Smallville has given DC fans the coming-of-age journey of Clark Kent before becoming Superman. It has also given a preview of his Justice League future. Season 6, episode 11 brought many of the founding Justice League members together to save Bart Allen from Lex Luthor.

It's a unique adventure for its preview of a budding Justice League before most of the characters ever decided to don a suit and commit to fighting crime as a superhero, let alone as a team. The short-lived relationship dynamics unfolding onscreen leave viewers both wanting to see more of this ad-hoc team, and unsurprised by their reason to part ways. This is a common struggle among Justice League members that has not had a chance to be adapted in live-action projects. DC Studios should view this Smallville episode as a potential preview of what a live-action pre-Justice League series could be in the new DCU.

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Smallville's Justice Episode Teases Justice League

Smallville's "Justice" episode is one of its most comical, fun, and illustrative of a potential pre-Justice League series. Arthur Curry/Aquaman and Victor Stone/Cyborg's dynamics are reminiscent of an odd couple, buddy-cop film. Even Clark Kent and Bart Allen/Impulse, who acts like the little brother Clark never had, have their quips. It's an overall fantastic live-action, young Justice League teaser that DC Studios should consider building on for their future television offerings. Afterall, as Chloe states:

Most of Smallville's Clark Kent's "pretty amazing friends," as far as the founding members of the Justice League go, have either led a film or series. But they have yet to simultaneously lead a series that chronicles their journey to fight crime as a team. There's potential in dramatizing these heroes' pre-Justice League days as a coming-of-age story that details their relationships and motivations to fight crime, and how they decided to form a team. Victor Stone said it best:

However, these heroes were mostly loners before this episode. They came together out of necessity to save a mutual friend. This kind of motivation to fight crime as a team doesn't always last long because it's usually not their preferred method. Crafting a compelling reason that challenges these lone heroes to band together by choice, as opposed to doing so out of necessity for the greater good, can be the catalyst for a potential Justice League series. Like Smallville, it could follow the story of a few high school teenagers trying to figure out how to use their gifts and skills for good, and, eventually, together as a team.

Why DC Studios Should Consider A Live-Action Pre-Justice League Series

Considering recent DC film history, there's no guarantee that the upcoming DCU reboot will correct the poor handling of their live-action cinematic franchises. Their television offerings have often garnered more praise than many of their box office outings. A live-action Justice League series could mitigate these challenges while maintaining the trust of fans should the potential series go the distance, not unlike Smallville.

DC Studios may, however, want to reserve their key franchise players for films to entice fans to go to the theaters. From a marketing perspective, it can be advantageous to demarcate the parameters of how superheroes, such as Superman or Batman, appear in films versus television. Aside from these more popular live-action film heroes not appearing in television projects, the next option for a series would be to go the Smallville route and forgo the "cape and suit" to focus on the coming-of-age storyline.

Alternatively, DC Studios could also leverage some of DC's many alternative characters. For instance, instead of Clark Kent as Superman, there could be Titan's Conner Kent as Superboy. Naturally, this path would lead to the formation of a different Justice League than the conventional one fans are most familiar with. That, however, could also be an attractive television project as the series could focus on less-known members of the Justice League.DC's Alternative Live-Action Pre-Justice League Series

After the success of Titans, the door has opened for more opportunities to produce series based on younger heroic DC teams. If a teen drama featuring heroes who would become founding members of the Justice League is out of the question for DC Studios, then the next viable alternative could be a live-action adaptation of Young Justice. This team resembles their more mainstream counterpart but have a lot more to prove as potential candidates. Whether a potential live-action Young Justice series should focus on the pre-suit coming-of-age story or suited heroism is debatable. That said, the unique premise is still the most rare one: the coming-of-age fantasy drama, sans super suit.

The Justice League consists of several members. Focusing on the founding members, however, for a live-action series would be redundant considering their popularity among fans and likely theatrical projects. DC Studios could, instead, use this opportunity to feature lesser-known members or the younger potential candidates in a live-action series. This would permit DC to continue building the fanbase for both the Justice League and less-mainstream characters, who could later crossover into DCU films. Knowing that James Gunn is taking inspiration from past DC Studios projects is reassuring. Hopefully, he's also taking a look at Smallville for inspiration for a live-action pre-Justice League series in the new DCU.

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DC is a brand of superhero comics, television shows, movies, video games, merchandise, and more. The company owns the rights to popular characters like Batman, The Suicide Squad, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and many more.

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