Cartoon Network Announces Justice League Action Series With Conroy, Hamill

Call it the worst kept secret in superhero animation. Rumors of a new Justice League animated series started swirling as far back as last September when a mysterious poster was spotted at the Cartoon Network offices. The network confirmed they were working on something in October, and now we know that Justice League Action is a real thing with some familiar talent attached.

As reported by IGN, Justice League Action is indeed the name of the new animated series that will feature Kevin Conroy returning to the role of Batman for his first regular gig as the Dark Knight in a decade. Mark Hamill will voice the Joker, something he’s done in animation and video games as far back as the early 90s, joining other announced voice cast talent like James Woods (Lex Luthor) and Diedrich Bader (Booster Gold).

The DC Trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman is prominently featured in the first poster for the new series, which you can see below. Other characters can be seen in the background in sketch form, including Plastic Man, Flash, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Blue Beetle, the Penguin and Darkseid.

The press release from Cartoon Network describes the new series this way:

"Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman lead the DC Comics Super Heroes against their most infamous foes in adventures packed with relentless thrills, fun and action. No need to wait for the good stuff to start, each eleven-minute episode jumps in with lightning-paced action and heroics. Whether defending the Earth, facing invaders from space, or battling the bizarre forces of magic, the always-rotating team of Justice League heroes, are up to any challenge."

Short episodes with a rotating roster is a slightly different format than we’re used to from the Justice League, and the art style makes it appear Justice League Action might have a lighter tone. The World’s Greatest Superheroes haven’t appeared together since Justice League Unlimited wrapped up its run in May of 2006, bringing down the curtain on the long-running DC animated universe.

There’s no word yet on when Justice League Action might make its debut — previous reports suggested it would be sometime this year — but we’ll keep our ears to the ground for you on this one.