[UPDATED] What’s in Store for ‘Young Justice’ Season 3?

James Akinaka
TV DC
TV DC Animation

UPDATE 7/21/17: At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, showrunners Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti and art director Phil Bourassa treated fans to their first look at season three, confirmed to be entitled Outsiders. Cissie King-Jones and Stephanie Brown will return to join the Team as heroes Arrowette and Spoiler, respectively. Also debuting will be the mysterious newcomer, 13, who doesn’t seem to be connected to any pre-existing characters in the comics — at least for now. Catch up with our full recap of the Comic-Con panel to learn more details about Outsiders!

UPDATE 2/16/17: So while there hasn’t been a whole lot of news forthcoming, what we do know so far presents some good news for fans. Khary Payton has confirmed that he’ll return to voice team leader Aqualad, but the only other cast member to indicate if they’re returning is less of a confirmation and more of a tease…

Jason Spisak is teasing the return of Wally West/Kid Flash, which is kind of a big deal since SPOILERS he sacrificed himself to save the team at the end of season two. Will he return, or will it be more of a role relegated to flashbacks? We’ll just have to wait and see as the premiere date still has yet to be announced.

11/13/16

Fans of Young Justice got the exciting news that their favorite animated series will be back for a third season. Even better, series co-creators Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti are back at the helm as the show resumes production. Young Justice has told the compelling story of how the young heroes of the Team stepped out of the shadows of their mentors from the Justice League. What might be in store for the Team as Young Justice enters season three? Two of our Fan Contributors are here to weigh in.

Definitely More Darkseid

Rejoice! One of the best superhero cartoons is back, and not a moment too soon. While admittedly I’m more of a fan of the DCAU, Young Justice definitely had a lot of similarities to the shows of that era. Strong writing, fantastic actors and characters, and engaging stories that combined DC continuity into something new. But the real question is what’s on course for season three?

Darkseid-Young-Justice

At the end of season two, Vandal Savage escapes from the Team and travels to Apokolips. There, he meets with Darkseid, who it appears was behind everything so far. If season three is the only season they get, Darkseid is one of the best villains for them to take on. The series has already brought in Intergang and some of the New Gods, so it was only a matter of time. Plus Darkseid is probably one of the quintessential villains of the DC universe. He’s an all-powerful god who’s a master strategist and can go toe-to-toe with Superman without blinking. It’ll be worth seeing him get taken down a peg.

But what happens if it goes even further to a season four or beyond? Personally, I’d love to see a Crisis-level event. While the term has been watered down over the years, the meaning behind it in the DC universe is significant. It indicates a battle of truly epic proportions over multiple dimensions. By introducing the Multiverse, that could also serve as an introduction to all sorts of characters that might not normally work given the current continuity in the show. We’ll see what happens, hopefully, fan reaction and viewership will help make this a reality.

– Bob Aquavia, Fandom Fan Contributor 

Another Time Skip

Young-Justice-Happy-New-Year

If Young Justice‘s first two seasons are anything to judge by, then there are more major changes in store for season three. From the very beginning of production, Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti planned the five-year gap between seasons one and two. Furthermore, back in 2012, Weisman confirmed that the series’ writers had planned another time skip for season three.

Now that season three will become a reality, how long will the potential time skip be? The simplest guess would be another five years, but it could just as easily be any other amount of time. The real question is how much time the series can skip without disorienting fans. It will be interesting to see how much season three pushes ahead into the future.

Young-Justice-Season-2-Endgame-The-Team

As of the end of season two, Aqualad has returned to lead the Team with help from Batgirl, Static has joined the Team, and Black Canary is the Justice League’s current leader. Then there’s also the disappearance of Kid Flash. Fans have long wondered whether other iconic characters from the Teen Titans TV series — namely Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven — will show up on Young Justice. And besides all that, Weisman previously hinted that season three might explore the Martians and the Green Lanterns in some way.

Young Justice season three has a tremendous amount of potential since it can pull on any of these plot threads. Yet, despite the impressive continuity that Young Justice has built for itself, the show also needs to use its third season to bring in new fans. The series will have been off the air for several years by the time it returns, so the new season will be a good starting point for incoming fans. There’s no doubt in my mind that whatever happens, season three will be a strong continuation of Young Justice.

– James Akinaka, Fandom Fan Contributor

James Akinaka
James Akinaka arrives at Fandom by way of Wookieepedia. He covers Star Wars, superheroes, and animation and has mastered the art of nitpicking. Since he works in publishing, he reads far too many books.