[7.3/10] This is definitely a step down from the series premiere. I can understand a show wanting to dispense with a lot of backstory and dive into the action, but considering that this one is called “Secret Origins”, I was hoping for a little more fanfare as to how the Justice League forms. We get a little detail on what Diana’s up to and how she arrives, but Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, and Flash are just there, with no build or introduction. I wish we got more of a “here’s how the band came together” type deal.
At least we get some decent backstory on the invaders thanks to Martian Manhunter. It reminds me of some of the Apokalips stories in Superman: The Animated series where they would pause in the second act to deliver all the important details for the cosmic bad guys. Still, the prospect of the white blood cell-looking baddies as having invaded Mars a century ago, feeding on psychic energy, and copying the Martians’ shapeshifting abilities gives them a little more purpose and form. It also neatly introduces J’onn’s backstory as the last of his kind and the method of defeating the villains.
We also get an interstitial challenge in the invaders using bulbous black drilling machines to try to blot out the Earth’s sun, since they’re nocturnal. It provides an excuse for the League to scatter into teams and try to destroy them around the world.
The pairings have a bit of juice to them. We mix up the hotdog, freewheeling Flash with the stern, by-the-book Green Lantern. We mix the combat-hungry Hawkgirl with the more restrained Superman. And we mix comparative amateur Wonder Woman with the more experienced Batman and Martian Manhunter. The show doesn’t really get much juice out of these personality contrasts in the early going, but they’re there!
Overall, this is a middle installment and you feel it. There’s a lot of table setting and peril that will inevitably be resolved in the final chapter. After such a great introduction, part two of this trilogy of episodes rushes through the League uniting, so hopefully the climax and future episodes will delve more into it and the different characters than what we get here.
I'll go into more details in my review for part 2, but the second half of this feels extremely rushed - especially in the third act.
However, the first part is a great setup and gives us more insight about John, who we've only been vaguely aware of up until this point.
The episode has a cold open on the courtroom as they discuss the prime suspect and prepare to catch him, only for it to be revealed as John. Anyone who's even vaguely aware of the franchise knows he's a hero, so why would he be on trial? It makes you question things from the get-go.
We then see John take a stroll down his home neighborhood (while not caring about his secret identity) until the manhunters show up to spoil things.
They quickly detain him while easily dispatching half of the league, and then the plot begins. We're given a basic overview of what happened (and some side characters we won't remember).
Hawkgirl, Flash, and J'onn get a bit more characterization too - but this episode is all about John, the green lantern. We also get a bit of foreshadowing when the manhunters bumps into one of the lanterns who retorts with "ow! Stupid robot", to which said manhunters prepares to attack before being stopped by the "main" one.
It then ends on a cliffhanger shortly after superman discovers that the entire affair is a lie - the planet is definitely intact (due to the moon's orbit), but hidden by an impressive hologram projector.
It's a great setup for the last part - but alas, said last part kinda falls apart near the end.
However, it's still a good watch, so I'd say to check it out.
Shout by SoNickBlockedParent2022-02-18T06:01:50Z
After all of the setup for Batman, Superman, and Martian Manhunter, the other members either get a brief scene before the teamup or they just... show up and the others act like we should all know who they are. Still some neat action in this episode, though!