Young Justice Season Four: Second Half Spoilers

The second half of Young Justice season four is finally done, and if you want a recap of my review for the first half, it’s right here. If the title still doesn’t give you an idea that there’ll be spoilers, then I’m telling you here: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. Having said that, let’s see what I thought about the second part of season four.

Lar-Zod with Darkseid and His Minions

Let me begin by talking about some of my predictions for the second part in my previous review. Firstly, I mentioned that I thought the big baddie for this series was going to be Mordru from the 31st Century. I was DEAD WRONG. Turns out that the threat from the 21st Century is General Zod. This is quite appropriate considering, as predicted, Superboy wasn’t dead, but was actually trapped in the Phantom Zone due to his rescue by Phantom Girl. It was in the Phantom Zone that Superboy encounters General Zod. Back in standard reality, we find out that it was General Zod’s son, Lor-Zod, is responsible for the ‘death’ of Superboy after stealing a time sphere from the 31st Century.

Next, I also predicted two other story elements. One (the long shot) was the return of Wally West who might show up to save Superboy. That didn’t happen. Sigh. I’m still hoping he gets to return from the Speed Force bringing the A Team back to full power. I also predicted that we’ll see more Legionnaires show up in Young Justice. With the apperance of Brainiac 5 who travels back in time to retrieve the stranded Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy, and Phantom Girl. I got my wish. So, I’m at fifty percent for these predictions. Yey for me.

Lagoon Boy, and the Aquamen

As to the story sequence, I also said that the last three arcs would focus on Aquaman, Nightwing, and Rocket. I was on the money on that one with Nightwing’s arc appropriately ending season four. It was fitting to have Kaldur’ahm aka Aquaman/Aqualad begin the second part of season four. It was a continuation of the mystical story arc that ended in part one with Zatanna. Here we get to find Vandal Savage up to his nefarious schemes again by trying to take control of the Kingdoms of Atlantis. Fortunately, Kaldur and company were able to thwart this plan which secured the safety of Earth for the moment.

Rocket aka Racquel

The next story arc focused on Rocket. With Rocket, the plot was about creating a pact between New Genesis, and the Green Lantern Corps vs. the power of Apokolips. She visited New Genesis to establish a treaty among the two aliend organizations, and Earth. Additionally, Rocket’s story arc focused on her relationship with her son, Amistad, who is autistic. Young Justice knocks it out of the ballpark again with this interpersonal story hook. We already have an overarching element in Beast Boy’s bout with depression. Now Young Justice adds to the mix the challenges of having a child with autism. This is just another example of what makes this series such a beautiful investment to view. Oh, also Rocket was able to broker an alliance with New Genesis, and the Green Lantern Corps.

From Left: Rocket, Miss Martian, Nightwing, Superboy, and Zatanna

Appropriately, the final arc for season four was headlined by the return of Nightwing to the team. I keep saying this, but I’ll say it again. Nightwing/Dick Grayson is a better team leader than Batman. This goes all the way back to his comic book roots even as Robin. We get to see that here in full display in this final arc. With Nightwing at the lead, the A Team was able to bring back Conner Kent from the Phantom Zone, and prevent the destructive fate of the universe under the crushing heels of the Zods. With that settled, Miss Martian, and Superboy could finally get married, albeit on Earth instead of Mars. Another happy ending for all…or is it?

From Left: The Foragers, Orion, Rocket, Jay Garrick Flash, and Lightray

Though the season ended with a happy wedding for our heroes, there are more challenges to face. Zod, and his forces were rescued from the Phantom Zone once again by Apokolips. Add to that the defection of Mary Marvel, AND Supergirl (Kara); and you have a more powerful force to face. I’m wondering if Supergirl’s appearance in Apokolips will follow the path of a familiar Batman/Superman comic story arc. Furthermore, Dru-Zod with the power of the Emerald Eye of Ekron retreats to Daxam…you know that planet of beings with powers similar to Kryptonians. It gets better. Dru-Zod is pregnant with General Zod’s child, and appears to want to raise this child on Daxam. Finally, Ma’alefa’ak who is Miss Martian’s brother, and enemy of Earth was gifted Durla by Darkseid as a reward for his services. For those of you unfamiliar with Durla, this is the planet of shapeshifters from which Chameleon Boy was born. Does this mean that Ma’alefa’ak is the ancestor of the Durlan shapeshifters like Chameleon Boy? Curiouser, and Curiouser. We’ll have to wait for season five (crossing fingers) to find out how these new story arcs pan out.

The A Team From Left: Zatanna, Superboy, Miss Martian, Aquaman, Tigress, Nightwing, and Rocket

Young Justice season four continues the excellent visuals, and storytelling that previous seasons have provided. The series not only centers on superheroics, but also delves deep into the interpersonal relationships among the main characters. Season four adds not only action, and intrigue, but also real life emotional problems such as dealing with depression, and autism. To my mind, this is the best western superhero series out there whether animated or live action. Young Justice is now streaming on HBO Max.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League: A League of His Own

Maybe this will teach the Warner Brother’s movie higher ups to allow their creators to create with trust and confidence. Maybe this will erase the memory of a messy and inconsistent film that reflected its patchwork pieces to come up with a pedestrian interpretation of a better film. Maybe this will open the door to a far different and more adult way of interpreting super hero films that might not be for every age, but becomes ageless. Enough of the maybes, ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ does all of the above.

Breaking away from what is expected of super hero movies nowadays, ‘Zack Snyder’s Jusctice League’ provides a super hero film consistent with the original vision started with ‘Man of Steel’. It is dark, it is gloomy, but it is hopeful. I liken this film to the gothic stories of old wherein you have characters set in a situation that is near hopeless with that rare light at the end of the tunnel driving them to their destinations. For truly, wasn’t the reason Dante Alighieri’s Inferno came before Paradiso to make people face their own darkness first to better appreciate the light? That was the case for this film.

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The story takes place directly after the events of ‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’, and you can see from the onset that this was a completely different film from the previous ‘Justice League’. Zack Snyder’s vision came to light with his setup of character buildiing of new heroes such as Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash while balancing it with previous character staples in Batman, Wonder Woman and even Alfred. The dramatic build up to the impending doom was just what the film needed to justify the gambit of reviving Superman from his eternal slumber. Never mind Steppenwolf. He’s small fry. When you’re going up against a threat like Darkseid, you truly need the hope that Superman gives on your side.

True, the film does not pit our Justice League directly against Darkseid himself. But, that’s more the case that they were able to prevent his coming in the first place, and not because they weren’t set to face him. For in all DC Comics lore, there are few greater threats than the Lord of Apokolips and his cronnies, Steppenwolf being just one among them. This raised the stakes to a worldly threat to an existential one. With Darkseid’s presence in ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’, we get to appreciate more the value of Superman to this story.

Let there be no mistake, this is a different film from ‘Justice League’ that came before it. Aside from the length, the treatment of the setting, characters and storytelling provide a better basis for the DC films that came after it. The vision is clearly set, and even sets the narrative up moving forward with what hopefully will be a proper continuation of this revived superhero franchise. Even the appearance of Martian Manhunter provides something to look forward to in future installmens of ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ as they move towards the power seven that is Justice League minus Green Lantern. However, elements of the film suggest that we might have a ring slinger making an appearance in the DC Extended Universe’s future. If not in this film, then maybe somewhere else.

All in all, ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ is a redemption film that reflects the true vision of the director. True, one might argue that the reshoots could be an afterthought of what worked in the previous film, and removing what didn’t work. However, that’s just pure cynical and insidious thinking. Zack Snyder loves these characters, and this story. Given a chance to show what he wanted, he would do so, and did so. What ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ provides us is an alternative way of telling super hero stories. Rather than be a super hero story, this film is a story about super heroes, and the difference can be seen in the end product.

‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ not only heralds the return, and highligths the importance of Superman. It also serves as a reminder of what happens when a creative genius is left to his own devices. Impending doom is averted, and hope in the future is restored.