Like a lot of talented creative minds, DCAU head Bruce Timm pulled inspiration from real-world events and trends, which we can really see come through in real life all these years later. In a 2003 episode of Justice League, titled ‘A Better World,’ it proved to be a future mirror to America.
Even during the show’s original run, tensions were running high in the United States due to the war in Iraq, which bled into the episode as well. In an interview with The World’s Finest, Timm said that it wasn’t their intention to put political commentary in the series, saying:
It’s not so much that we were deliberately trying to inject ‘political commentary’ into the show; it’s just that we’re constantly on the lookout for story hooks or springboards, and we just happened to find some juicy ones in current events.
But fast-forward to 2025, and we see how the Justice Lords’ actions were mirrored in the real-life politics of the United States.
How Justice League’s ‘A Better World’ Completely Parallels America Today
Being an episode focusing on an alternate reality, we see Superman barging into the Oval Office and killing President Lex Luthor for his crimes against humanity and for the death of The Flash. Fast forward 2 years in the series, and we see Superman ruling the entire world with an authoritarian Justice League, now called the Justice Lords.
While instances of this were present back then as well, the USA in the 2020s has seen more instances that are awfully similar to the ones that happened in ‘A Better World.’ During the early 2020s, the political landscape was skewed against the power of free speech, which is what happens when the Justice Lords take over the world in the episode.
Moreover, as we see in 2025, the aggressiveness of the US government against protests with military and other law enforcement agencies on other fronts mirrors Superman’s authoritative command to disperse protests. The heavy-handed use of ICE and the National Guard is an example of aggressive use of law enforcement.
Lastly, it also depicts the population’s blind faith in Superman’s rule, kind of like the blind political following and tribalism we see in today’s United States.
Thus, while they may have had no intention of going so brutal on the political landscape of America, their simple idea predicted the future, like they could’ve never have expected.
James Gunn’s Authority Movie Should Mirror DCAU Justice League’s Winning Formula
While we already know that James Gunn is currently working on developing The Authority movie for the DCU, he can take notes from the DCAU’s Justice League and implement their formula, going all-in on the gravity of the source.
As we have seen time and time again, the DCAU always took its source material with extreme seriousness, setting the tone and theme of the story beforehand. While Gunn’s formula mixes humor and silliness with extreme character-driven narratives, The Authority will require graveness that is more gritty and serious.
And since the story is about a team of morally gray superheroes with an uncompromising worldview that isn’t afraid to topple entire governments, Gunn would need to dive deeper than Superman into political commentary. This was one of DCAU’s strong suits, to not shy away from even the most controversial of topics in the name of source accuracy.
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Justice League is available to stream on HBO Max.
