"Wonder Woman" Week - Favorite Wonder Woman moments in "Justice League"/"Justice League Unlimited"?

[James Harvey]

The big screen live-action Wonder Woman movie hits theatres this Friday, June 2, so there's no better time to discuss the Amazon's amazing adventures in animation! Every day a new animation-themed topic will be posted focused on the beloved heroine, so check back and share your thoughts! Let's start with an easy one...

​

What are your favorite Wonder Woman moments from Justice League and Justice League Unlimited? And are there any other notable appearances from other DC Comics animated shows?

(Note: An animated movie question is coming, so let's stick to just the animated series.)

Discuss away!

 

[Crow]

In no particular order:

Paradise Lost was cool as it was Diana's first real focus ep, the end battle and final 'banishment' was very emotional.

Savage Time was probably a better character study of this Wondy than Fury was, it was so good that it ended on a quiet note with her. Very real evolution, but three episode focus of course.

Maid of Honor by dear old Dwayne, it was James Bond with Diana, what's not to love.

Eclipsed was probably one of my all-time favourites for pure 'Wonder Woman' moments. Very fun episode.

Starcrossed with the 'I should leave you to burn' line. Mercy.

As far as JLU goes, the writing team did really turn her into an ancillary character but when she was around, she made her presence felt. To Another Shore is probably my favourite Wonder Woman focused ep.

This dovetails into Destroyer quite nicely. Eisenberg has always been the most under-rated apsect of the show, she gets great moments, and the last line of the show.

We truly didn't know what we had at the time. I can only hope a whole new audience discovers Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. I don't know if I can recommend the new Harley fans every old episode of BTAS, but Great Hera I'll be singing the gospel of Wonder Woman for months and years to come.

*hums Am I Blue*

 

[Frontier]

"The Balance" where she uses the Lasso of Truth on one of the Demons Three and they finally learn, after all these years, that it can compel people to tell the truth .

 

[RoyalRubble]

"Paradise Lost" was a pretty solid story. Diana's determination to save her mother and fellow Amazons, that fight with Superman, followed by the battle with Hades. Plus some more amusing scenes like her trying to think of ways to explain to Hippolyta why she left the island. Then there's of course the dramatic ending with Diana getting banished from the island, which was handled pretty well. It's interesting how some of these events were later revisited during Justice League Unlimited (most notably, in "The Balance").

It was cool seeing Steve Trevor appear at least for a few episodes on the show, and have him interact with Diana. I thought the ending of "The Savage Time", with her meeting the elderly Steve in the present was a nice touch.

"Maid of Honor" was also a great episode, and I liked how Diana was portrayed there. Not only as Wonder Woman, but also some more character moments like meeting Princess Audrey and forming a friendship with her.

There are probably a lot more Wonder Woman scenes from the DCAU I enjoyed but these were the first I could think of. Diana was great on pretty much all other DC Comics animated shows as far as I'm concerned, but currently I really like how Justice League Action handles the character.

 

[Yojimbo]

The Flash may have the most memorable scene in "Divided We Fall" but I always grin when Brainiac-Luthor looks around for WW and she chucks the Javelin right into him and his weapon.

 

[the_joker]

Off the top of my head that hasn't been mentioned yet...

"The Brave and the Bold" started the flirtation between Batman and Wonder Woman (she even kissed him), and this continued in "Maid of Honor". She even figured out Batman's identity at the end of "Maid of Honor".

"Starcrossed" had Wonder Woman breaking her teammates out of the Thanagarian prison. Her powers couldn't be restrained like with Superman, Flash, or Martian Manhunter.

She was also fun in "Kid Stuff", as well her interactions with kid-Batman.

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

"Paradise Lost" is a mixed bag of a lot of great things, and some really unimpressive moments as well. However, the good is so good that I'd put it on the list of definitive WW episodes, if not THE definitive WW episode. WW's origin in the DCAU seemed to have various missed opportunities here and there, and I appreciated that "Paradise Lost" attempted to build on where they started. I don't want to get into habit of exclusively pointing out the sad moments as examples of great emotion in the series, but it made WW more fleshed out when we see that she badly missed Themyscira, and that she was willing to do anything to save her family. Tough to see her mother banish her from the island. Unfortunately, it's a season one episode so you know the action sequences are rough, but the good definitely outweighs the bad.

"Paradise Lost" got a follow-up of sorts with "The Balance." Building on the theme that I thought WW's origin was pretty underwhelming, I'm glad they finally addressed the glaring absence of the Lasso of Truth, or at least the Lasso's most prominent ability. It always struck me as odd that they thought the truth powers associated with it were somehow not appropriate for the show, and for the first few seasons it was quite disappointing it didn't have any powers. Nonetheless, the writers of the show had a knack for taking an idea they didn't like so much in retrospect, but then re-purposing plot points to make it fit better to the overarching narrative. That the Lasso needed to be activated by Hippolyta was ingenious as far as on-the-fly rewrites go. "The Balance" also gave the DCAU the feel of a Themyscira arc. I didn't care for the squabbling issues with Hawkgirl, and feel that's one of the weakest aspects of JLU, but for the WW mythology it was a shot in the arm.

"To Another Shore" isn't by any means a stand-out DCAU episode, but again it built on the WW mythology. Guess what, kids? She's now the Themysciran ambassador. Yay!

I really disliked the whole thing with Batman, but I liked the episode "Maid of Honor" because it's entertaining, and it's the good episode of what WW does on her off time. It's a bit kooky, but the levity is pleasant to watch.

As I was typing this out, I was prepared to point out that WW was the most under-utilized character on the show along with Flash, but thinking back at the show's run of 91 half-hour episodes, I realized (or re-realized) that there are good moments spread out. WW didn't start out well, but there were course corrections that put the character in a good place by the time the series ended.