Justice League Unlimited S02E03 Review: Death of Superman

Justice League Unlimited, Season 2, Episode 3: The Doomsday Sanction

We're back with the Cadmus storyline, and we're back with more focus on the original founding members of the Justice League, giving the Superman/Batman team some additional emphasis. By virtue of both of them having long-running shows of their own, and Superman plotlines being some of the more eventful ones during the run of Justice League (their clashes with Luthor, Darkseid and Brainiac in particular), it's a fitting storymaking to have the overreaching Cadmus plotline have ties to Superman's own storyline.

Shit, where to even begin with this episode? Let's talk about Doomsday-vs-Superman later and start with the conflict between Batman and Amanda Waller, which is a very excellent choice for the showmakers. The Dark Knight needs a worthy opponent to challenge, and Waller is a breed of enemy that Batman hasn't exactly faced before in the DCAU, discounting Lex Luthor -- basically, Batman himself. Waller's similarities with Batman is highlighted several times. Sure, they approach things differently, with Batman donning a costume and beating up criminals, while Waller gathers a group of like-minded individuals and schemes in the background, but they're both paranoid, they're both open to negotiating with what they view as the 'lesser evil', and most importantly, as much as Amanda Waller brushes off civilians as acceptable casualties, they're both here to protect humanity. Batman was also the catalyst that formed the League's initial inception when he realizes there are threats too large for one rich man in a bat costume, which is essentially the stance that Amanda Waller is taking.

Amanda Waller is perhaps properly paranoid that these superheroes, beings with immense resources and powers, might turn on the people they protect. Whether by design or by accident, it's definitely plausible in-universe for her to think that way. After all, in-universe, we've got Superman himself being mind-controlled at the climax of Superman: TAS, we've got Hawkgirl revealing herself to be the harbinger of a full-on alien invasion during the final episode of Justice League, and other heroes like Metamorpho or Aquaman had proven to be antagonistic before, whether they mean to or not. And considering mind control is a very real thing in this universe, some of Waller's paranoia is well-founded.

And that's what makes Waller so scary and untouchable as a villain. Unlike Lex Luthor or TNBA's rendition of the Penguin, who are just villains with good publicity and a way to weasel out of actually being imprisoned, Amanda Waller fits more in the anti-hero category. Yes, she's extreme about it, but nothing she does is actually illegal.

Of course, Batman himself isn't a force to be underestimated. After their last meeting ending with Waller taunting Batman about the knowledge of his secret identity and presumably those of many others, it's time for Batman to show how scary he can be. This episode's first scene is an oddity in Justice League Unlimited, whose shorter running time tends to jump straight into the superheroing business. Here we start off with Amanda Waller's domestic life, showing her morning routine, just like any normal person, until it gets interrupted by Batman handing her a towel. Batman's appearance just shatters Waller's peaceful morning, showing that, yes, Batman can get to her any time he wants to, at moments when she's at her most vulnerable. Instead of a towel, Batman could've had a weapon in his hands. It's a very powerful scene, where these two master strategists and leader figures of their respective factions show up to simply talk.

We get the revelation that Project Cadmus was set up in response to the Justice Lords crisis in case the League ever went bad (though Doomsday rampaging before the Justice Lords even arrived kind of puts some holes in that), noting that they are the only line of defense against the metahumans should they go bad. Batman warns Waller against attacking his League, a threat that Waller accepts without missing a beat. It's very powerful storytelling in showing how nonchalant Waller is in the face of someone like Batman, yet the next scene, when she's alone, shows that her hand is shaking. It's credit to Amanda Waller as a character, who dares to stand up to what she believes is right even though she's shaking inside.

We get to see the rest of Project Cadmus, and it's revealed that there's a relatively significant amount of older faces among the group. We've got Amanda Waller herself, and Professor Emil Hamilton, Superman's treacherous friend... but we get the revelation that Wade Eiling, previously appearing as just an angry military general in the episode 'Dark Heart', as a member of Cadmus (which explains why he was so vehemently against the League's participation there) and Batman villains Hugo Strange and doctor Milo, the former explaining where Waller got Batman's secret identity from. Oh, and this mysterious white-eyed lady we've never seen before. Pay attention to her, she'll be important in future episodes.

There's a very cool transition where in the Watchtower, Batman gathers the seven heads of the Justice League, which transitions into Amanda Waller gathering her own generals on a meeting. Quite hilariously, when Batman reveals that he's got the Question investigating Cadmus (yay Question!), the rest of the founding members groan in unison.

Obviously, the titular Doomsday becomes the central antagonist for a huge chunk of the episode, with the recton-slash-reveal that Doomsday's randomly-out-of-nowhere appearance back in Justice League was actually him escaping from a Cadmus facility. It's the kind of 'tying all things together' retcon that feels like it actually makes sense, and we get our the DCAU's own take on Doomsday. Doomsday is basically Bizarro done right, a clone of Superman, but instead of being imperfect and speaking in reverse, Doomsday is engineered to be stronger and more powerful, with spikes all over. Instead of being naive and generally confused like Bizarro, Doomsday is programmed to hate Superman and wanting to destroy him.

It's a very well done alternate origin story for Doomsday, certainly far simpler than the "Kryptonian alpha predator modified by aliens to continually regenerate and overcome the thing that killed him" origin story that they gave him in the comics. Doomsday's earlier appearance in Justice League, as hilarious as it is to have him lobotomized by Justice Lord Superman, is a bit of a disservice to the iconic supervillain (as much as I personally dislike Doomsday) and this time around we get a bit of a do-over with him. We've done the "Superman dies" plotline before, though, so instead of retreading past grounds, Doomsday is instead used to develop the ongoing Cadmus Project.

Within the present-day Cadmus, there is significant discontent with doctor Milo, whose work in splicing animals ends up producing no results. It's a bit of Waller's fault to hire such a shitty scientist as doctor Milo, who is the asshat responsible for some of Batman: TAS's worst episodes. Waller fires Milo, and in his bitterness, Milo sneaks into Doomsday's prison and tells the monster, who has recovered his intellect, about the fact that it was Cadmus that tormented him and filled him with hate against Superman, trying to goad Doomsday into destroying Waller and the others. There's an absolutely great and surprisingly dark bit where Milo briefly hallucinates taking out a gun and murdering everyone on the roundtable in cold blood.

Milo frees Doomsday, only to be rewarded with a pretty graphic death as Doomsday grabs his face and the scene cuts away -- but not before we get a pretty definite CRICK. Doomsday heads off to do battle with Superman... who's off helping the League evacuate the residents of a tropical island threatened with a volcanic eruption. 

All of the scenes that I have just described takes place within the episode's act one, and the rest of the episode focuses more on the big brawl between Superman and Doomsday. With the rest of the League occupied with the evacuation (and honestly none of them bar maybe Wonder Woman standing a chance against Doomsday), Waller goes ballistic in Cadmus's base, which General Eiling takes as an invitation to launch a kryptonite nuclear missile at the island they're fighting on, and damn the consequences. Eiling notes how efficient this would be, getting rid of three problems at once: Doomsday, Superman, and a hub for drug trafficking. 

As Batman rushes in with recklessly driving a Javelin down towards San Baquero, he calls Amanda Waller (on the White House's hotline, no less!) and calls her bluff, noting that Waller had no idea that Eiling is acting behind her back. Amanda Waller is a harsh woman, but she's not completely evil and is absolutely furious at Eiling -- but there's nothing either of them can do to stop the nuclear missile. Instead, Waller's hopes of stopping a disaster borne of a weapon she designed ends up resting on Batman, the superhero she's threatened before. (Apparently, according to J'onn, Captain Atom and any other superhero suitable for the mission are just too far away to arrive in time)

Batman, of course, manages to use the Javelin to redirect the missile before ejecting himself off the Javelin, allowing the nuke to detonate safely away from the island. At the same time, Superman and Doomsday have a battle at the heart of the volcano, and kudos for the DCAU team for making intelligent!Doomsday a far more interesting villain than he is. Superman ultimately wins, though the show does a great job of portraying just how beaten the man of steel is, and he had to be rescued and bailed out by Wonder Woman.

In a way, similarly to how Eiling and Milo launched the nuke and unleashed Doomsday without Waller's supervision, this time it's Batman that has to deal with the rest of his people doing something morally questionable without his supervision. The founding members of the League, minus the wounded Batman, as well as minus Hawkgirl (though strangely she's in the opening meeting), vote to banish Doomsday into the Phantom Zone because there's no way to rehabilitate Doomsday.

Batman is recovering in the Watchtower's infirmary, wounded after the heroic crash and he calls out Superman because they passed down judgments like gods, and realizes that Amanda Waller has a point -- Cadmus is scared for a reason. Granted, Phantom Zoning Doomsday (the big fucker isn't even killed!) isn't quite on the same level of evil-ness as launching a nuclear bomb at an island full of civilians, and Doomsday is a threat they're not prepared to deal with, but the principle still stands. Batman calls Superman out, asking him what would humanity do should Superman actually go crazy like his Justice Lord counterpart. Superman tries to joke about the kryptonite piece that Batman carries around, and in one of the best and most emotional moments in the entire DCAU, he lashes out in a perfect combination of anger, disappointment and a bit of uncertainity. "You don't get to joke! Not today. I just took a bullet for you." 

It's an amazing moment for Batman. While the conversation does kind of show the amount of trust and respect Superman has for Batman -- noting that Batman would be the one to take him down should he go evil -- Batman acknowledging that Amanda Waller has a point, and really, the only thing that keeps him going is Superman going "Trust me. You know me.", a statement that Batman agrees in... the seeds of doubt is planted. Right now they might say that they wouldn't cross the line, but as Superman and Wonder Woman leaves Batman while he is shrouded in darkness, it seems that, well, Batman isn't completely convinced. Just like how Waller has seen some of the points in Batman's argument, it works the other way around, and the great part of this story is that neither of them are completely in the wrong.

What an amazing confrontation, really. And that's honestly not everything that's happening here. All throughout the episode, we've got hints here and there that Lex Luthor is running for president, which, of course, in the Justice Lords universe ends up leading to the chain of events that ended with Superman murdering Luthor in cold blood. Will events play out similarly? Is Amanda Waller right to be paranoid?

Justice League Roll Call:

• Speaking Roles: Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Superman
• Non-Speaking Roles: Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Hawk, Vixen, Fire, Ice, Vibe, Booster Gold, Black Canary, Obsidian, Hourman, Wildcat, Shining Knight
• Major Villains: Amanda Waller, Doomsday, Emil Hamilton, Tala, dr. Milo, General Wade Eiling
• Non-Speaking Villains: Lex Luthor, Hugo Strange

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• A lot of callbacks to "A Better World", including references to Doomsday's arrival and conflict with the Justice Lords, the events that led to the creation of the Justice Lords in the alternate timeline, as well as Lex Luthor running for president. (Itself based on an arc in the Superman comics where Lex actually does become president). The Watchtower's giant space cannon is also referenced from the episode "Dark Heart", which was witnessed by General Eiling. Other Cadmus projects like the Ultimen and Galatea (who's mentioned by Hamilton to have fully recovered) are also mentioned.
• The Phantom Zone projector returns from Superman: The Animated Series, and Batman carrying Kryptonite around is a reference to their first meeting in Batman/Superman, as well as Batman using the Kryptonite to fight Amazo in "Tabula Rasa".
• Hugo Strange and Doctor Milo both return from Batman: The Animated Series, one of the few characters other than Batman himself to appear in Justice League Unlimited despite the 'bat-embargo' preventing the showrunners from using any major Batman-related characters. This is Hugo Strange's sole appearance in the series, and he doesn't get any lines. The producers note that Strange's appearance here is a set-up for future episodes, but they were unable to use Hugo Strange after this.
• Milo makes allusions to another scientist well-involved in splicing animals, presumably a reference to Kirk Langstrom, better known by his alter ego Man-Bat.
• Doomsday adapting to the thing that last killed him, in this case by growing spines on his forehead to block Superman's heat vision, is true of him in the comics as well, where every time Doomsday returns from the dead, he has evolved to counter whatever killed him last. 
• A bit of a little interesting thing to note is one of the original plans for the show was to have this episode be the turning point that would eventually lead to Batman splitting off from the League and form his own team of non-powered superheroes (like Huntress and Wildcat), all Civil-War/Injustice-style, and also presumably explaining Bruce being estranged from the Justice League in the future in Batman Beyond. This idea ended up being scrapped because the showrunners found it too difficult to tell that story without making Batman feel like a villain. How cool would that be, though?