Young Justice: Phantomshas madea triumphant returnafter its mid-season hiatus, launching the second half of its season in March. These episodes continue a major trend thatPhantomshas stuck to: namely, launching a four to five-episode story arc focused on a major member of the original “Team” of superheroes. Not only does this story structure take a page from the comics the series is based on, but it’s also helpedPhantomsget back to the root of what madeYoung Justicesuch a beloved series.
WhenYoung Justicepremiered in 2011, showrunnersGreg WeismanandBrandon Viettitook a more grounded approach to the “teenage superhero team” concept that’s been a staple in comic books. While it shared a name with the DC Comics series created byPeter DavidandTodd Nauck, theYoung Justiceseries was more of a spy affair in the vein ofMission: Impossible. The first season centered around the formation of the teenage “Team”, with its membership consisting of Robin/Dick Grayson (Jesse McCartney); Wally West/Kid Flash (Jason Spisak); Kaldur’ahm/Aqualad (Khary Payton); the half-human/half Kryptonian clone Conner Kent/Superboy (Nolan North); M’gann M’orzz/Miss Martian (Danica McKellar); and archer Artemis Crock (Stephanie Lemelin). Future episodes would see the magician Zatanna Zatara (Lacey Chabert) and the gravity-defying Rocket (voiced byKittie KaBoomin Season 1 andDenise Bouttein future episodes) joining up.
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Season 2, subtitledInvasion, would take a drastic story leap by jumping forward five years – expanding the Team and revealing what happened to their original members. Superboy and Miss Martian, who had become a couple, split up due to her abuse of her psychic powers. Aqualad had turned to the dark side, joining forces with his father Black Manta (also voiced by Payton). Kid Flash and Artemis had retired from super-heroics, deciding to attend college. Zatanna and Rocket had joined the Justice League. And finally, Grayson had taken up the mantle of Nightwing. Fans were divided on the changes; while many enjoyed the appearance of Nightwing and other heroes such as Blue Beetle and Static, others felt the leap in time and expansion of characters was rather jarring as it separated them from the characters they had spent a season growing to care for.
That feeling would only intensify with the debut of Season 3, subtitledOutsiders. The road toOutsiderswas a rather rocky one: Cartoon Network canceledYoung Justicein 2013, which led to a recurring fan campaign to renew the series. Warner Bros. Animation would eventually launchOutsidersas part of its DC Universe service, with yet another jump in time. This time, the action took place three years after the end ofInvasionand attempted to return to the series' espionage roots by having Nightwing and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes) leading their own separate teams to combat metahuman trafficking and the forces of Apokolips. This time, the division among fans was even more pronounced, especially when it came to the sheer number of characters on screen; once again, characters from Season 2 faded into the background, while newer characters such as Geo-Force (Troy Baker) and Terra (Tara Strong) took center stage.
Phantomshas decided to shake things up in its approach, and the story arc structure of the season has seen a return to the main Season One cast (minus Kid Flash, who perished in theInvasionfinale “Endgame.") Each story arc focuses on a different character: first Superboy and Miss Martian, then Artemis (under her new alter ego Tigress), then Zatanna, then Aqualad (who has taken over the mantle of Aquaman from his mentor Orin) and currently Rocket. Much like a story arc in comic book, each character is given a number of episodes focusing on a different story; for example, Aqualad has to defend Atlantis from the attacks of Ocean Master (Roger Craig Smith), while Zatanna fights one of the Lords of Chaos (Erika Ishii).
The focus on the founding members of the team also coincides with the fact that the series has been on the air for nearly a decade, and each arc takes the time to address that. Superboy and Miss Martian travel to Mars for their wedding, as Superboy wants to fully embrace his wife-to-be’s heritage. Zatanna has become a teacher to other magical beings known as the Sentinels of Magic, while trying to find a way to free her father Giovanni (North) from the mantle of Doctor Fate as he took it up to protect her in Season 1. Artemis has formed a new life after Kid Flash’s death, but it is upended when her sister Chesire (Kelly Hu) comes crashing back into her life. And Rocket has to juggle being a member of the Justice League with motherhood.
Mental health has also taken precedence throughout this season, as the first arc seemingly ends with Superboy’s death. Miss Martian is distraught, as is Artemis since Superboy was like a brother to her. But it hits Beast Boy the hardest, and he deals with it in rather unhealthy ways; shutting himself off from the Outsiders and his fellow heroes as well as taking numerous sleeping pills to try and numb the pain. The Beast Boy story is spread throughout all the episodes, with each arc building upon it to the point where his fellow heroes - including Miss Martian, the Outsiders, and the Doom Patrol’s Robotman - holding a makeshift intervention.
Other mental health elements include Rocket’s son Amistad being diagnosed with autism, as well as everyone in Aqualad’s life convincing him to try and take a break. Ever since he was young, Kaldur’ahm has had to be responsible; he’s helped his parents, he helped the first Aquaman, he led the Team, and he finally became Aquaman and led the Justice League. Through all of that, he buried many of his friends including Kid Flash and Superboy; at the end of his arc, he finally decides to rest and a post-credits scene features him breaking down in tears when reflecting upon his losses. The show addressing mental health in this way is rare for superhero fiction but extremely welcome as it shows just how much these characters have been through over ten years. With the final set of episodes no doubt focusing on Nightwing, and the revelation that Superboy is trapped in the Phantom Zone, it remains to be seen how everything ties together - but fan response has made it clear that this is the way thatYoung Justicecan thrive going forward.
