It’s time to get traught– Young Justice: Phantoms keeps up the tradition of complex character and plot development.
Every Young Justice fan quickly becomes accustomed to having this show put you in your feels. The show’s emotional depth is incredibly layered and tackles some heavy stuff.
This article contains spoilers for ‘Phantoms’, the most recent season of ‘Young Justice’!
1. The Death of Wally
As far as superhero stories go, it’s very rare that superheroes get knocked down and don’t get up again. In a world full of magic, fantasy, and fictional science, there are so many ways that writers could bring back a lost character.
But the deaths of Wally (and most recently Superboy) allow the story to explore the long-term, realistic effects of death and grief in a deep and meaningful way.
Most television shows fall into a formula when it comes to character romances. Story focus is often put on the budding romance, because once two characters move from ‘single’ to ‘in a relationship’, the tension is gone.
Young Justice does long-term relationships well. Some characters only date briefly, which is more realistic with longterm characters. And the characters who are in long-term relationships also experience in-relationship conflicts of different kinds.
What’s more, not all of the relationships in the show are between straight people. In the episode, “Quiet Conversations,” Kaldur’ahm and fellow-Atlantean Wynnde are revealed to be in a relationship.
The reveal is moving, and it introduces a brand new character into the mix. But it’s also not ‘othered’ in its reveal by focusing on the difficulty of coming out. Perhaps the Atlanteans have a more socially-evolved perspective on queer relationships.
3. Forager & Young Justice Have a Complex Sense of Identity
Season 3 was a little busy, and it introduced a lot of compelling characters. But it also contributed to the show’s message about personal identity.
Halo goes by Violet Harper. Violet is a motherbox that inhabited the body of a human. When teammates refer to Violet as “she”, they simply tell everyone that they don’t identify with the gender binary.
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We nonbinary folks don’t have a lot of characters in media that represent us. I don’t need to tell readers why representation matters– but I can confirm the sense of fan-euphoria I feel when I hear a character identify the way I do.
Similarly, season 3’s Forager comes to Earth from New Genisis. Forager doesn’t use pronouns because, as M’gann explains, Forager’s people have a very complex sense of identity.
When talking about fictional alien races, it’s easy for a narrative to take the gender binary for granted. But gender is a socially-constructed concept. Why would all alien races in a fictional universe reflect our gender norms and uses of pronouns?
4. Artemis & PTSD
Artemis’ childhood wasn’t great. Her mom is Huntress, who went to jail when Artemis and her sister Jade were really young. The girls were left with their father, Sportsmaster, a violent and verbally-abusive narcissist.
The team’s archer extraordinaire is on a constant journey to recover from the abuse and abandonment she endured as a child.
First, it plays into her discomfort with working on the team. It’s cropped up a lot as she’s tangoed with her sister, who joins the League of Shadows as Cheshire.
Just recently, her own emotional healing process allowed her to reach out to Cheshire with empathy and love. In the current story, she’s helped convince her sister to leave her life in the shadows and eventually reunite with Roy and their daughter.
5. Caste Systems & Racial Prejudice on Mars
The first arc of season 4 gave us a closer look at the tensions between green and white Martians.
M’gann opens up to the team in the first season about the white Martian form she’s had from birth. She explains how the white Martians are treated like second-class citizens on her home world. Phantoms weaves this discrimination into the setting when M’gann and Connor visit her homeworld.
Danni is a staff writer and editor whose expertise lies in comic books, superhero movies, science fiction/fantasy, horror, and cheesy dad jokes. They spent 8 glorious years working at Austin Books & Comics, and created content for almost 15 years. They've written for the Daily Dot and made YouTube content with the Weirdlings. Danni currently does all the things for BoLS, Screen Fanatic, and TheStreet.
