Cancelled Before It Began: Justice League of America (1997)

The 1997 Justice League of America pilot arrived at a low point for superheroes on television and in the movies, and it could have completely killed the genre if it was picked up to series.

What Is It?

The city of New Metro is attacked by the villain known as The Weather Man as he uses a tornado and then a hail storm to prove his ability to control the elements. The Justice League protects the city, but they are desperately seeking the identity of this villain. Meanwhile, a meteorologist discovers a strange device in the lab where she works that causes her to turn everything she touches to ice. She also learns the fact that her boss is The Weatherman. She takes this information to the League, and they invite her to join in the fight against the villain.

Aired: CBS, Never Aired

Starring: Matthew Settle, Kimberly Oja, John Kassir, Michelle Hurd, David Ogden Stiers, Miguel Ferrer

Why Didn’t it Fly?

A live-action Justice League of America TV series is certainly an idea with potential, but it did not happen in 1997 because this pilot was bad. I mean really bad. It made the bad camp of Batman & Robin look like Shakespeare in comparison. And it took itself far too seriously in the process.

Audiences of today may not realize that there was a time when comic book characters were not media darlings, and back in 1997 superheroes appeared to be on their way out after several years of popularity on the big screen and some inroads to television. Batman and Robin, which came out that year, pretty much sunk that franchise in the theaters and ABC’s Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman came to an end in the middle of the year. But there was an attempt to keep the comic book presence (specifically the DC characters) alive and well on the small screen. That took shape with the Justice League of America pilot commissioned by CBS that would have launched an ongoing series for the famous team. Wisely, the network passed on the pilot and decided to not even air it as a movie of the week. Because if this had hit the schedule, it might have put the nail in the coffin for the superhero genre.

Would the Series have Worked?

The concept of a Justice League series is sound enough, and the animated series from the 00s is considered a genre classic.  But this pilot derailed any attempt to create a live-action version based on the team. First off, DC’s three biggest heroes Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman did not participate, but that’s because they were already earmarked for films or other projects. Not too much of a hurdle, though, because that still left popular characters like the Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and more. But for some reason, they decided to add in non-comic book characters Ice and Fire and moved them to prominent roles on the team. That was not necessarily a disastrous move, but the characters just weren’t that interesting and it seemed odd to give them so much attention when DC has such a large stable of superheroes to draw from (though licensing issues may have come into play here).  On top of this, the production had a less than stellar cast, though David Ogden Stiers (as Martian Manhunter) and Miguel Ferrer (as the villain the Weatherman) did what they could to liven things up.  (Michelle Hurd, who played the Huntress, had much better days ahead for her.)  Add super cheesy production to the mix along with a poor script, mostly bad acting, and the fact that it took itself much more seriously than it should, and you have a production that would do nothing to help revive the lagging superhero genre.

Should It Be Rebooted?

The Arrow-verse was on the verge of folding in the Justice League, though that team would have likely only been used for big cross-over events.  With The CW shifting over to new management, that franchise has mostly been kicked to the curb (Superman & Lois is tangential to the Arrow-verse and barely hanging on), so I don’t expect anything to show up on that network.  The big-screen Justice League movie disappointed at the Box Office, and the Snyder-cut variation did not do enough to justify more adventures with that team.  The DCEU film franchise is going through a reboot and it is possible the Justice League could play a part in that, but it is unlikely it would be as a television series.  There is a possibility that the Arrow-verse Justice League could show up on Max at some point in the future as a reunion special for those shows or an attempt to kick them off again.  But that probably will not happen while the DC-based films are trying to re-establish themselves.

Where Can You Watch It?

For obvious reasons, this TV film never received an official DVD or Blu-ray release, though it has since resurfaced on bootleg DVDs and online from time to time, and it has achieved a degree of notoriety.  If you keep an eye on YouTube, it pops up there every now and then before the Warner Bros. folks see it and get it yanked (not wanting us to know it ever existed). Be warned in advance, though, that this is a hard one to sit through as it even fails to achieve the it’s-so-bad-it’s-good level status. But it’s still worth a look for a few chuckles if you have the time.  The DCEU films from the past few years have drawn plenty of criticism, but watch just a little bit of 1997’s The Justice League, and they will seem like high art in comparison!

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