Superman: The Animated Series is an American television series based on the DC Comics superhero Superman, which was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and originally aired on The WB from 1996 to 2000; lasting 54 episodes.
The series is part of what has become known as the DC animated universe and was the first after the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 13 | September 6, 1996 | February 15, 1997 | |
2 | 28 | September 8, 1997 | May 2, 1998 | |
3 | 13 | September 19, 1998 | February 12, 2000 |
All episodes of season one except the first five and last two were shown out of production order when originally aired.
No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Villain | Director | Writer | Airdate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | 4 | "Fun and Games" | Toyman & Bruno Mannheim | Kazuhide Tomonaga | Robert N. Skir & Marty Isenberg | September 7, 1996 | |
Gangster Bruno Mannheim is running into problems with the mysterious Toyman, who uses children's toys and games to cause violence. After being abducted by Toyman, Lois learns his motivation -- his father had taken a loan from Mannheim and been set up to take the fall when the police busted one of Mannheim's criminal enterprises.[1] | |||||||
5 | 5 | "A Little Piece of Home" | Lex Luthor | Toshihiko Masuda | Hilary J. Bader | September 14, 1996 | |
During the opening of a museum, Superman tries to stop two robbers. He fails when he falls victim to the poisoning effects of Kryptonite, one of the exhibited rocks. Lex Luthor sees the surveillance tape of the event and determines that this must be Superman’s one and only weakness. Luthor orchestrates a scheme to trap Superman, place him in vicinity of the rock, and put an end to him once and for all.[2] | |||||||
6 | 6 | "Feeding Time" | Parasite | Dan Riba | Robert Goodman | September 21, 1996 | |
7 | 7 | "The Way of All Flesh" | Lex Luthor & Metallo | Kenji Hachizaki | Stan Berkowitz | October 19, 1996 | |
8 | 8 | "Stolen Memories" | Lex Luthor & Brainiac | Curt Geda | Rich Fogel | November 2, 1996 | |
Brainiac, once Krypton's all-knowing planetary computer, comes to Earth as part of his information-gathering trek across the galaxy, and partners with Lex Luthor on the basis of giving technological progress to humanity. But, as Superman discovers, Brainiac's intent after gathering the world's knowledge is to destroy Earth.[5] | |||||||
9 | 9 | "The Main Man, Part 1" | The Preserver | Dan Riba | Paul Dini | November 9, 1996 | |
Intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo is employed to capture the Man of Steel for the rare-species-collecting Preserver, who is obsessed with keeping endangered species in captivity to protect them and prevent their extinction. Superman, the last Kryptonian, is the latest catch for his collection. Upon realizing that Lobo is the last Czarnian (having killed all the others himself), he betrays the bounty hunter and adds him to the collection as well.[6] Trivia: Sherman Howard, who portrayed Lex Luthor on the television series Superboy, appears as the Preserver. | |||||||
10 | 10 | "The Main Man, Part 2" | The Preserver | Dan Riba | Paul Dini | November 16, 1996 | |
11 | 11 | "My Girl" | Lex Luthor | Yuichiro Yano | Hilary J. Bader | November 23, 1996 | |
Clark's high school sweetheart Lana Lang, who is now a famous fashion designer, comes to Metropolis where she and Lex Luthor become a celebrity couple. Lana still has strong feelings for Clark, so she decides to put her own life in danger by spying on Luthor’s arms sales to gain incriminating information.[8] | |||||||
12 | 12 | "Tools of the Trade" | Bruno Mannheim, Kanto & Darkseid | Curt Geda | Mark Evanier | February 1, 1997 | |
Bruno Mannheim's Intergang terrorizes Metropolis with hi-tech weapons from a mysterious backer (Darkseid's minon Kanto), while SCU Inspector Dan Turpin goes on a personal hunt for answers. Turpin has been the subject of media jokes that Superman must do everything, until Superman appears on camera saying it was actually Turpin who saved Superman's life by stopping one of the deadly weapons. In the end, Manheim meets his new boss, the evil lord Darkseid, bent on conquering the universe, and filling Mannheim with dread.[9] | |||||||
13 | 13 | "Two's a Crowd" | Earl Garver & Parasite | Hiroyuki Aoyama | Stan Berkowitz | February 15, 1997 | |
When embittered scientist Earl Garver goes into a coma before revealing the location of a ticking bomb, Superman risks enlisting the Parasite to drain the information from Garver's mind. It then becomes an internal struggle in Parasite's mind as Earl tries to tempt Parasite with visions of power, whereas Rudy Jones argues that it is simply best to defuse the bomb and accept the reward of better living conditions while serving his prison sentence.[10] |
Episodes of season two originally aired Saturday mornings prior to The New Batman/Superman Adventures.
EpisodeNumber = 16 | EpisodeNumber2 = 3 | Title = The Prometheon | Aux1 = The Prometheon | DirectedBy = Nobuo Tomizawa | WrittenBy = Stan Berkowitz & Alan Burnett | OriginalAirDate = September 12, 1997 | LineColor = A62A2A | ShortSummary = During a mission in space, Superman discovers a massive humanoid stone giant named the Prometheon latched to an asteroid. Prometheon’s restraints break loose and he plummets to Metropolis. It causes devastation and accumulates energy by sucking up heat from firepower and power plants. The episode is named after Prometheus, who stole fire from the Greek gods.[11]
)) |
17 | 4 | "Speed Demons" | Weather Wizard | Toshihiko Masuda | Rich Fogel | September 13, 1997 | ||
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Superman and The Flash compete in a charity running race around the world to determine who truly is the fastest man alive. Meanwhile, a menace called the Weather Wizard harnesses enough power to create devastating storms across the globe. Superman and The Flash put their race on hold, team up, and seek out the tempestuous villain.[12] Trivia: In the episode, on a map, Metropolis is shown as being New York City. The episode is based on a comic issue where Superman and The Flash have a race to see who is the fastest. | ||||||||
18 | 5 | "Livewire" | Livewire | Curt Geda | Evan Dorkin & Sarah Dyer | September 13, 1997 | ||
Leslie Willis, an obnoxious shock jock and notorious critic of Superman, holds a rock concert during a thunderstorm. When lightning strikes Willis, she is discolored and transformed into the electric-powered supervillainess Livewire. Superman must discover her weakness before she sucks the city dry of electricity.[13] | ||||||||
19 | 6 | "Identity Crisis" | Bizarro | Curt Geda | Robert Goodman & Joe R. Lansdale | September 15, 1997 | ||
Superman encounters a clone of himself who decays into a flawed version dubbed Bizarro. The clone continuously argues, “You no am Superman. Me am Superman!” until he discovers the truth of his origins—a secret cloning operation in the mountains, led by none other than Lex Luthor. Lex hopes to create an army of Supermen at his disposal.[14] | ||||||||
20 | 7 | "Target" | Edward Lytener | Curt Geda | Hilary J. Bader | September 19, 1997 | ||
Lois finds herself marked for death by stalker and former LexCorp employee Edward Lytener. Superman saves her several times from the murderous attempts, but he can’t protect her 24/7…[15] | ||||||||
21 | 8 | "Mxyzpixilated" | Mister Mxyzptlk | Dan Riba | Paul Dini | September 20, 1997 | ||
A powerful imp from the 5th dimension, named Mister Mxyzptlk, starts annoying Superman by appearing every 90 days to cause trouble and mischief. The comical villain gets equally aggravated because Superman repeatedly tricks him into saying, spelling or revealing his own name backwards, sending him back to the 5th dimension. Mister Mxyzptlk returns with a proposition for Superman—get him to say or spell his own name backwards twice in a row, and he promises to leave Superman alone forever.[16] | ||||||||
22 | 9 | "Action Figures" | Metallo | Kenji Hachizaki | Hilary J. Bader | September 20, 1997 | ||
23 | 10 | "Double Dose" | Parasite & Livewire | Yuichiro Yano | Hilary J. Bader | September 22, 1997 | ||
24 | 11 | "Solar Power" | Luminus | Kazuhide Tomonaga | Robert Goodman | September 26, 1997 | ||
Lois' stalker Edward Lytener returns as Luminus to seek revenge against Superman, with a way to depower him by tinting the sunlight red to match the red Kryptonian sun. He ties up and gags Jimmy and Lois and uses them as bait for Superman, who finally saves them.[19] | ||||||||
25 | 12 | "Brave New Metropolis" | Lex Luthor | Curt Geda | Stan Berkowitz & Alan Burnett | September 27, 1997 | ||
Lois is thrown into a parallel universe of Metropolis where Luthor and Superman work together and rule as dictators. In this world, the alternate Lois Lane was killed and her death had traumatized Superman into joining forces with Lex to create a police state of control. When Lois learns how much Superman had cared for her, she desperately seeks a way back home so she can share her true feelings for him as well.[20] | ||||||||
26 | 13 | "Monkey Fun" | Titano | Curt Geda | Evan Dorkin & Sarah Dyer | September 27, 1997 | ||
A monkey is found floating in space, returning from years of suspended animation in his ship. It turns out the monkey, named Titano, was a beloved companion of Lois during her childhood. In space, Titano encountered a radioactive asteroid, causing him to mutate on Earth and become big trouble for Superman and Metropolis.[12][21] Trivia: The episode is based on the episode "The Chimp Who Made It Big" from the Filmation-produced "New Adventures of Superman" series.[22] | ||||||||
27 | 14 | "Ghost in the Machine" | Lex Luthor & Brainiac | Hiroyuki Aoyama | Rich Fogel | September 29, 1997 | ||
Brainiac’s consciousness takes control of LexCorp’s computer systems and traps Luthor in his own laboratory, forcing him to rebuild Brainiac’s primary body in secret. After Clark questions why Lex is missing from his office, Superman and Mercy Graves team up to investigate his disappearance.[23] | ||||||||
32 | 19 | "Bizarro's World" | Bizarro | Hiroyuki Aoyama | Robert Goodman | October 10, 1997 | ||
Bizarro, after visiting Superman's Fortress of Solitude, sees the demise of Krypton. Believing this is his own past, Bizarro constructs a "Krypton" in downtown Metropolis with the intent to blow it up in the same manner that Krypton exploded.[24] | ||||||||
33 | 20 | "The Hand of Fate" | Karkull | Dan Riba | Hilary J. Bader & Stan Berkowitz | October 11, 1997 | ||
When an evil demon named Lord Karkull is unleashed, Superman attempts to enlist the aid of the now uninterested wizard superhero, Doctor Fate.[25] | ||||||||
34 | 21 | "Prototype" | Corey Mills | Curt Geda | Hilary J. Bader | October 11, 1997 | ||
LexCorp and John Henry Irons design a powerful prototype armor suit for the Metropolis SCU, which Lex hopes will make Superman’s services unneeded. The SCU officer who pilots the suit, Sergeant Mills, proves a useful partner to Superman at first, but the suit soon corrupts the officer’s mind, making him violently unstable. Irons is discouraged over the failure of his project, but Superman convinces him that it would be a valuable tool if Irons can find a way to stabilize it.[26] | ||||||||
35 | 22 | "The Late Mr. Kent" | Kurt Bowman | Kenji Hachizaki | Stan Berkowitz | November 1, 1997 | ||
Clark Kent has evidence to clear a condemned man from sentence of death, but the situation complicates when Superman survives a murder attempt on Clark planned by dirty cop Detective Bowman. Superman doesn’t want to sacrifice his dual identity, but he doesn’t want an innocent man to be killed for a crime he didn’t commit. The investigative episode ends with a twist, plus a certain character’s shocking realization.[27] | ||||||||
36 | 23 | "Heavy Metal" | Metallo | Curt Geda | Hilary J. Bader | November 8, 1997 | ||
John Henry Irons, an ex-employee of LexCorp, helped Luthor develop the powerful suit of armor from the episode Prototype. He has lately been developing a new, advanced suit for himself. When Superman is caught off guard from the reappearance of Metallo, Irons must suit-up as Steel to help the Man of Steel.[28] | ||||||||
37 | 24 | "Warrior Queen" | De'Cine (comics) | Curt Geda | Hilary J. Bader | November 22, 1997 | ||
38 | 25 | "Apokolips…Now!, Part 1" | Darkseid, Steppenwolf & Bruno Mannheim | Dan Riba | Rich Fogel & Bruce Timm | February 7, 1998 | ||
Bruno Mannheim and Intergang have returned to Earth, but their antics are only a prelude to Darkseid’s all-out assault on Earth and Superman. The courageous officer Dan Turpin helps Superman fight off swarms of Apokolips’ demons. They limp on until a warrior from New Genesis, named Orion, arrives to assist them in the war. Orion, who is badly hurt is taken to STAR Labs for medical attention. Orion recovers quickly and explains the essential facts of the history between the two worlds and that Darkseid seeks to dominate Earth. Soon enough, Darkseid's forces arrive and stage an attack on an air force base which is repelled by Superman, Orion and the SCU.[30] | ||||||||
39 | 26 | "Apokolips…Now!, Part 2" | Darkseid, Steppenwolf & Bruno Mannheim | Dan Riba | Rich Fogel & Bruce Timm | February 14, 1998 | ||
After a successful attempt to stop Darkseids plans, the invasion of Earth begins and Superman gets captured and tortured. The people of Metropolis resist and try to fight the evil lord. Even after seeing Superman defeated and paraded through the streets the citizens of Metropolis continue to fight back which bolsters Superman's confidence. Superman, with the help of Turpin, manages to free himself from his bonds and subsequently a fleet of New Genesis ships arrives to stop Darkseid. Orion informs Darkseid that the ruler of New Genesis, the wise and powerful High Father, has placed Earth under his protection and as such any further aggression will breach the peace treaty between New Genesis and Apokolips. Darkseid calls off the attack and as a last act of spite vaporizes Dan Turpin. Superman goes mad with grief and begin destroys the enemy tank. Later, on a sunny hillside with a large crowd in attendance, a Jewish funeral service is held for the fallen police officer and a Rabbi sings the Kaddish for Turpin. Superman says his goodbyes to his friend; saying "in the end the world didn't need a Superman just a brave one".[31] Trivia: These episodes also introduce the origins of New Genesis and Apokolips and how Highfather and Darkseid exchanged sons as part of a truce. This episode is dedicated to Jack Kirby. | ||||||||
40 | 27 | "Little Girl Lost, Part 1" | Granny Goodness & Darkseid | Curt Geda | Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer | May 2, 1998 | ||
Superman discovers Kara, the last survivor of a Kryptonian colony named Argo, who takes the identity of her cousin and becomes Supergirl. Anxious to fight crime like Superman, Kara soon gets more than she asked for. She and Jimmy Olsen stumble upon a teenage Intergang operation, led by the sadistic Granny Goodness.[32] | ||||||||
41 | 28 | "Little Girl Lost, Part 2" | Granny Goodness & Darkseid | Curt Geda | Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer & Rich Fogel | May 2, 1998 | ||
Supergirl and Jimmy are able to eradicate Granny’s manipulative hold over the teenagers, but the mistress of Apokolips wants revenge. She summons her Female Furies to teach Supergirl some manners. Suddenly, Superman comes to the rescue and fights the furies. After a while they manage to defeat him and takes him to Apokolips to face Darkseid. It's now up to Supergirl to rescue her long lost cousin.[33] |
Episodes of season three originally aired in the Kids WB! block of The New Batman/Superman Adventures.
No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Villain | Director | Writer | Airdate | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
42 | 1 | "Where There's Smoke" | Volcana | Dan Riba | Hilary J. Bader | September 19, 1998 | ||
Superman crosses paths with a fiery-tempered, metahuman thief named Volcana. She possesses pyrokinetic abilities and is on the run from a secret government agency. With the help of a telekinetic psychologist, Superman hopes to locate and help the misguided Volcana before her fire is put out permanently.[34] | ||||||||
43 | 2 | "Knight Time" | The Penguin, The Riddler, Bane, The Mad Hatter, Roxy Rocket, Batman (under Brainiac's control) and Brainiac | Curt Geda | Robert Goodman | October 10, 1998 | ||
Superman learns that the Dark Knight has been missing from Gotham for some time now. Superman finds Robin, who has been battling all the crime in Batman’s absence, such as Batman rogues The Penguin, The Riddler, Bane, The Mad Hatter and Roxy Rocket. Disguised as Batman, Superman helps Robin investigate why his partner has disappeared, leading up to a confrontation with Brainiac.[35] | ||||||||
44 | 3 | "New Kids in Town" | Brainiac | Butch Lukic | Stan Berkowitz & Rich Fogel | October 31, 1998 | ||
It is the 30th Century and the everlasting villain Brainiac has found a way to travel back in time. He returns to Smallville to destroy Clark Kent before he can become Superman. Three Legionnaires from the future travel back in time to help Clark fight Brainiac.[36] | ||||||||
45 | 4 | "Obsession" | Toyman | Dan Riba | Andrew Donkin & Ron Fogelman | November 14, 1998 | ||
Lana Lang is in Metropolis managing a series of fashion shows featuring the latest top model, Darci. Coincidentally, there have been numerous attacks at these shows, all involving robots and toys sent by the twisted Toyman. He is trying to kidnap Darci, but what is her connection to him…? This would later be followed by the Static Shock episode “Toys in the Hood.”[37] | ||||||||
46 | 5 | "Little Big Head Man" | Mister Mxyzptlk & Bizarro | Shin-Ichi Tsuji | Paul Dini & Robert Goodman | November 21, 1998 | ||
Mister Mxyzptlk, returns and tricks Bizarro into attacking Superman. The Man of Steel must use both brawn and intellect to fight the formidable duo.[38] | ||||||||
EpisodeNumber = 48 | EpisodeNumber2 = 7 | Title = In Brightest Day… | Aux1 = Sinestro | DirectedBy = Butch Lukic | WrittenBy = Hilary J. Bader | OriginalAirDate = February 6, 1999 | LineColor = 14663D | ShortSummary = A member of the Green Lantern Corps crash-lands on Earth and passes his ring on to Kyle Rayner—a Daily Planet artist who becomes the next Green Lantern. With Superman’s help, Kyle learns the power of the ring and quickly becomes a valuable partner. They work together to battle the power-hungry, ruthless opponent Sinestro.[39]
Trivia: This is the only major appearance of Kyle Rayner as the Green Lantern of Earth in the DCAU (he appears briefly in 2 episodes of Justice League as a background character, only in one of which he speaks). Homage is paid to Hal Jordan, with both his origin given to Rayner and the hero being thrown into his plane while fighting Sinestro at Broom Lake Air-force base. Before getting his ring Rayner also fights an unnamed mugger which looks a lot like Guy Gardner. )) |
49 | 8 | "Superman's Pal" | Metallo | Kazumi Fukushima | Robert Goodman | February 20, 1999 | ||
Jimmy Olsen garners unwanted attention after news reporter Angela Chen dubs him “Superman’s Pal.” Jimmy soon runs into more trouble than usual, so Superman must come to his rescue more often. Meanwhile, Jimmy has begun dating a young Daily Planet intern, who has a “thing” for metal. She uses Jimmy to lure Superman into a trap—a confrontation with one of Superman’s strongest enemies...Metallo.[40] | ||||||||
50 | 9 | "A Fish Story" | Lex Luthor | Shin-Ichi Tsuji | Hilary J. Bader & Rich Fogel | May 8, 1999 | ||
52 | 11 | "The Demon Reborn" | Ra's al Ghul, Talia and the Society of Shadows | Dan Riba | Rich Fogel | September 18, 1999 | ||
Ra's al Ghul and his Society of Shadows arrive in Metropolis to steal a mythical staff currently on exhibit. The staff can be used to steal Superman’s powers and transfer them to Ra’s. It is up to Batman to locate and rescue Superman from the immortal foe.[42] Trivia: David Warner, who voiced Ra's al Ghul, previously portrayed Jor-El on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in the episode "Foundling". | ||||||||
53 | 12 | "Legacy, Part 1" | Darkseid, Granny Goodness, Kalibak & Lex Luthor | Curt Geda | Rich Fogel | February 5, 2000 | ||
Darkseid brainwashes Superman into believing he was raised on Apokolips and that he is loyal to the dark ruler. Superman has been missing from Metropolis for some time, so Supergirl steps in to maintain peace in the city. Darkseid turns Superman loose against Earth as a part of his plan to use his victim to attack his own adopted home world.[43] | ||||||||
54 | 13 | "Legacy, Part 2" | Darkseid, Granny Goodness, Kalibak & Lex Luthor | Dan Riba | Paul Dini & Rich Fogel | February 12, 2000 | ||
Lex Luthor halts the invasion by temporarily weakening Superman. The Man of Steel has time to recover from Darkseid’s control, but he is imprisoned by the military and he is sentenced to death. Lois helps Superman escape so that he may pursue Darkseid. On Apokolips, the two titans have an epic battle to conclude the series.[44] |
# | S | Title | Director | Writer | Series | Airdate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 20 | "Girls' Night Out" | Curt Geda | Hilary J. Bader | The New Batman Adventures | October 17, 1998 | |
4 | 36 | "Toys in the Hood" | ? | John Ridley (Teleplay) / Ernie Altbacker & John Semper (Story) | Static Shock | May 3, 2003 | |
Static teams up with Superman when the Man of Steel’s old nemesis, Toy Man, appears in Dakota. This Static Shock episode resolves some loose ends on one of the show's episodes Obsession. Justice League cast member George Newbern provided the voice of the Man of Steel. |
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Template:Superman: The Animated Series