Why is Superman so weak in the Justice League?

Am I the only one that notices it? He gets electrocuted screams falls on the ground and sits there for like an hour. I'm talking about the tv show by the way.

because its a cartoon, my guess. Its been awhile since I watched, but I know what you mean.

@inphase:@ccraft: Basically, he was "depowered" for 2 reasons, IMO.

1. So other heros can shine a bit and get people interested in some of the other lesser known heros. (This worked for me, with Hawkgirl)

2. If he was at full strength then the show would have been completely about Superman. Why send the others when Superman could just about do it on his own? (This is from the producers and creators of the show's perspective) Avengers: EMH is like this wth Thor. All this is just my opnion, I'm not saying it is the reason just a possibility of why.

to not render everybody else (maybe not MM) useless.

@inphase: In the second season of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, it's much more balanced. Superman's depicted as much more powerful but doesn't steal the show from the other heroes. Would you say that's right @tg1982:?

@tg1982: exactly

@lvenger: Yeah, I'd agree. Especially Unlimited, each episode was like a revolving door, featuring (typically) 1 big gun and a few lesser known heros per episode. I liked that formula, since I'm not a bg DC guy it got me interested in various characters I wouldn't have otherwise known existed.

@tg1982: Agreed. It was very good they spotlighted lesser known heroes with at least one member of the original 7 in each episode. Arguably the best superhero cartoon after Batman: The Animated Series IMO.

@lvenger: I personally like the Justice League/Unlmited more but will fully admit (as a Marvel guy) DC has a way better understanding in terms of TV cinema with shows and toons like Smallville, Arrow, Justce League/Unlimited, Young Justice, and the older stuff like Batman and Superman animated series. Marvel is alright but Avengers: EMH is the only good thing they did since the Xmen and Spiderman from the 90's. But in Movie cinema think Marvel has it to a freaking science. I wait to see how Man of Steel will turn out.

Also when concerning teams like Avengers and JLA...The problem with heros like Supes and Thor in cartoons and cinema is they are simply just too powerful and can easily dwarf other heros. This leaves the T.V. and movie creators in a predicament they can remain faithfull to the character but then risk the other characters being simply second bananas (like the X-men movies with Wolvie) or "depower" them to balance it out but then risk the ire of fans who want an accurate depction. DC and their Justice League/Unlimited cartoons and Marvel and their Avengers: EMH and the Avengers movie wereboth exemplary in doing this and doing it correctly, IMO

As @tg1982 said, it's to keep the team more balanced. If Superman was as powerful as he was in the comics, he could stop 99% of the League's problems by himself.

Though also, like @lvenger said, season 2 through Unlimited was much better. Like how Supes beat the crap outta Darkseid in the season 2 opening, or easily defeated Grundy in the episode that centered around Dr.Fate. In Unlimited he was prett Bada** too, taking down Captain Atom without breaking much of a sweat and mopping the floor with Captain Marvel.

@tg1982: Couldn't agree more. It was great to see a balanced representation of characters who didn't steal the show but pulled off some pretty awesome moments.

@the_stegman: That fight with Captain Atom was awesome! Even though that's probably not how it would go down in the comics, Superman's nonchalance in beating Atom was cool.

@lvenger: I like how they portrayed Superman as a bit more...gray in the show, he was a little more no nonsense, and one of my favorite episodes of JL was Hereafter, showed how cool he is even without powers, those mutant wolves man....he showed them who the top dog was.

@the_stegman: I was always a bit iffy about that scene for a while. But I guess with no powers and with no way to restrain them since they couldn't reason or understand what they were doing, Superman had no choice but to kill the alpha male. And he's lived on a farm so he knows about shooting foxes to protect the chickens and all that farm ethics :P

@lvenger: That was my reasoning, his farmer background was probably what lead him to make the decision, if you recall, he at least TRIED to get them to heel first, but he saw it was a dog eat dog world (though skinning the wolf and taking his pelt as a cape was a bit much lol)

Because they didn't want to use Kryptonite every episode and a lot of the regular villains needed to be a credible threat.

@the_stegman: You kill the leader, you may as well use the pelt. It could have been cold. He went through some snowy mountains in one sequence.

The writers acrually powered him down intentionally for season 1. However it became clear he was soon looking like Loserman rather than Superman. I mean heck, he once got knocked out by an electric shock. As most noticed, this was fixed later.