Why Young Justice Was Canceled By Cartoon Network After Only 2 Seasons

Weisman (who is active on social media) has detailed why “Young Justice” was canceled: Toy company Mattel was funding the show and producing a corresponding toy line, and when the “Young Justice” toys didn’t sell enough, Mattel backed out and the show lost funding. Ergo, it couldn’t continue. There’s speculation among fans that the show was written too maturely (and serially) for younger audiences, the types most likely to buy toys. It also doesn’t help that “Teen Titans Go!” (aimed at grade schoolers) took the timeslot “Young Justice” had on Cartoon Network.

There’s a myth that Cartoon Network pulled the plug on the show because it had high female viewership for a boys’ show. While “Young Justice” did have an evenly-gendered fanbase — befitting its egalitarian writing of its female characters – Weisman confirmed that this had “zero” impact on the show’s cancellation.

“Young Justice” only stayed canceled for three years; season 3 was confirmed on November 7, 2016 (man, I still remember what a good/bad news whiplash that and the next day were for me). See, in the interim, seasons 1 and 2 had been added to Netflix and done well — helped by devoted fans binging the show to juice its numbers, a campaign supported by Miss Martian actor Danica McKellar. The effort paid off because this was a time when every Hollywood studio thought they needed their own streaming service.

Hence, “Young Justice: Outsiders” streamed on the nascent platform DC Universe instead of Cartoon Network; Warner Bros. was clearly hoping to juice DC Universe sign-ups from “Young Justice” fans. DC Universe petered out (nowadays, it’s just a comic-reading subscription service called DC Universe Infinite) and season 4 of “Young Justice,” “Phantoms,” moved to MAX.

As the streaming bubble bursts, has the window for “Young Justice” season 5 closed? We’ll have to wait and see.