In a surprising bit of news, Khary Payton–who played Aqualad on Young Justice–has apparently pointed to 2011’s failed Green Lantern movie as a reason for the show’s untimely cancellation.
Keep in mind that this bit of news is from last year, stemming from something Payton said at a Convergence panel. According to the actor:
“The reason why the Young Justice toyline failed was that] Green Lantern bombed at the box office. That was a big part of it. We were all kind of grouped together, when you make a toy deal all those decisions go together with all the projects that are happening. So you’ve got the Green Lantern television show, and Young Justice, and we were all kinda bundled together with that movie.“
It might still sound odd as Payton is primarily talking about the toyline, but it cannot be understated how much of an effect toylines have on DC movies & TV, especially the animated series. Batman and Robin was a classic example of a feature film being almost entirely dictated by the toyline.
At the very least, it’s easy to draw a direct line between the box office failure of the Green Lantern film and the cancellation of the Green Lantern cartoon. And when one cartoon is cancelled, that certainly affects another.
Young Justice will at the very least be returning for a third season in the near future, although no concrete details (such as air date or network partner) have been established at this point in time.
Stay tuned for more information on that front as it develops.