Justice League(-TV Series) - Injustice For-All (Episode) • An Part 001

"**Injustice For All**" is the 8th and 9th episodes of Template:Jl. It first aired on September 6 and 13, 2002.

## Plot

Lex Luthor's criminal activities are finally exposed in a sting by the Justice League, when Luthor lords it over a Superman rendered helpless by Kryptonite, who turns out to be ***J'onn J'onzz*** in disguise, with ***Batman*** and ***Green Lantern*** recording the conversation where Luthor reveals how he smuggled weapons through customs, giving names of those he bribed. Batman gets hold of the Kryptonite and places it in his belt. Luthor flees the ***LexCorp*** tower in a personal aircraft. Superman flies after him, but Luthor has an unexpected seizure, and Superman must act quickly to keep him from crashing.

Luthor awakens in a hospital bed. He claims the charges won't stand up in court, but Superman and a doctor inform him that he is suffering from an incurable form of blood cancer caused by long-term exposure to the Kryptonite's radiation. Superman asks Luthor if there's anything he can do, but Luthor, clearly blaming him, tells him that he's "done more than enough" at which Superman leaves him be. Luthor loses interest in defending his case, and so is sent to ***Stryker's Island***.

Luthor is annoyed by the ***Ultra-Humanite***, who occupies the cell next to his and is watching his favorite opera program on public broadcasting. The program announces that this will be their last broadcast as they have run out of funds, which Ultra-Humanite notes with a sad frown. However, Luthor communicates via their TVs and convinces the Ultra-Humanite to help him escape in exchange for a large sum of money. The Ultra-Humanite electrocutes two guards bringing him food, and uses one of them to open Lex's cell via the doors' retina scanners. Luthor uses dynamite to set a building on fire, delaying the authorities and the League. Once free, Luthor summons a group of other super-criminals: Cheetah, ***Copperhead***, The ***Shade***, ***Solomon Grundy***, and ***Star Sapphire***, for one purpose: to destroy the League.

In their first attack, Luthor's "Injustice Gang" lures the Justice League into a trap by pretending the Ultra-Humanite has taken hostages at the Metropolis Federal Bank, but quickly find that the League is too well-organized for them to overcome. Both sides suffer one casualty: Batman is poisoned by Copperhead's venom, while Copperhead is caught and arrested.

While Luthor berates the Gang about their failure and says he won't pay them, Solomon Grundy seizes him. Luthor tells him to go ahead to end his suffering, but he is released as the ***Joker*** appears. Still angry about the outcome of their unsuccessful joint endeavor to destroy Superman, Luthor orders Grundy to get rid of him but Joker knocks him out with a gass airhorn, the Joker then says they need him, as he is the one who knows Batman best – and to prove his point, Joker plucks a bat-shaped homing device off Luthor.

Refusing to rest after being cured of the venom for fear of being considered the weakest amongst a team of super-powered beings, despite J'onn J'onzz's insistence, Batman follows the signal from his homing beacon to the Gang's hideout, but is ambushed and knocked out by Joker from behind with a bag of rocks. After having succeeded in attacking Batman, Joker laughs maniacally.

## Continuity

* This marks the temporary end of Lex Luthor's career as a "legitimate" businessman, after which he's either a prisoner or a fugitive from justice until being pardoned in "A Better World".
* Luthor confesses to ***J'onn J'onzz*** (as Superman) that "***Stavros***" from the Template:Btas episode "***Fire From Olympus***" accepted a bribe while working for a shipping company. Whether he worked for Maximillian Shipping Company is unclear though.
* The harmful effects of Kryptonite on humans were first referenced in the Template:Stas episode "World's Finest", when it is revealed that all the multiple owners of the ***Laughing Dragon*** statue died prematurely due to Kryptonite giving off low-level radiation.
* Batman kept the Kryptonite he obtained from Luthor in this episode and used it against Amazo in "Tabula Rasa".
* Luthor's disdain towards ***Joker*** is due to their first encounter in the Template:Stas and Template:Tnba crossover "World's Finest".
* ***Shade*** refers to his participation in this Injustice Gang in both "***Fury***" and "Template:Ep".
* Although Lex's condition has stabilized, he continues to wear the chest plate designed by the ***Ultra-Humanite*** in subsequent episodes, until his cancer is finally revealed to have been cured by Brainiac as part of Brainiac's plan to "upgrade" them both.
* Chronologically, this is the Joker's first appearance in the DCAU since *The New Batman Adventures* episode "***Mad Love***", though his survival in that episode was previously confirmed in ***Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker***.

## Background information

### Home video releases

* ***Justice League - The Brave and the Bold (VHS)***
* ***Justice League - The Brave and the Bold (DVD)***
* Template:Jldvd1
* ***Justice League - The Complete Series (DVD)***
* ***Justice League: 3-Pack Fun (DVD)***
* ***Justice League - Season One (Blu-ray)***

### Production inconsistencies

* The chunk of Kryptonite changes size between shots. At first, Lex Luthor can keep it in his hand, but when Batman gets it, it's small enough to fit in a (considerably smaller) pouch pocket.
* The sign of the facade of the Metropolis Federal building is misspelled "Fedral".
* In the Watchtower, an animation error causes Hawkgirl to have two left wings in a brief shot. Though she moves, her wing is "split" into one that moves along with her body, and one that stays in its original spot.
* When Batman talks with Cheetah, his utility belt reappears.
* Although Cheetah is dragged away to be executed, she is seen imprisoned in the van along with the rest of the Gang after they are taken into custody, and appears in future episodes of Template:Jl and Template:Jlu. How she escaped is not explained on-screen. However, ***Bruce Timm*** explained that Cheetah was in fact supposed to be killed off, and was merely "spared" due to an animation error.
* Likewise, Copperhead is also shown in the van in the last scene, despite having already been captured in Part I.

### Production notes

* This episode marked the first appearances of Lex Luthor and the ***Joker*** on Template:Jl.
* This episode also marked the first appearances of The ***Ultra-Humanite***, Cheetah, ***Copperhead***, The ***Shade***, ***Solomon Grundy***, and ***Star Sapphire*** in the DCAU.
* In production order, this is the first episode since "***Secret Origins***" where the entire League appears. "***Fury***" was produced after this episode, but aired well before.

### Trivia

* Each member of the Injustice Gang belongs to the ***rogues gallery*** of one of the members of the Justice League in the ***DC Comics*** except for J'onn J'onzz and Hawkgirl:

* During the final battle between the Justice League and ***Injustice Gang***, Hawkgirl can be seen crashing into statues of the Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna. DCAU versions of the Wonder Twins appear as ***Ultimen*** members ***Downpour*** and ***Shifter*** in the Template:Jlu episode "***Ultimatum***".

 File:Wonder Twins.png
* Luthor says, "Et tu, Humanite?". This is a reference to the famous line from Shakespeare's *Julius Caesar*, spoken by Caesar to Brutus, whom he realizes has betrayed him.
* Joker's last words to Batman before falling unconscious are "You're dethspicable!" a la Daffy Duck.
* Lex's Kryptonite poisoning was a major story arc in the comics, received as a result of wearing a chip of Kryptonite on a ring for several years. Luthor avoided dying by transferring his brain into a stronger, younger clone of himself (with a full head of hair). However, his clone body aged prematurely, forcing Luthor to sell his soul in order to avoid becoming a permanent cripple.
* Luthor's purple and green outfit is modeled after his character's look in the original *Super Friends* cartoon. Luthor's battlesuit is also based directly on one made famous in the comics.
* During Batman and Joker's final fight, a slowed down version of the Template:Btas theme plays.
* Luthor's tactic of weakening Superman with a chunk of Kryptonite, fleeing in an airship when confronted by reinforcements and having an accident was previously used in the *Superman: The Animated Series* episode "***Brave New Metropolis***", the only difference being that ***that specific Luthor*** was from an alternate dimension and crashed into a monument and was killed.
* Copperhead calling Superman "Boy Scout" is a reference to Superman always being known as the boy scout in mainstream comics. On the Template:Jlu episode "***Clash***", it seems he's taken to being called that and is upset that ***Captain Marvel*** is apparently the new one.
* The Joker's pun about "Bat-Car Keys" and "Bat-Breath Mints" is a possible joke reference to the tendency of the older DC Comics and the 1960s *Batman* TV series to fit the prefix "Bat-" to every piece of equipment used by Batman, including Bat-Ropes, Bat-Cuffs, and even such outrageous items as the "Shark Repellent Bat Spray" from the motion picture *Batman* based on the aforementioned TV series.

## References

Template:Reflist

Template:DC Animated Universe

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