grodd-led supervillain group ended up being used to explore the growing tension between the Justice League's members. The stress of working together led to a brief breakup, but, by the end of the episode, they were back together, and it's clear this wasn't just a superhero group — it's a family, too. —Chancellor Agard

Season 1, Episodes 4 and 5

One of the most important decisions in the creation of Justice League was the use of the John Stewart version of Green Lantern, rather than Kyle Rayner, Hal Jordan, or the countless other characters who have held the mantle throughout DC's history. Stewart's internal conflict between his personal integrity, his past mistakes, and the demands of his job formed one of the primary backbones of the series. He got a great spotlight in this episode, which also dove into the plentiful Green Lantern mythology (and even sported some timely O.J. Simpson trial humor from the Flash). —Christian Holub

Season 2, Episodes 7 and 8

Wonder Woman has traditionally been a difficult character for comic creators to wrap their heads around, but the Justice League crew did the character justice with an interpretation that simultaneously showed off her beauty, dignity, power, naiveté, and love for peace. "Maid of Honor" was a great display of all those characteristics, as Diana flirted with Batman (and Princess Audrey of Kasnia), confronted Vandal Savage, empowered her friend, and ultimately saved the day. —Christian Holub

Season 2, Episodes 15 and 16

Decades before Netflix, the original version of Marvel's Defenders team was a loosely knit group of oddball superheroes, usually involving Dr. Strange, Hulk, and Namor the Sub-Mariner. Writer Dwayne McDuffie decided to pay homage to those stories by assembling the DC equivalents of those characters — Dr. Fate, Solomon Grundy, and Aquaman — and pit them against inter-dimensional Lovecraftian horror monsters. It was a bit of a break from typical Justice League fare, but the visuals were stupendous and Grundy's surprisingly touching relationship with Hawkgirl kept the whole thing grounded in human emotion. —Christian Holub

Season 2, Episode 23

The title of the episode says it all. This Paul Dini-penned standalone episode was both comforting and joyful and took a look at how the Justice League spent its holidays: Green Lantern and Hawkgirl got their flirt on; the Flash, with the help of the villain Ultra-Humanite, helped brings some Christmas joy to an orphan shelter; and Martian Manhunter spent Christmas with the Kents. As always, J'onn's was the most moving. The episode ended with J'onn, in his natural form, singing a Martian song guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes. —Chancellor Agard

Season 1, Episodes 16 and 17

Written by Andrew Kreisberg, "Legends" was both a love letter to Silver Age comics and a critique of stubbornly holding onto the past, which may not be as perfect and simple as we remember. Green Lantern and the rest of the League traveled to an alternate dimension where they teamed up with the Justice Guild of America, a Justice Society of America stand-in. Set in this idyllic 1950s town, the episode made little nods to the period's problematic attitudes about race and gender roles, an indicator that everything wasn't quite perfect. However, all was not what it seemed. This world was an illusion created by JGA's biggest fan, who kept this entire era alive through sheer force of telepathic will because he couldn't stand to let the JGA go, even after they died saving the world. The episode was a strong reminder that the only direction is forward. —Chancellor Agard

Season 2, Episodes 11 and 12

If you're a superhero fan, your friends have probably tried to trip you up at some point with questions like these: Why doesn't Batman just kill the Joker? Why doesn't Superman just kill Luthor? Wouldn't that make everything better? Well, this exceptional episode tackled those questions head-on by pitting our Justice League against the Justice Lords, a Flash-less, ruthless alternate universe version of the team who have no qualms about killing (the episode began with Justice Lord Superman murdering President Lex Luthor in retaliation for killing the Flash) and had taken over their own Earth. When the Justice Lords discovered our League, they decided to subdue them and enforce order over this new Earth. The episode interrogated both teams' philosophies, most notably in an incredible and poignant scene between the two Batmen. Obviously, League Batman ended up winning the argument, because this show believed in the aspirational aspect of superheroes — they remind us of how good we can be, and killing their foes would negate that. 

However, what's amazing about the episode is that it didn't let the Justice League off the hook. Yes, their no-kill stance was vindicated, but they still had to make a moral compromise to take back their Earth from the Justice Lords: They teamed up with Lex Luthor. At the time, this seemed like a small mistake, but this decision had far-reaching consequences that ended up serving as the backbone of the sequel series, Justice League Unlimited. —Chancellor Agard

Season 2, Episodes 21 and 22

The Joker is one of the most enduring villains in popular culture, and, even so, Mark Hamill's voiceover version (variously evil and hilarious, with different laughs for each emotion) remains one of the character's definitive interpretations. His final entry into the DCAU canon honored him with a unique episode format in which the Joker talked directly to the audience after commandeering the TV news. Together, he and viewers watched the Justice League attempt to dismantle his plot to blow up Las Vegas. Never one with much regard for the fourth wall, the Joker spent the episode calling out classic TV tropes (like Green Lantern and Hawkgirl's sexual tension), placing bets on fights, and so on. There were also little "jokes" hidden throughout the episode, such as the fact that the Royal Flush Gang was voiced entirely by the cast of Teen Titans. It was a wild, raucous combination that brought several series-long plot threads together and gave the Joker a well-deserved Timmverse send-off. —Christian Holub

Season 2, Episodes 19 and 20

Ever in search of new ways to boost sales, Marvel and DC will occasionally kill off their most famous superheroes to pique reader interest and provide dramatic stakes, only to miraculously bring them back a few months later. The most famous example of this is probably the "Death of Superman" in 1992, so it's no accident that writer Dwayne McDuffie chose Superman for his referendum on the trope. After a villainous attack appeared to kill Superman, McDuffie explored what the Man of Steel's absence means to both the League and the world. Viewers learned that the Flash was only so goofy because he always knew Superman had his back, and were later treated to the unexpected spectacle of Lois Lane and Lex Luthor tearfully embracing at the hero's funeral. No viewer could seriously think Superman was dead for good, but the dramatic gravitas was established so well, and the characters felt the loss so intensely, it couldn't help but have an effect. Thankfully, Lobo popped up for some comic relief.

The second part was a beautiful bottle episode that showed viewers where Superman went: a far-flung post-apocalyptic world that had left the Man of Steel bearded and powerless. There, he ran into Vandal Savage, now the only other living being left on Earth after his plan to destroy humanity finally worked a little too well. So Superman was living a hero's worst failure, and Savage was living a villain's greatest dream, and it turned out they were both the same: stuck here in an empty wasteland, forever. Together they found a way out for both of them, a bittersweet solution that didn't feel cheap at all.  —Christian Holub

Season 2, Episodes 24, 25, and 26

Justice League's two seasons were all building to this three-part series finale, an exciting, emotionally satisfying spectacle that also paralleled "Secret Origins" in a few interesting ways. In this epic episode, the Thanagarian army arrived on Earth and it was revealed that Hawkgirl was originally sent to Earth as a spy for her intergalactic empire, rather than the lost refugee she had always claimed. That twist worked so well because it made sense — there were several moments in past episodes where it was clear Hawkgirl was hiding something. However, what hit even harder was that Hawkgirl sided with the Thanagarians, led by her fiancé, Hro Talak, when the League tried to stop them from conquering Earth. Hawkgirl's betrayal had a huge impact because the writers had done such a good job of building the relationships between the characters over the course of the two seasons.

"Starcrossed" has too many great moments to fit here — from the League revealing their identities to each other while on the run from the Thanagarians to Batman summoning bats to distract the army when it stormed Wayne Manor, to the climactic and emotionally fraught fight between Hro Talak and John Stewart and Hawkgirl (after she flipped sides). However, the series ended on a bittersweet note of sorts: Shayera resigned from the League before hearing whether or not they voted to keep her in. (For the record: They voted to let her stay, and Superman broke the tie.) Thankfully, this wasn't the last time we saw the DCAU world, but if it had been, this would've been a great way to end the universe because this episode was an example of everything the show did well. —Chancellor Agard

Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2

Many Justice League episodes featured a nefarious combination of villains, but none of those multi-member Injustice Gangs posed nearly as big a threat as the devastating two-man team-up of Darkseid and Brainiac, Superman's two most terrifying enemies. Justice League mostly picked up where Superman: The Animated Series left off, but Superman's relationship with Darkseid (who had brainwashed him and turned him against Earth during the epic finale of the former series) remained unresolved throughout season 1. So when they finally met again in the season 2 premiere, for the first time, viewers saw Superman get really angry. Superman was the guiding star of the League, always looking for the best in both friends and enemies, but he truly hated the Apokoliptian dictator. This animosity reverberated throughout the episode, leading to a climactic duel athwart an exploding spaceship as hero and villain went at each other with everything they had.

Darkseid is the greatest villain in the DC Universe, but, unfortunately, creator Jack Kirby was never able to finish his original story for the character. Bruce Timm and crew did an incredible job of picking up Kirby's torch and fleshing out his Fourth World creations across their DCAU. They even managed to make New Genesis interesting here, by adding some fascinating social tension (even in heaven, there is a hierarchy, it appears). Kirby himself could hardly have dreamed up a better ending for Darkseid than having the dictator watch his foe escape and hiss "loser" with his last breath.

With such a powerful lineup of heroes, it's hard to make a given Justice League episode feel truly epic. But among Brainiac's apocalyptic attacks on Apokolips and New Genesis, flaring tensions between Superman and Batman, Hawkgirl's ongoing pining for her homeworld, and an explosive resolution between Superman and Darkseid, "Twilight" pulled it off. —Christian Holub