Why Young Justice Was Canceled By Cartoon Network After Only 2 Seasons
"Young Justice" currently sits in limbo after its fourth season wrapped on MAX. There's more story to tell, but Warner Bros. hasn't given creator Greg Weisman the greenlight to tell it. But hey, "Young Justice" has come back from worse! Cartoon Network outright canceled the show after season 2 finished airing in 2013.
"Young Justice" has the same premise as "Teen Titans" (soon to be a movie from DC Studios). The sidekicks of DC Comics form their own team (initially Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis). Then, each season skips ahead in time and the show's true design is unveiled. "Young Justice" isn't just a show about the sidekicks, it's Weisman's epic about the entire DC Universe, following heroes and villains as they age and fall, and new ones rise.
The DC Animated Universe shows (the noir-ish "Batman: The Animated Series," "Superman: The Animated Series," "Batman Beyond," "Justice League," and "Justice League Unlimited") were a big part of my childhood. If I can pinpoint why I love DC Comics, it's those shows. However, I didn't watch them as they aired, but only after they'd finished (and out of order), thanks to VHS, DVDs, and YouTube. "Young Justice," though? I was old enough to follow it week-to-week, recording episodes for when I had to miss them, diligently checking online TV schedules, and cursing whenever the show went on break.
I was still bummed about the cancellation of Weisman's "The Spectacular Spider-Man" and "Young Justice" gave me the same taste of his serialized and twisty superhero stories. Along with "Transformers: Prime," "Young Justice" was the defining show of my middle school life. ANd I definitely wasn't its only fan, since the show was popular enough to be revived. So, why was "Young Justice" canceled in the first place?
Young Justice's funding depended on toy sales
Weisman (who is active on social media) has detailed why "Young Justice" was canceled: Toy company Mattel was funding the show and producing a corresponding toy line, and when the "Young Justice" toys didn't sell enough, Mattel backed out and the show lost funding. Ergo, it couldn't continue. There's speculation among fans that the show was written too maturely (and serially) for younger audiences, the types most likely to buy toys. It also doesn't help that "Teen Titans Go!" (aimed at grade schoolers) took the timeslot "Young Justice" had on Cartoon Network.
There's a myth that Cartoon Network pulled the plug on the show because it had high female viewership for a boys' show. While "Young Justice" did have an evenly-gendered fanbase — befitting its egalitarian writing of its female characters – Weisman confirmed that this had "zero" impact on the show's cancellation.
"Young Justice" only stayed canceled for three years; season 3 was confirmed on November 7, 2016 (man, I still remember what a good/bad news whiplash that and the next day were for me). See, in the interim, seasons 1 and 2 had been added to Netflix and done well — helped by devoted fans binging the show to juice its numbers, a campaign supported by Miss Martian actor Danica McKellar. The effort paid off because this was a time when every Hollywood studio thought they needed their own streaming service.
Hence, "Young Justice: Outsiders" streamed on the nascent platform DC Universe instead of Cartoon Network; Warner Bros. was clearly hoping to juice DC Universe sign-ups from "Young Justice" fans. DC Universe petered out (nowadays, it's just a comic-reading subscription service called DC Universe Infinite) and season 4 of "Young Justice," "Phantoms," moved to MAX.
As the streaming bubble bursts, has the window for "Young Justice" season 5 closed? We'll have to wait and see.