Legion of Super Heroes cartoon
Contents
Introduction
Legion of Super Heroes is an animated show on the CW Network that debuted on Sept. 23, 2006. The premise of the show is that in order to defeat the Fatal Five in the 31st century, the Legion travels back in time to find the young Superman. However, they go back to a time where Clark Kent has not taken on the Superman mantle yet, and is still learning his powers. He decides to go to the 31st century to help the Legion and become proficient at his powers. The series centers on the young Superman's adventures in the 31st century, fighting alongside a group of futuristic superheroes known as the "Legion of Super Heroes".
The show somewhat follows the Justice League Unlimited format in that there is a core group of Legionnaires present throught most or all episodes, and a rotating cast of recurring characters that appear from time to time. The regular cast, as seen in promotional material, consists of (alphabetically) Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Superman, and Timber Wolf. Other Legionnaires seen and/or mentioned include Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Shrinking Violet, and Triplicate Girl. Many others are seen or mentioned by their Mission Monitor Board symbols in the opening credits or shown as computer screen images. For a full list of members, see the List of members/LSH cartoon.
This series is not in the same continuity as the Legion episodes in the Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited, which took place in the "DC Animated Universe" or "Timmverse".
Press Release
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES, 11:00-11:30 am: In the year of "Superman Returns" at Warner Bros., Kids' WB! is proud to present a new series developed especially for the "Too Big For Your TV" block by Warner Bros. Animation, inspired by the DC Comics legend. One thousand years from now, a group of teenage super heroes travel back in time to recruit the greatest hero of all, Superman, and enlist him their fight against evil in the 31st Century. While their intentions were good, their time travel skills were not, and Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy and Timber Wolf end up going too far back into the past, accidentally retrieving the young Superman, before he moved to Metropolis. Together, this unlikely Legion of Super Heroes bands together to defend the rights of all free worlds and uphold the laws of the newly formed United Planets. That is, if they don't kill each other first. LEGION OF SUPER HEROES combines humor with high-stakes, grand-scale super heroics to create the ultimate sci-fi, super hero fantasy for kids of all ages. Each episode of this fast-paced, character-driven action comedy will pit Superboy and the Legion against otherworldly threats and adversaries who challenge the team on both super heroic and emotional levels. The series is executive produced by Sander Schwartz, and produced by Linda Steiner and James Tucker for Warner Bros. Animation.
Legal status issues
The show was originally to star Superboy, but legal issues involving the ownership of the character arose in the summer of 2006 and led Warner Bros. to rename the character Superman instead. The original press release said that the Legion landed in the time of "the young Superboy", while the revised press release description said that the Legion retrieved "the young Superman, before he moved to Metropolis".
Cast
The series revolves around a core group of seven Legionnaires but others will be seen from time to time in recurring roles. The "core team" consists of Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy and Timber Wolf.
Main or recurring protagonists
Other Legionnaires
During the show's development, some information was uncovered or released:
- Concept sketches of XS were seen during the show's development, along with sketches of other Legionnaires. All but XS have appeared on the show to date.
- The episode description list suggests the Legion of Substitute Heroes and Ferro Lad.
Other Legionnaires have been mentioned or shown as images, but have not made an appearance:
- The opening credits sequences includes a glimpse of the Mission Monitor Board signs for a myriad of Legionnaires as well as shots of flying Legionnaires not yet seen on the show.
- In episode 1.01 ("Man of Tomorrow"), Cosmic Boy, Shrinking Violet and Colossal Boy are mentioned as active Legionnaires.
- During the coda of episode 1.02 ("Timber Wolf") images of Legionnaires Cosmic Boy, Shrinking Violet, Colossal Boy, Sun Boy, Element Lad, Blok, Dream Girl, and Tyroc can be seen on computer monitors during Timber Wolf's induction into the Legion.
- In episode 1.05 ("Champions"), Ultra Boy and Matter-Eater Lad appeared as participants in the Intergalactic Games, and were shown to have their traditional powers. Both appeared in their civilian identities and did not appear to be Legionnaires yet.
Below is a list of other Legionnaires mentioned or shown in some way that have not yet appeared on the show. As they appear, they will be moved to the Main/Recurring Character list above.
| Character | |
| Blok | symbol, computer monitor (1.02) |
| Chameleon Boy | symbol |
| Chemical King | symbol |
| Colossal Boy | symbol, flying sequence, in-episode mention (1.01), computer monitor (1.02) |
| Dawnstar | symbol |
| Dream Girl | symbol, computer monitor (1.02) |
| Element Lad | symbol, flying sequence, computer monitor (1.02) |
| Ferro Lad | symbol |
| Karate Kid | symbol |
| Polar Boy | symbol |
| Quislet | symbol |
| Shadow Lass | symbol |
| Shrinking Violet | symbol, flying sequence, in-episode mention (1.01), computer monitor (1.02) |
| Star Boy | flying sequence |
| Sun Boy | computer monitor (1.02) |
| Tyroc | computer monitor (1.02) |
Villains
| Character | Voice Actor |
| Fatal Five | |
| Emerald Empress (leader) | Jennifer Hale |
| Mano | N/A |
| Persuader | N/A |
| Tharok | David Lodge |
| Validus | N/A |
| Dr. Mar Londo | Harry J. Lennix |
| Alexis Luthor | Tara Strong |
| Drax | Greg Ellis |
| Legion of Super-Villains | |
| Mekt Ranzz/Lightning Lord | James Arnold Taylor |
| Tyr | Khary Payton |
| Orion the Hunter | |
| Starfinger | Taylor Negron |
| Sun-Eater | N/A |
Other characters
| Character | Voice Actor |
| Mekt Ranzz, brother of Lightning Lad | James Arnold Taylor |
| Jo Nah of Rimbor | James Arnold Taylor |
| Kem of Bismoll | N/A |
| Winema Wazzo, President of the United Planets, mother of Phantom Girl | April Winchell |
Staff and Crew
This is not a complete list.
| Job title/description | staffer(s) |
| Executive Producer | Sander Schwartz |
| Producer | James Tucker, Linda Steiner |
| Associate Producer | A. J. Vargas |
| Series Story Editor | Rob Hoegee |
| Series Directors | Ben Jones, Tim Maltby, Lauren Montgomery |
| Main Title Theme | Kristopher Carter |
| Music | Kristopher Carter, Michael McCustion, Lolita Ritmanis |
| Casting and Voice Director | Kelly Ward |
| Writers | Stan Berkowitz, John Esposito, Rob Hoegee, Rob Hummel, Marty Isenberg, David Slack, Scott Sonneborn, Matt Wayne, Amy Wolfram |
| Art Director | Dave Johnson |
| Character Designer | Derrick J. Wyatt, Glenn Wong |
| Storyboards | Irineo Maramba, Jay Baker |
| Backgrounds/Props | Norm Ryang, Eric Canete, Chad Townshend |
| Voice editing/ADR, post-production | Mark Keefer |
List of episodes
| Episode number | Episode Title | Original Air Date |
| 1.01 | Man of Tomorrow | Sept. 23, 2006 |
| 1.02 | Timber Wolf | Sept. 30, 2006 |
| 1.03 | Legacy | Oct. 7, 2006 |
| 1.04 | Fear Factory | Nov. 18, 2006 |
| 1.05 | Champions | Nov. 11, 2006 |
| 1.06 | Phantoms | Nov. 4, 2006 |
| 1.07 | Child's Play | |
| 1.08 | Lightning Storm | |
| 1.09 | Brain Drain | |
| 1.10 | The Substitutes | |
| 1.11 | Chain of Command | |
| 1.12 | Sundown pt. 1 | |
| 1.13 | Sundown pt. 2 |
