'Young Justice' Canceled: No Plans for Season 5, Report Says

Young Justice, the animated series featuring younger DC Comics heroes, is reportedly not coming back for a fifth season. The show had a dedicated fan base that kept the series alive after it was canceled for the first time in 2013, but they will not be enough to stop the onslaught of cust-cutting at Warner Bros. Discovery. The future of other DC Comics-inspired animated shows is also uncertain.

Young Justice debuted on Cartoon Network in 2010 and is set in its own universe, apart from other DC Comics projects. Although the show was critically acclaimed, its original run lasted just two seasons. When the short-lived DC Universe streaming service launched, it had a third season of Young Justice, which debuted in January 2019. The fourth season, Young Justice: Phantoms, debuted on HBO Max in October 2021 and finished its run in June.

Earlier this week, sources told TVLine there will be no fifth season. HBO Max only ordered one season of the show, and there are "no plans" for another one. The report was published a day after showrunner Greg Wiseman told a fan on Twitter the show had not been renewed yet. However, the story is continuing in a six-issue comic miniseries, Young Justice: Targets. The story is being released digitally first on DC Universe Infinite before physical copies hit comic book stores.

Earlier this month, the new world of HBO Max under the new Warner Bros. Discovery leadership began to take shape. The Warner Bros. movies Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt were both canceled, despite being close to completion as the company no longer wants to develop movies specifically for a streaming service. The future of the HBO Max shows Titans and Doom Patrol is unknown after their upcoming seasons are released, while the animated Harley Quinn series is expected to survive thanks to its popularity. James Gunn is also developing Peacemaker Season 2.

Before the merger, the old WarnerMedia leadership greenlit two DC Comics animated shows, a preschool series called Batwheels and the mature-themed Batman: Caped Crusader. The future of these two shows is unknown. A Harley Quinn spinoff called Noonan's, described as a Cheers-inspired series with Batman villains, was also announced.

There's also little clarity on the direction of movies based on DC Comics characters. A few pre-merger productions are in the pipeline. Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam hits theaters on Oct. 21, while Shazam! Fury of the Gods opens on Dec. 21. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is scheduled for March 17, 2023, and the troubled The Flash will open on June 23, 2023. The only movie that has been greenlit since the merger was completed is Joker: Folie a Deux, which will open on Oct. 4, 2024, and stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.