Young Justice Season 5 Receives Disappointing Update

The last few weeks of being a DC fan have been a roller coaster. As Warner Bros.'s super-powered strategy has shifted, its slate of content has remained in a state of flux. After the cancellation of Batgirl made headlines, the studio has come out to say they are reevaluating their DC plans and going back to the drawing board on nearly everything. But one name that remained noticeably absent from the conversation has been Young Justice. 

The critically acclaimed animated series has received four seasons across Cartoon Network, DC Universe, and most recently HBO Max. The title used "the literal passage of time to introduce new generations of young characters" with each new season, telling a wholly original tale in an alternate DC universe. 

It was beloved by fans, so upon the conclusion of Season 4 (titled Young Justice: Phantoms) questions quickly started to pop up about a potential fifth go-round for the series. Well, things are not looking good front as insiders are saying it is likely not happening. 

No Dice for Young Justice

DC

According to TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich, Young Justice will not be getting a fifth season. 

When asked in a recent Matt's Inside Line newsletter about the series, Mitovich said that HBO Max had "ordered a single season of the onetime Cartoon Network and DC Universe series" from the start, and there are "no plans for a Season 5:"

"HBO Max from go had only ordered a single season of the onetime Cartoon Network and DC Universe series, and that plan has not changed. There are currently no plans for a Season 5, I am told."

Earlier in the year, series co-developer, writer, and producer Greg Weisman confirmed on Twitter that the series had not been picked up for a fifth season, stating that was an "'if' not 'when.'"

The move to not renew the show would be surprising though, as Weisman also revealed on his personal blog that the show's fourth season had staggering viewership numbers that even rivaled fellow live-action superhero shows:

"...our numbers this season on HBO Max are stunningly good. Today, I saw numbers that indicated we have more views this year than any other animated super-hero series on ANY streaming service. (Because, yes, we still have super-heroes in YJ, despite what you believe are my best efforts!) We even beat out a couple of prestige live-action super-hero series."

This wouldn't be the first time that Young Justice has faced the threat of cancellation, as the show was originally canned after its second season due to poor toy sales. The short-lived DC Universe streaming service managed to revive the show for a third season before Season 4 moved to HBO Max, but it seems unlikely that the show will get another miracle this time.

WB Truly Starting Anew

A sign of just how serious this new Warner Bros. is taking the revitalization of its DC efforts is the fact that a series like this is not going forward. The studio is really going clean slate, and sadly Young Justice is a causality of that. 

One would think another round of a critically adored project like the animated series would be an easy win for the new regime at Warner Bros. Discovery. But it truly seems that the studio wants to start from square one with its new DC work.

Sure, there may have been no plans for any more Young Justice before the WB/Discovery merger, but that does not mean plans couldn't have changed. Surely fans would have taken more of the YJ crew. But maybe it just simply did not fit into that now infamous "ten-year plan."

Warner Bros. Discovery's new strategy will supposedly be making several cuts across its children & animation content, so there's a good chance that this reasoning led to Young Justice ending up on the chopping block. 

Young Justice can be streamed in its entirety now on HBO Max.