WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Young Justice: Phantoms, Episode 19, “Encounter Upon the Razor’s Edge!,” streaming now on HBO Max.
The latest episode of HBO Max’s Young Justice: Phantoms confirms that the events of Green Lantern: The Animated Series are adjacent to the show’s canon.
“Encounter Upon the Razor’s Edge!” — the 19th episode of Phantoms and 91st episode of Young Justice overall — marks the return of Razer (Jason Spisak), an original character created for Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Phantoms picks up a number of plot threads from the Green Lantern cartoon, including Razer eschewing his red power ring for a blue one before ultimately becoming a Red Lantern/Blue Lantern hybrid. Razer also continues his search for Aya, his lost love.
Naturally, Phantoms‘ latest episode has led some fans to believe that Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series exist within the same universe. However, Young Justice co-showrunner Greg Weisman has confirmed that this isn’t exactly the case. When asked on Twitter if the Green Lantern cartoon is canon to Young Justice, Weisman simply replied, “Adjacent.”
What this basically means is that while Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series officially exist in separate universes, some version of Green Lantern‘s events did indeed occur in Young Justice‘s continuity. Other animated DC projects Weisman has described as being “adjacent” to Young Justice include the 2010 short film DC Showcase: Green Arrow and the 2022 feature film Catwoman: Hunted.
Young Justice originally premiered on Cartoon Network in 2010, with its first season running on the channel through 2012. A second season, titled Young Justice: Invasion, ran from 2012 to 2013. Meanwhile, Green Lantern: The Animated Series aired on Cartoon Network for a single season from 2011 to 2013. Young Justice and Green Lantern both aired as part of Cartoon Network’s DC Nation block and were both canceled in 2013.
That said, Young Justice eventually found a second life, with a third season, Young Justice: Outsiders, running on the now-defunct DC Universe streaming service in 2019. Amid DC Universe’s shuttering, the show moved to HBO Max for its fourth season, Phantoms. Young Justice: Phantoms streamed its first half on HBO Max from Oct. 16, 2021 to Dec. 30, 2021. The season returned for its second half earlier this year on March 31. Phantoms is slated to run for 26 episodes in total through June 9.
New episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms drop Thursdays on HBO Max.
Source: Young Justice: Phantoms; Twitter
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